Instructions for Filing Large Documents   Please note that filing large documents in CM/ECF is time-consuming. Click here for info on our stress test. Scanned attachments to pleadings can be very large. For your own convenience, we encourage you to use the guidelines in Civil and Criminal Administrative Procedures: "Attorneys shall submit only those excerpts of the referenced exhibit that are directly germane to the matter under consideration. Excerpted material must be clearly and prominently identified as such. Parties who file excerpts do so without prejudice to their right to timely file additional excerpts of the exhibit. Responding parties may also timely file additional excerpts of the exhibit that they believe are directly germane". --Page 12 of the Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual. If you must file a large document, consider this: The court recently increased the size of documents that can be filed, from 2 megabytes per file, to 5 megabytes per file. This will accommodate most word-processed documents. However, if a document is scanned, it may easily exceed the 5-megabyte limit. In that case, the document must be split into separate files, each below the 5-megabyte limit. These parts may be filed as attachments to the main document. We suggest you keep the total file size for any one transaction under 20 megabytes. There are several time/size limits associated with filing in CM/ECF: No single file can exceed 5 megabytes. If you try to file a document larger than that, it will be rejected by the server. As file size increases, the time it takes to upload the file also increases. Any one filing transaction must be completed within one hour. The clock starts when you complete the transaction commit screen, and hit the ‘Next’ button. Since each additional attachment adds to the processing time, you are limited in how many documents you can attach to your main document. With a high-speed internet connection, you may find you can complete a transaction that has more than four five-megabyte files attached to it. That will vary depending on how busy the server is, and how fast your connection to the internet is. For a document and attachments larger than 20 megabytes, you may use the separate event ‘Additional Attachments to Main Document’ to file further portions of the document. See the example below. How to Use Additional Attachments to Main Document As an example, if you have a Motion for Summary Judgment with 10 attachments, each attachment close to the 5-megabyte limit. Follow the instructions listed below: Docket your main document - e.g. Motion for Summary Judgment. On the screen where you select your pdf document, click on Yes to the question - Attachments to Documents. Click Next. Attach 4 documents, keeping the total file size of the transaction under 20 megabytes. Complete the transaction by hitting the Next button on the transaction commit screen. You have 6 attachments left to file. For the next portion of your document, file Additional Attachments to Main Document. List the next 4 exhibits giving a page number range for each part, and, optionally, a description. Complete the transaction by hitting the Next button on the transaction commit screen. Again, keep the total file transaction size under 20 megabytes. Follow this procedure until all portions of your document have been filed. Warning: If a filing transaction can't be completed in the one-hour time limit, you will get an error message: An error has occurred while processing your request. Please click the back button of your browser and resubmit your request. Depending on the browser you are using, hitting the back button and resubmitting via re-selecting the ‘Next’ button may work. If this doesn't work, start the filing process again with a reduced number of attachments. Another message you may occasionally receive, after hitting the back button, and resubmitting the document by selecting the ‘Next’ button. Warning: The transaction you submitted has already been accepted and posted by this system. If your original submission contained an error, you must contact the court for further instructions on how to void it. If this submission was inadvertently submitted (clicking on the Next link on the previous page twice), you may find details about your original submission by viewing your transaction log. Additional information follow This message is telling you that the document has been successfully filed, despite the fact that you did not receive the normal notice at the end of your filing transaction. As usual, you will receive an Notice of Electronic Filing via email. If you have any questions regarding this information, please call our help desk at 1-800-659-2212 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST. Stress Test Information: In a recent stress test, using a high speed internet connection, we tested filing pleadings with aggregate file size of 35-40 megabytes. On average, the process took about 45 minutes. Sometimes it completed successfully, sometimes we got a server error message and had to repeat the process with fewer attachments. Results will vary depending on the speed of your connection, and how busy the court server is. We suggest you keep file size of any one transaction under 20 megabytes. Back to top.