Appellate Division of the Supreme Court
First Judicial Department
NOTICE TO THE BAR AND THE PUBLIC
May 27, 2020
Expansion of Mandatory E-filing in NYSCEF
Effective June 1, 2020, the First Department is expanding the categories of
appeals that will be subject to mandatory e-filing to include ALL civil matters
originating in the Supreme Court, Bronx and New York Counties (regardless of whether
the matters were e-filed at the trial level). This expansion will be effective in civil
appeals where (1) the notice of appeal is dated on or after June 1, 2020, or (2) the notice
of appeal is dated prior to June 1, 2020 and the appeal will be perfected on or after July
1, 2020. Appeals in civil matters which have already been perfected are exempt from
the mandatory e-filing requirement. Attorneys for appellants are encouraged to
initialize immediately in NYSCEF as required under 22 NYCRR § 1245.3. Compliance
with the time limitations contained in Section 1245.3 shall be measured from June 1,
2020.
Use of “Digital Submission” Portal for the Electronic Delivery of
Documents
The Appellate Division, First Department has a new portal, accessible through
the New York State Courts Electronic Filing System (NYSCEF), for the secure
transmission of digital documents to the Court. The portal, which is available June 1,
2020, is titled “Digital Submission” and is intended to replace the email requirements of
Rule 600.9(a)(1). Digital Submission is a document delivery portal that complements
e-filing through NYSCEF, and allows remote and immediate delivery of digitized
documents to the Court in all matters that are not subject to mandatory e-filing. Filers
should note the following important points when using the portal:
1. Digital Submission is Not a Substitute for E-filing in NYSCEF. To use the portal,
the user must currently have or create an account with NYSCEF. However,
Digital Submission does not replace and may not substitute for e-filing through
NYSCEF where e-filing is mandated by Court directive.
2. Digital Submission Available for All Case Types Not Subject to Mandatory Efiling. Digital Submission may be used to file documents in all case types not
subject to mandatory e-filing, including motions, briefs, records, appendices and
other documents that would, in the ordinary course of business, be filed with the
clerk’s office.
3. Digital Submission is Not “Service” on Other Parties. Unlike NYSCEF e-filing,
delivery of a document through Digital Submission does not constitute service of
the document on any other party. If service is required, the filer must serve by
some other means.
4. Acknowledgement of Acceptance for Filing. Once the clerk’s office reviews a
document and accepts it for filing, the document will appear as “processed” on
the Digital Submission portal. If a document does not meet the filing
requirements, it will be returned, via the portal, to the filer for correction and refiling of the corrected document.