ECF Filing - Technical FAQs

The Clerk's Office is fortunate to have an experienced and dedicated staff. While we encourage you to call us if you have questions, we hope you will first take the time to research your inquiry using the various sections of this web site. To expedite your research this section provides answers to those frequently asked questions about the court and its procedures. We hope you find them helpful and informative.

  • How do I determine whether or not an attorney or pro se litigant is a filing user of ECF?
    Review the lower portion of the Notice of Electronic Filing (“NEF”) receipt you received for your filing in ECF. Those individuals who require conventional service of your document will be listed under the heading “Notice, to the extent appropriate, must be delivered conventionally to. . . .”
  • Will I get a 500 Error?
    We'll See...
  • How do I add another person to receive Notices of Electronic Filings (NEFs) in cases in which I participate?
    1) Login to ECF. 2) Click Utilities/Maintain Your Account/ Email Information button. 3) Under “Secondary e-mail addresses” click the “Add new e-mail address.” 4) In the right side pane under “Configuration options” type one e-mail in the text box and change noticing options for that address as appropriate. 5) Repeat steps 3 and 4 until all desired e-mail addresses have been entered. 6) Click the “Return to Person Information Screen” button. 7) Click “Submit." 8) Click second “Submit” button. You are done!
  • How do I delete a secondary e-mail address from my account?
    1) Login to ECF. 2) Click Utilities/Maintain Your Account/ Email Information button. 3) Under “Secondary e-mail addresses” click the e-mail address you want to delete. 4) In the right-side pane under “Configuration options” delete the e-mail in the text box . 5) Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each e-mail you wish to delete. 6) Click the “Return to Person Information Screen” button. 7) Click “Submit.” 8) Click the second “Submit” button. You are done!
  • How do I add myself to receive Notices of Electronic Filings (NEFs) in cases in which I do not participate?
    1) Log into the District of New Hampshire's ECF system. 2) Click Utilities/Maintain Your Account/Email Information 3) Click on the email address where you would like the notice sent (primary or a secondary) 4) Under "Case-specific options" type case number in box under "Add additional cases for noticing." 5) Click Find this case. 6) Click "Add Cases." 7) Repeat steps 4-6 for any additional cases. 8) Click Return to Account Screen/ Submit/Submit. You are done!
  • The Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) did not give me a free look at the document. What should I do?
    Links in a NEF to view documents for free expire 15 days after the NEF is generated by the system. Also, if an assistant or someone else has access to your email account, that person may have clicked on the document link and used the free look. Check to see if one of these scenarios apply to your situation. If you still cannot determine why your free look did not work, contact the Clerk's Office at 603-225-1423.
  • I did not receive a Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) in a case. What should I do?
    Check your spam folder to see if the email was directed there in error. If the email is not in your spam folder, contact the Case Manager for the case.
  • I tried to view a document but ECF displayed a message saying that the document is sealed. How do I view the document?
    For one reason or another, access to the document you are trying to view most likely is restricted to active participants in the case. To access certain restricted documents, counsel of record should first log in using their ECF filing account login and password. Once logged in, counsel should click "Query" on the blue menu bar and a second login screen will appear. On the second login screen, counsel should enter their PACER login and password.
  • What is a "technical failure?"
    AP 2.10 sets forth that a “technical failure” is deemed to have occurred when the court’s ECF site cannot accept filings continuously or intermittently over the course of any period of time greater than one hour after 12:00 pm (noon) on a given day. A filing user experiencing a technical failure may conventionally file the document if accompanied by a declaration attesting to the filing user’s attempts to timely file the document using ECF. Under these circumstances a filing user must serve the document in any alternative manner permitted by the Federal Rules of Civil/Criminal Procedure. If a filing user misses a filing deadline due to an inability to file electronically as a result of a technical failure, such a failure shall constitute a condition rendering the office of the clerk of court inaccessible within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 6 and Fed. R. Crim. P. 45. In such circumstances, the filing user may electronically or conventionally file the document, accompanied by a declaration stating the reasons for missing the deadline, no later than 12:00 pm (noon) of the first day on which the court is open for business following the original filing deadline. Jurisdictional deadlines, however, cannot be extended by the court for any reason and the filing user is responsible to ensure that a document is timely filed to comply with a jurisdictional deadline.
  • How do I make a document text searchable?
    The feature that renders PDF documents text-searchable is Optical Character Recognition or OCR. How to make a document text searchable depends upon the software a user has available to them as well as how a document was created. • Word/ WordPerfect: Newer versions automatically make a PDF text-searchable when converting the document to PDF using the "Publish to PDF" option. Print to PDF does not render a PDF that is text-searchable. • Adobe Acrobat Professional: Any PDF that is opened in Adobe Professional can be made text-searchable by the program. • In Adobe X, go to Tools/Recognize Text/In This File. A dialog box will open with a radio button auto-set to "All Pages." Click Ok. Note: Adobe Reader cannot make PDFs text-searchable. If you have a version of Adobe Acrobat that is earlier than X, you can search the internet for instructions on how to make the PDF text-searchable using your software version. • Scanners: Many newer models of scanners (and copiers with a scanning component) have an option to turn on OCR functionality. Users should consult the user guide for the scanner or their IT staff for assistance in turning this feature on.

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