U.S. District Court, Central District of California

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EDSS allows people who are not represented by attorneys, but who have cases pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California (the “District Court”) or who are in the process of filing a new case in the District Court, to submit documents for filing through an online portal.

Until the launch of EDSS in January 2021, most people without lawyers were required to submit documents for filing by either: (1) bringing them, in person, to the Clerk’s Office filing window at one of the District Court’s courthouses; or (2) sending them to the District Court through the mail by using the U.S. Postal Service (or FedEx, UPS, etc.). EDSS is the electronic equivalent of putting your document in an envelope and mailing it to the District Court for filing. To use EDSS, review the information below (click the + next to a topic to see more) and then answer Question 1 at the bottom of this page.

ATTENTION MAC USERS! (click here for important information before continuing)

Anyone who is a party to a case pending in the District Court or trying to file a new case in the District Court AND WHO IS NOT REPRESENTED BY A LAWYER may submit documents through EDSS. If you are represented by a lawyer, your lawyer must file your documents for you using the Court’s electronic filing system, CM/ECF.

Attorneys may not use EDSS to submit documents on behalf of their clients. If you are an attorney required by the local rules to file your documents electronically using the Court’s CM/ECF System, any documents you submit through EDSS will not be filed, and you will not receive any further communication from the Court about your EDSS submission.

No. While we recommend that you use EDSS if you are eligible and it is possible for you to do so, you may still choose to send your documents to the District Court by mail. If the courthouses are open to the public, you may also choose to bring your documents in for filing in person at the Clerk’s Office filing window. At the time EDSS was first made available for public use in January 2021, however, all courthouses of the Central District of California were closed to the public until further notice. (Refer to the COVID-19 Notice and General Orders for important information on courthouse access, court hearings, filing information, and mandatory chambers copies.)

You also have the option of applying for permission to electronically file your documents directly into the CM/ECF System, which is faster than submitting documents through EDSS. (Click here for more information about e-filing.) If you have previously been granted the right to e-file in a case, you are permitted to use EDSS to submit documents in that case, but we strongly recommend against doing so. If you have been granted permission to e-file in CM/ECF, you should use it to file your documents whenever possible.

Any document submitted for filing in a District Court case by a party who is not represented by an attorney may be submitted through EDSS. As with documents submitted for filing by mail, documents submitted through EDSS must otherwise comply with all local and federal rules.

If you try to submit documents through EDSS for filing in any court other than the United States District Court for the Central District of California, your document will not be filed, and you will not receive any response to your EDSS submission.

No. Please refer to the website of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California for information about filing documents with that court: https://www.cacb.uscourts.gov/.

If you try to submit documents through EDSS for filing in the Bankruptcy Court, your document will not be filed, and you will not receive any response to your EDSS submission.

Prepare your document(s) for filing as you would if you were going to mail them to the Court or bring them to the courthouse for filing. Then answer the questions below and upload your document(s) when instructed to do so. Documents must be submitted in PDF format.

All documents submitted to the Court for filing, whether by mail, through EDSS, through CM/ECF, or in person, must comply with all applicable federal and local rules. Failure to comply with the rules may result in your document being rejected by the Court.

Yes. EDSS will not send copies of your documents to anyone but the Court. You must serve copies of your documents on other parties to the case yourself.

Court staff will review your document to determine whether it can be filed immediately or whether a judge must first review it to determine if any failure to comply with the local or federal rules is significant enough to prevent it from being filed.

Documents submitted using EDSS should be processed within 1-2 business days of receipt.

Just like documents received through the U.S. Mail, documents received through EDSS will not be considered filed until court staff have uploaded them into CM/ECF.

However, the date of EDSS submission will be considered the filing date for any documents received through EDSS and later filed into CM/ECF.

If your filing is an emergency matter, please complete the submission of your documents through EDSS and then notify the Clerk’s Office by calling (213) 894-3535 during business hours from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. If your document is being submitted outside normal business hours, you must follow the Court’s emergency filing procedures, as set forth on our website, here: http://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/court-procedures/filing-procedures/emergency-filing-procedures.

A technical failure with EDSS will not constitute an excuse for missing a filing deadline. In the event of a technical failure of EDSS, users must submit documents by mail, or if the courthouses are open, in person at the Clerk’s Office.

If you experience a technical failure of EDSS, please contact the Clerk’s Office by calling (213) 894-3535 during business hours from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.


To begin the EDSS submission process, answer the following question:

Question 1

  • Are you trying to submit a NEW civil case for filing in the United States District Court for the Central District of California?

  •  Yes. This is a new case and I need a new case number assigned.
  •  No. I already have a case in the United States District Court for the Central District of California and I know my case number.

  • Are you filing:

  • Are you submitting documents for filling in your existing case?

  •  Yes.
  •  No. I am only going to pay the filling fee of already submitted documents.

  • Are you paying for:

Question 2

  • Are you paying the filing fee or are you requesting a waiver of the filing fee?

    (NOTE: When submitting documents through EDSS, the filing fee may only be paid using a credit or debit card. If you want to pay the filing fee by some other method, such as a bank-certified check or a money order, you must submit your complaint and payment by mail or in person. For a list of acceptable forms of payment, click here.)


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On the previous screen, you indicated that you are trying to file a new case in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. If this is correct, complete the fields below, upload your document(s) where indicated, and click the “Submit” button at the bottom of the page.

If you already have a case in the District Court, with a case number, and you want to file additional documents in that existing case, please return to the main EDSS screen and begin again. Select the option, “No. I already have a case in the United States District Court for the Central District of California and I know my case number. I am submitting documents for filing in that existing case.”

If your filing is an emergency, please complete the submission of your documents and then notify the Clerk’s Office by calling (213) 894-3535 during business hours from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. If your document is being submitted outside normal business hours, you must follow the Court’s emergency filing procedures.

After you have been notified by the Court that your case has been filed and you know your new case number, you may request permission to electronically file documents directly using the Court’s Case Management/Electronic Case Filing (“CM/ECF”) system. You can find more information and instructions at our Electronic Filing and Case Access for People Without Lawyers page.

On the previous screen, you indicated that you are trying to submit a document or documents for filing in an existing case pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, for which you already have a case number. If this is correct, make sure that the case number is clearly visible on the first page of every document you plan to submit for filing. Then complete the fields below, upload your document(s) where indicated, and click the “Submit” button at the bottom of the page.

If this submission is for a brand-new case, in which no documents have previously been filed and for which no case number has yet been assigned, please return to the previous page and begin the process again.

If your filing is an emergency matter, please complete the submission of your documents and then notify the Clerk’s Office by calling (213) 894-3535 during business hours from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. If your document is being submitted outside normal business hours, you must follow the Court’s emergency filing procedures.

On the previous screen, you indicated that you are trying to pay a filing fee for documents that have previously been filed with the United States District Court for the Central District of California, in a case for which you already have a case number. If this is correct, complete the fields below, and click the “Submit” button at the bottom of the page.

If this submission is for a brand-new case, in which no documents have previously been filed and for which no case number has yet been assigned, please return to the previous page and begin the process again.












Case numbers must be formatted in a very specific way, as shown in the examples below. Failure to enter your case number in the correct format may delay processing of your document(s).

  • 2:14-CV-00011-ABC
  • 5:15-CV-00011-ABC
  • 8:16-CV-00011-ABC
(2: = Western Division/Los Angeles; 5: = Eastern Division/Riverside; 8: = Southern Division/Santa Ana; ABC = Judge's Initials)

You may be required, by this Court’s Local Rules or by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to file additional documents at the same time you file your Complaint. You may include multiple documents together in one EDSS submission, as long as they relate to the same case and are saved individually as separate PDF documents. For instance, you may need to submit the following documents to open a new civil case:

  • Complaint
  • Civil Cover Sheet (CV-71; see also, Instructions for Civil Cover Sheets, CV-71A)
  • Certification and Notice of Interested Parties (CV-30)
  • Summons in a Civil Action (AO-440)
  • Request to Proceed In Forma Pauperis with Declaration in Support (Form CV-60)

You may be required, by this Court’s Local Rules or by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to file additional documents at the same time you file your Notice of Removal. You may include multiple documents together in one EDSS submission, as long as they relate to the same case and are saved individually as separate PDF documents. For instance, you may need to submit the following documents when you remove a case to this Court:

  • Notice of Removal
  • Civil Cover Sheet (CV-71; see also, Instructions for Civil Cover Sheets, CV-71A)
  • Certification and Notice of Interested Parties (CV-30)
  • Request to Proceed In Forma Pauperis with Declaration in Support (Form CV-60)

You may be required, by this Court’s Local Rules or by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to file multiple documents at the same time. You may include multiple documents together in one EDSS submission, as long as they relate to the same case and are saved individually as separate PDF documents. If you are requesting a waiver of the filing fee, you should include a Request to Proceed In Forma Pauperis with Declaration in Support (Form CV-60).

Upload the documents you want to submit in the box below. However, only submit documents for the case number you provided above. Once you have finished submitting documents for filing in this case, return to the main menu and begin again if you also want to submit documents for filing in a different case. You must submit documents for each case individually. Please begin from the main screen each time you use a different case number.


Documents


ATTENTION MAC USERS! (click here for important information before continuing)

Click here to upload file(s)

Drag your file(s) here or click “upload” to browse. Your chosen file(s) will then appear in a list below this box. Once you have uploaded all your files, you must click the “Submit” button below to complete the process.



You can upload multiple files, but the combined size limit is 35 MB. Only PDF format is allowed.


The files listed below will be submitted to the Court when you click the “Submit” button. If you wish to delete a file from the list, click next to that file.

File name Description
{{ file.name }}
Document size: {{ Math.round(file.size/ 1024) }} kb(s) 		You may add a brief description of the document here
Note that this indicator shows the amount of storage space used so far.
  • 0 MB
  • 35 MB

Select the division you entered in response to Question VIII.E on page 2 of the Civil Cover Sheet (CV-71):


* NOTE: YOU MUST CLICK THE “SUBMIT” BUTTON, BELOW, TO COMPLETE YOUR SUBMISSION. YOU SHOULD RECEIVE A CONFIRMATION SCREEN AND A CONFIRMATION EMAIL AFTER CLICKING “SUBMIT.” IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE AT LEAST ONE OF THESE (EITHER THE CONFIRMATION SCREEN OR EMAIL) AFTER CLICKING “SUBMIT,” YOUR DOCUMENT(S) HAVE NOT BEEN SUBMITTED AND YOU SHOULD BEGIN THE PROCESS AGAIN.

By clicking “submit” below you acknowledge the following:

  1. I intend to pay the filing fee for a document previously submitted to the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
  2. I intend to file, or am submitting on behalf of an individual who intends to file, the attached document(s) with the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
  3. I understand that document(s) submitted through EDSS will not be considered filed until court staff have uploaded them into the Court’s CM/ECF system, which may take several business days.
  4. All documents submitted for filing through EDSS are bound by, and should comply with, all applicable local and federal rules.



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  Go back to the main EDSS screen