eFiling in San Francisco, CA

Any time up to 11:59:59 p.m. on a court day, under Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6(b)(3), which the court applies to civil e-filings. The rule does not reach criminal motions, which the court has not opened to mandatory eFiling; those are filed in Room 101 under Local Rule 16.2, though e-filing them remains an option.

Yes, for represented parties in civil cases, since December 8, 2014. The court extended the mandate to later unlawful detainer filings on July 1, 2020 and to new general civil complaints on January 4, 2021. Self-represented parties and non-parties are encouraged, not required, to e-file.

The court lists them: small claims, False Claims Act cases, sister-state, labor and summary judgments, petitions to consent to medical treatment, appeals of Labor Commissioner awards and name or gender changes, plus only the first filing in name change, civil harassment and unlawful detainer cases. Every later filing in those cases is e-filed, and Local Rule 2.11(D) lists document-level exceptions.

The provider emails the rejection with the reason and the name and phone number of the clerk who rejected the document. If a call helps, the court asks callers to reach that clerk with the Transaction ID ready, an eight-digit number that starts with 77, 78 or 79. We fix the document and refile, and because we submit ahead of the deadline, there is usually time to do it.

Only by court order. Under Rule of Court 2.253(b)(4), the party files an ex parte application for relief from mandatory eFiling, heard in Department 206 or the assigned judge’s department, with notice to every other party, a declaration under penalty of perjury showing undue hardship or significant prejudice, and a proposed order. The applicant must attend the hearing.

A conformed copy is the document bearing the court’s file stamp. San Francisco posts file-stamped copies of e-filed documents on its Online Services site the day after the filing is processed, and we send yours as soon as it posts. Proposed orders are different: they stay lodged and show as filed only after the judge signs.

Notice periods run off the filing and service date under Code of Civil Procedure section 1005, and electronic service moves them too: section 1010.6 extends a notice period by two court days when a document is served electronically. Tell us your hearing date and we work backward from it, then flag any window that looks too tight before we submit.

The court lets you upload exhibits with the document they support, on their own with caption pages, or grouped with slip sheets, and a large exhibit can be split into parts labeled “Part 1 of 4” and so on, each with a caption page. Items that cannot be uploaded at all are delivered to the clerk on paper.

Wait until the e-filed amended complaint or cross-complaint is accepted and its file-stamped copy is posted on the court’s website, then submit the summons by mail or in person. The court still issues summonses in paper, along with abstracts, writs, subpoenas and orders of examination.

By e-filing a cover letter or notice with the case name, number, payer and amount, under the document type the court assigns: “Sanction Payment” for sanctions, with the order attached, or “Jury Deposit for First Day of Trial” for the $150 jury deposit. The court accepts the document as fee paid and does not file it.

Yes, in any case that is e-filed, under Rule of Court 2.252(f). If the waiver is denied, the fees are paid by e-filing a cover letter or notice of payment with the document type “Fee Waiver Denial Payment.”