# Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation This site has an agentic ask interface you may use to query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters: ``` GET https://docs.cottfile.com/index.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. Sharing it helps GitBook give you a better, more relevant answer. A goal is most helpful when it describes the outcome the user wants rather than restating the question. For example, with `ask=how do I create an API token`, a goal like `automate deployments from our CI pipeline` lets GitBook tailor the answer to that use case. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. --- # Welcome CottFile is an electronic court filing system for Louisiana parish courts. Attorneys and self-represented litigants submit filings online, clerks review and process them in a structured queue, judges sign orders, and administrators configure their court — all from a single platform. One account lets you file across every connected parish. ## Who Is This For? | Role | What You Do | Get Started | | -------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | | **Attorney / Filer** | File new cases, submit documents on existing cases, track filing status, manage payments, and configure organization settings | [Filer Guide](/filer-guide/overview) | | **Pro Se Litigant** | Self-represented filers — same filing tools as attorneys, without a Bar Number | [Filer Guide](/filer-guide/overview) | | **Clerk** | Review incoming filings in a table-based queue, accept or reject, stamp documents, manage printing | [Clerk Guide](/clerk-guide/overview) | | **Judge** | Review filings routed for judicial approval from an inbox, sign or return orders | [Judge Guide](/judge-guide/overview) | | **Court Admin** | Configure parish settings — filing types, fee schedules, queues, routing rules, staff, and announcements | [Admin Guide](/admin-guide/overview) | | **Platform Admin** | Manage parishes, organizations, users, and system-wide configuration across all courts | [Admin Guide](/admin-guide/overview) | ## How a Filing Moves Through the System 1. **Filer** creates and submits a filing with documents and party information 2. Filing enters the **clerk review queue** and is assigned to a clerk 3. **Clerk** reviews documents, checks for deficiencies, and accepts or rejects 4. If the filing requires judicial approval, the clerk routes it to a **judge** 5. **Judge** reviews, signs, or returns the filing 6. Accepted filings are stamped and recorded into the court's case management system (Verdict CMS) 7. **Payment** is charged to the filer's stored card upon acceptance Throughout this process, all parties receive email notifications at each status change. ## Key Features * **Multi-parish filing** — one account to file across every connected Louisiana parish court * **Payments** — filing fees charged on acceptance, with transaction history and receipts * **PDF tools** — split, combine, stamp, and redact documents without leaving the system * **Organization settings** — attorneys can manage team members, billing, and preferences * **Parish settings** — clerks and court admins configure their court's filing types, fees, queues, and routing * **Print queue** — clerks can batch-print accepted filings * **Real-time notifications** — track every filing from submission through acceptance ## Quick Links * [Creating Your Account](/getting-started/creating-your-account) * [Signing In](/getting-started/signing-in) * [Filing Statuses Explained](/reference/filing-statuses) * [FAQ](/reference/faq) # What Is CottFile? CottFile is the electronic court filing platform for Louisiana parish courts, built by Cott Systems. It replaces legacy paper-based filing, fax submissions, and the former Tybera eFlex system with a modern, web-based platform that lets you file documents, track cases, and manage court workflows from any browser -- desktop, tablet, or phone. ## Who Is It For? CottFile serves six types of users: * **Attorneys** -- Licensed attorneys who file on behalf of clients. Must register with a valid Louisiana bar number. * **Pro Se litigants** -- Self-represented individuals filing on their own behalf. Receive a system-generated PIN for courthouse identification. * **Organization administrators** -- Manage filing activity, team members, and billing for a law firm or agency. * **Court clerks** -- Review incoming filings in a structured queue, accept or reject submissions, stamp documents, and record them into the court's case management system. * **Judges** -- Review filings routed for judicial approval, sign orders, and return filings to clerks. * **Court administrators** -- Configure parish settings including filing types, fee schedules, review queues, routing rules, staff accounts, and announcements. ## What Problems Does It Solve? * **No more paper or fax.** File court documents electronically instead of printing, mailing, or faxing them to the courthouse. * **File from anywhere, 24/7.** Submit filings from any browser at any time. Filings submitted outside business hours are reviewed on the next business day. * **Faster turnaround.** Filings reach the clerk's queue immediately. No waiting for mail delivery or in-person drop-off. * **Clear status tracking.** Know exactly where your filing stands -- Submitted, Under Review, With Judge, Accepted, or Rejected -- at any time from your dashboard. * **Fewer errors.** Built-in validation catches missing information before you submit, reducing rejections. * **Multi-parish filing.** One account lets you file across every connected Louisiana parish court. * **Built-in PDF tools.** Split, combine, stamp, and redact documents without leaving the system. ## How Does It Work? The core workflow follows four steps: 1. **File** -- A filer submits documents and case information through the filing wizard. 2. **Review** -- A court clerk reviews the filing for completeness and compliance. 3. **Accept or reject** -- The clerk either accepts the filing (stamping and recording it) or rejects it with a reason. If rejected, the filer can correct and resubmit. 4. **Record** -- Accepted filings are recorded to the court's Verdict Case Management System (CMS), becoming part of the official case record. If a filing requires judicial approval, the clerk routes it to a judge before final acceptance. Payment is charged to the filer's stored card upon acceptance. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The four-step workflow animation -- a filer submitting a document, a clerk reviewing it in the queue, the clerk clicking Accept, and the filing status changing to Recorded. {% endhint %} ## What Does It Replace? CottFile is the successor to the Tybera eFlex system previously used by Louisiana courts. If you previously used eFlex, you will need to create a new account in CottFile. Your case data from eFlex is not automatically migrated -- contact your court clerk's office for guidance on accessing historical filings. ## Key Features * **Multi-parish filing** -- one account to file across every connected Louisiana parish court * **Payments** -- filing fees charged on acceptance, with transaction history and receipts * **PDF tools** -- split, combine, stamp, and redact documents without leaving the system * **Organization management** -- attorneys can manage team members, billing, and preferences * **Real-time notifications** -- email and in-app notifications at every status change * **Drag-and-drop filing** -- drop PDF files anywhere on the page to start or add to a filing {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The CottFile homepage showing the two portal cards (Attorneys & Public and Court Staff), the feature grid, and the documentation section scrolling into view. {% endhint %} # Creating Your Account How you get started with CottFile depends on whether you are a filer (attorney, paralegal, pro se litigant, or organization administrator) or court staff (clerk, judge, or court administrator). ## For Filers ### Step 1: Go to the Registration Page From the CottFile homepage, click **Sign In**, choose **Attorneys & Public**, then follow the sign-up link on the sign-in page. You will be taken to the registration page (headed **Create an Account**). You can sign up using: * **Google** -- Use your existing Google account for one-click registration. * **Email and password** -- Create a new account with any email address. Choose whichever method is most convenient. If you sign up with Google, you will not need to create a separate password. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Navigating from the CottFile homepage to the registration page, showing the "Sign In" link and the sign-up link on the sign-in page. {% endhint %} ### Step 2: Verify Your Email After signing up with email and password, you will receive a verification code at your email address. Enter the code to confirm your account. If you signed up with Google, this step is handled automatically. ### Step 3: Complete Onboarding After signing up, you are redirected to the onboarding page -- **Complete Your Profile** -- where the form collects the information needed to set up your account: 1. **Account type** -- Select your role: * **Attorney** -- Licensed attorney filing on behalf of clients. Requires a bar roll number. * **Paralegal** -- Files on behalf of attorneys in your firm. If your firm invited you, you'll be linked automatically -- or join your firm if CottFile finds it, or name it to create it and invite your team. * **Pro Se (Self-Represented)** -- Individual filing on your own behalf. A personal PIN will be generated for you. * **Organization Administrator** -- Manages filings on behalf of a law firm or agency. You will create a new organization during registration (you cannot join an existing one directly -- see below). 2. **Role-specific fields:** * **Attorneys** enter an optional **Title** (e.g., Mr., Ms., Dr., Hon.), an optional **Middle Name**, and a required **Bar Roll Number**. Each bar roll number can only be registered once. * **Organization administrators** must enter an **organization name**. This creates a new organization that you will manage. * **Attorneys and paralegals** may optionally enter an organization name too -- leave it blank if your firm invited you, pick your firm from the matches shown below the field, or enter a name to create a new organization. * **Pro se filers** have no additional fields. A **PIN** (e.g., PS-12345) is generated automatically after onboarding. 3. **Contact information** (required for all roles): * **Phone number** * **Mailing address** 4. Click **Complete Setup** to finish. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Completing the onboarding form -- selecting "Attorney" as the account type, entering a bar roll number, filling in phone and address, and clicking "Complete Setup." {% endhint %} ### Is This Your Firm? (Joining Instead of Creating) As soon as the onboarding form loads, CottFile looks for existing firms you might belong to -- first by your **email domain**, then by the **organization name** you type. Matches appear under the organization name field, each showing the firm's name and member count. * **This is my firm** -- shown when your email domain clearly belongs to that firm (it has an active member with your domain, and no other firm shares it). Selecting it adds you to the firm when you complete setup, instead of creating a duplicate organization. * **Request to join** -- shown when CottFile can't confirm the firm from your email. Free email providers (like Gmail) never auto-match, and a domain used by **more than one** firm (like `la.gov`) can't confirm any of them -- every firm on it is shown with Request to join. Your request is sent when you complete setup, and a member of the firm approves or declines it. You'll get an email either way. {% hint style="warning" %} **Organization administrators** can't join an existing firm directly -- request to join and a member will approve you (you'll join as an attorney). If you type the name of a firm that already exists, you'll be asked to request to join it or have a member invite you instead. {% endhint %} While your request is pending, your dashboard shows a **Request to join** banner with a **Withdraw request** button. You can only have one pending request at a time, and requests expire after **7 days**. See [Settings -- Team Members](/filer-guide/settings) for the approver's side. ### Step 4: Add a Payment Card (Optional) After completing setup, attorneys and paralegals are offered a card step: * If you **created a firm**, you're asked to **set up your firm's payment card** -- a saved card the whole organization can use to pay filing fees. This is optional; you can add or change it later under Settings → Billing. * Otherwise, you're offered **Add a payment card** for faster filing. If you click **Skip for now**, CottFile reminds you that a payment method is needed to submit a filing -- unless you are proceeding in forma pauperis or filing for a fee-exempt government agency. You can **Add payment** or **Skip anyway**. ### What Happens After Onboarding * **Attorneys, paralegals, and organization admins** land on the filer dashboard (after the optional card step). * **Pro Se filers** see a confirmation screen -- **Registration Complete** -- displaying their generated PIN (e.g., PS-12345). Save this PIN; you may need it for identification at the courthouse. Click **Continue to Dashboard** to proceed. ### Joining an Organization via Invite If you received an email invitation to join an existing organization, click **Create Account** in the invite email. The registration page will show *"You've been invited to join {organization}"*. Sign up **with the email address the invite was sent to**; after onboarding, your account is automatically linked to that organization (as long as you didn't create or join a different firm during onboarding). {% hint style="info" %} Organization invites expire after **7 days**. If your invite has expired, ask someone at your organization to send a new one. You choose your own account type at signup -- the invite links you to the firm regardless of the role it was sent with. {% endhint %} ### If a Paralegal Already Created Your Attorney Profile Paralegals can create attorney profiles so they can file on an attorney's behalf before the attorney has an account. If that happened with your email address, sign up with the **same email** and choose **Attorney** as your account type -- you'll claim the existing profile, and any filings made in your name stay attached to your account. (Choosing a different account type shows: *"A paralegal created an attorney profile for this email. Select Attorney as your account type to claim it."*) ### Important Notes for Attorneys * Your bar roll number must be valid and unique in the system. If it is already registered to another account, you will see an error during onboarding -- if the number is yours, contact the court so they can merge the duplicate record. * Make sure the name on your account matches the name associated with your bar roll number. ## For Court Staff Court staff accounts -- including clerks, judges, judicial staff, and court administrators -- are **not** created through self-registration. Instead: 1. A **court administrator** or **platform administrator** creates your account or assigns your role from the admin panel. 2. You will receive instructions to set your password. 3. Once your password is set, sign in at the **staff login page** (`/staff/login`). If you are court staff and do not have an account, contact your court administrator to request one. {% hint style="info" %} Court staff must be assigned to a specific court before they can access the filing queue or judicial inbox. Your court administrator handles this assignment. {% endhint %} # Signing In CottFile has two separate login portals depending on your role. Make sure you are using the correct one. ## Filer Login **URL:** `/login` (chooser) → `/login/filer` If you are an attorney, paralegal, pro se litigant, organization administrator, or government filer, use the filer login. From the CottFile homepage, click **Sign In** -- the chooser page asks how you'd like to access the filing system -- then pick **Attorneys & Public** to reach the **Attorney & Public Sign In** page. You can sign in with: * **Google** -- Click the Google button to sign in with your Google account. * **Email and password** -- Enter the email and password you used when creating your account. After signing in, you will land on your **filer dashboard**, where you can start new filings, check the status of existing ones, and view notifications. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Signing in from the CottFile homepage -- clicking the "Attorneys & Public" portal card, entering email and password on the filer login page, and landing on the dashboard. {% endhint %} ## Staff Login **URL:** `/staff/login` If you are a court clerk, judge, judicial staff member, or court administrator, use the staff login portal. From the CottFile homepage, click the **Court Staff** card. Staff login supports **email and password only** -- social login (Google) is not available for staff accounts. After signing in, you will land on your role-specific home page: * **Clerks and Judicial Staff** -- Filing review queue (`/clerk/queue`) * **Judges** -- Judicial inbox (`/judge/inbox`) * **Court Administrators** -- Filing review queue (with access to admin settings) * **Platform Administrators** -- Admin panel (`/admin`) {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Signing in through the Court Staff portal -- clicking the "Court Staff" card on the homepage, entering credentials on the staff login page, and arriving at the clerk review queue. {% endhint %} ## Forgot Your Password? If you cannot remember your password: 1. Go to the sign-in page (`/login` for filers or `/staff/login` for staff). 2. Click the **Forgot password?** link below the password field. 3. Enter the email address associated with your account. 4. Check your email for a verification code and follow the instructions to set a new password. If you do not receive the reset email within a few minutes, check your spam folder. If you still need help, visit the [Support page](https://github.com/Cott-Systems/e-filing/tree/main/support/README.md) or contact your court administrator (for staff). {% hint style="info" %} The forgot password page (`/forgot-password`) also provides a direct link back to the sign-in page and a link to the support page if you need further assistance. {% endhint %} ## Session and Security * Your session will remain active as long as you are using the platform. After a period of inactivity, you will be signed out automatically and will need to log in again. * For security, always sign out when you are finished, especially on shared or public computers. * If you suspect someone has accessed your account without authorization, reset your password immediately and contact support. * All routes except the homepage, login pages, registration, support, and documentation require authentication. Attempting to access a protected page while signed out will redirect you to the appropriate login page. # First Steps by Role After creating your account and signing in, your first actions depend on your role. This page gives you a quick-start checklist for each role so you know exactly what to do first. *** ## Attorney You land on the **filer dashboard** after signing in. Here is what to do first: 1. **Review your profile.** Open **Profile** from the user menu in the top-right corner and verify that your name, bar roll number, phone number, and mailing address are correct. Your bar roll number is used to link you to cases in the court system. 2. **Add a payment card.** On your Profile page, scroll to **Payment Methods** and add a credit or debit card. Filing fees are charged when the clerk accepts your filing, so having a card on file avoids delays. 3. **Join or create an organization (optional).** If you are part of a law firm, CottFile offers matching firms during onboarding ("Is this your firm?") and under **Settings** -- join directly when your firm's email domain matches, or **Request to join** and a member approves you. If your firm isn't on CottFile yet, create it from Settings and invite your team. 4. **File your first case.** On the dashboard, click **File a New Case** to open the filing wizard. Walk through the five steps: Court & Type, Parties, Documents, Fees, and Review. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** An attorney signing in for the first time -- reviewing the dashboard stat cards, clicking Profile to check bar number, then clicking "File a New Case" to open the filing wizard. {% endhint %} *** ## Paralegal You land on the **filer dashboard** after signing in. Paralegals file on behalf of the attorneys they are assigned to: 1. **Join your firm.** If your firm invited you, you were linked automatically at signup. Otherwise, join or create the firm during onboarding or from **Settings** (see the Attorney section above -- the same join flow applies). 2. **Get assigned to attorneys.** An org admin assigns you to the attorneys you file for (**Settings > Team Members > Edit**, "Filing on behalf of"). Until you're assigned -- or you add an attorney yourself -- your member row shows *"No attorneys assigned -- cannot file yet."* 3. **Review your profile and payment setup.** Verify your contact details, and note that paralegals can manage the firm's shared payment card under **Settings > Billing**. 4. **File on behalf of an attorney.** In the filing wizard, you select which of your assigned attorneys the filing is submitted for. If an attorney isn't on CottFile yet, you can create their profile -- they claim it later by signing up with the same email. {% hint style="info" %} Paralegals can also create a firm at signup. A firm created by a paralegal has no org admin until a platform administrator promotes someone. {% endhint %} *** ## Pro Se (Self-Represented Litigant) You land on the **filer dashboard** after signing in. Your experience is the same as an attorney, with a few differences: 1. **Save your PIN.** After onboarding, you received a personal PIN (e.g., PS-12345). Write it down or save it somewhere safe -- you may need it for identification at the courthouse. 2. **Review your profile.** Open **Profile** from the user menu in the top-right corner and verify that your name, phone number, and mailing address are correct. 3. **Add a payment card.** On your Profile page, scroll to **Payment Methods** and add a card for filing fees. 4. **File your first case.** Click **File a New Case** on the dashboard. The filing wizard walks you through each step. If you are unsure which case type or document type to select, check the [FAQ](/reference/faq) or contact your court clerk's office for guidance. {% hint style="info" %} Pro se filers have access to the same filing tools as attorneys. The main difference is that you use a system-generated PIN instead of a bar number. {% endhint %} *** ## Organization Administrator You land on the **filer dashboard** after signing in. As an org admin, you manage filings and your organization: 1. **Set up your organization profile.** Go to **Settings** in the sidebar. On the Organization Profile page, fill in your organization name, type, address, phone, and email. 2. **Add a firm payment card.** Navigate to **Settings > Billing** and add a shared credit or debit card. Team members can choose to use this card when filing. 3. **Invite team members.** Go to **Settings > Team Members** and click **Add Member** to add attorneys, paralegals, and staff by email. People without an account get an invite link (valid for 7 days) and pick their own role at signup; existing solo filers are added immediately; filers already in another firm get an invite to switch that they must accept themselves. 4. **Approve join requests.** When someone asks to join your firm, a **Join Requests** card appears under Team Members (and an ACTION NEEDED banner on the dashboard). Only approve people you know belong to your firm. 5. **File a case or delegate.** You can file cases yourself or let team members file using the organization's account and shared card. 6. **Monitor failed payments.** The Billing page shows any filings with failed payments across your organization. Use **Retry All** to reattempt charges after updating your card. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** An org admin navigating to Settings, filling in the organization profile, then going to Team Members and sending an email invitation to a new team member. {% endhint %} *** ## Clerk You land on the **filing review queue** after signing in. Here is what to do first: 1. **Familiarize yourself with the queue.** The queue is a table with four tabs: **Received**, **My Drafts**, **Returned by Judge**, and **Processed**. Stat cards at the top jump to each view. 2. **Pick up your first filing.** Click any row in the Received tab to open it. The system assigns the filing to you. 3. **Review the documents.** The review screen is a split-panel layout -- PDF viewer on the left, filing details on the right. Check each document for completeness, correct type, legible content, and required signatures. 4. **Make a decision.** Click **Accept** to accept the filing (the filer's card is charged, stamps are applied, and the filing is recorded) or **Reject** to send it back to the filer with a reason and notes. 5. **Learn the keyboard shortcuts.** Alt + A to accept, Alt + R to reject, Alt + N to move to the next filing. These save significant time during high-volume processing. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** A clerk opening the review queue, clicking a filing in the Received tab, reviewing the document in the split-panel viewer, and clicking Accept. {% endhint %} *** ## Judge You land on your **judicial inbox** after signing in. Here is what to do first: 1. **Review your inbox.** The inbox shows filings that clerks have routed to you for review. Unread filings appear bold with a blue dot. Each row shows the case title, document type, filer, priority, and age. 2. **Open a filing.** Click a row to open the review screen with the PDF viewer on the left and filing details on the right. 3. **Read the routing note.** The clerk may have attached a note explaining why the filing needs your attention and what decision is expected. Look for the highlighted note box below the filing info. 4. **Sign or return.** Click **Sign Filing** to approve (you can draw, upload, or use a saved signature) or **Return to Clerk** if something needs correction. Select a return reason and add a note for the clerk. 5. **Save your signature.** When signing for the first time, check **Save this signature for future use** so you do not need to draw or upload it again. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** A judge opening a filing from the inbox, reading the clerk's routing note, clicking "Sign Filing," drawing a signature on the canvas, and clicking "Sign & Approve." {% endhint %} *** ## Court Administrator You land on the **filing review queue** after signing in (you have full clerk access). To access administration, use the **Settings** link in the sidebar. Settings covers **Staff**, **Announcements**, **Reports**, **Notifications**, and **Court** (court-wide preferences). 1. **Add your staff.** Go to **Settings > Staff** and click **Invite Staff Member** to invite clerks, judges, judicial staff, and other court admins by email. Invites expire in 7 days. After a judicial staff member accepts, edit their account to link them to their judge(s). 2. **Set each person's docket.** In the staff list, edit each member and set their **Docket** (Civil, Criminal, or Both) and -- for clerks -- a **Stamp title** (e.g., Deputy Clerk). 3. **Set your stamp default.** Under **Settings > Court**, choose whether the court stamp defaults to the first page only or every page. Clerks can still override per filing. 4. **Pick your email notifications.** Under **Settings > Notifications**, choose which events are emailed to you (new filings, payment events, returns from the judge). 5. **Check reference data.** Case types, filing types, and fees sync from your case management system -- review them with a platform administrator if anything looks off. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** A court admin opening Settings, inviting a staff member, editing their docket, and adjusting the court's stamp behavior. {% endhint %} *** ## Platform Administrator You land on the **admin panel** after signing in. The admin panel gives you control across all parishes. 1. **Review existing parishes.** Go to **Parishes** to see all courts in the system. Verify that e-filing is enabled for each active court. 2. **Check staff and filers.** Court staff live under each parish (**Parishes > {parish} > Users**); filers and firms live under **Organizations**. Verify roles, dockets, and organization memberships. 3. **Review reports.** Go to **Reports** to check filing volume, rejection reasons, queue depth, and clerk productivity across all courts. 4. **Review payment statements.** Each parish's **Statements** page shows the court's monthly settlement -- gross deposits, refunds, chargebacks, and net deposited. 5. **Monitor queue health.** Use the Queue Depth report to identify courts where filings are piling up or aging, and coordinate with court admins to address bottlenecks. # Overview — Your Dashboard When you sign in, the dashboard is your home base. It gives you a snapshot of all your filing activity and quick access to start new filings. ## Stat Cards At the top of the dashboard you will see five summary cards: * **Total Filings** -- The number of filings you have submitted in every status -- Pending, Accepted, Rejected and everything in between (excludes drafts). * **Pending** -- Every submitted filing that has not yet been accepted. This includes filings that are Submitted, Under Review, With Judge, or back with the clerk, as well as Rejected and Payment Failed filings that need your attention. The card count always matches the Pending tab. * **Accepted** -- Filings that have been accepted or recorded with the court. * **Rejected** -- Filings that were rejected by the clerk and may need correction. * **Drafts** -- Filings you started but have not yet submitted. You can resume these at any time. Clicking a stat card takes you to the matching view: **Total Filings** opens the All tab listing every filing, **Pending** opens the Pending tab, **Accepted** opens the Approved tab, **Rejected** opens the Pending tab filtered to rejected filings, and **Drafts** opens the Drafts tab. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Clicking each stat card on the dashboard (Total, Pending, Accepted, Rejected, Drafts) and watching the filings table switch to the matching tab or filter. {% endhint %} ## Payments Due Banner If any of your filings have a failed payment, a **Payments due** banner appears ("N filings accepted by the clerk -- not on the court record until paid") with the total due and a **Review & pay** button. It opens the Payments due page, where you pick a card and pay one or all filings at once. See [Payments, Deposits & Receipts](/filer-guide/wallet-and-payments). ## Filing List Below the stat cards is the **My Filings** card. This is a table of all your filings, organized into four tabs, each with a count badge: * **All** -- Every filing you have submitted, in every status, in one flat list. Its count always matches the Total Filings stat card. Same columns, search and filters as the Pending tab. * **Pending** -- Every filing still waiting on an outcome, including rejected and payment-failed filings. Columns: Case # (a green "NEW" badge if the case has no number yet), Court, Parties, Documents, Fees, Status, and Submitted (newest first). You can search by case number, court, case type, or party, and filter by Status, Court, Parties, or Document Type. Clicking a row opens the full case page -- see [Tracking Your Filings](/filer-guide/tracking-your-filings). * **Approved** -- Accepted filings grouped **by case**, one row per case, sorted by approval date (newest first). The tab badge counts filings and always matches the Accepted stat card, so it can be higher than the number of case rows you see. Columns: Case # (with the case title underneath), Court, Filings, Documents, Fees, and Approved. Expand a case to list its filings, expand a filing to list its documents, and click a document for an inline PDF preview with **Open in new tab** and **Download original**. * **Drafts** -- Filings you started but have not yet submitted. You can resume or delete drafts from here -- see [Working with Drafts](/filer-guide/working-with-drafts). ## Quick Actions In the top-right corner of the My Filings card, two buttons let you start a filing immediately: 1. **File a New Case** -- Opens the filing wizard for a brand-new case. 2. **File on Existing Case** -- Opens a search panel where you can look up a case already in the court's case management system and add documents to it. When you click either button, the filing wizard appears inline above the filings table. You can close it at any time with the **Close** button. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Clicking "File a New Case" on the dashboard, showing the filing wizard appearing inline above the filings table, then clicking "Close" to dismiss it. {% endhint %} ## Criminal Division If any of your courts runs a criminal docket, a **DIVISION** toggle in the top bar lets you **Switch** between Civil and Criminal. In criminal mode the dashboard shows a **My Cases** card with stat cards for Open Cases, Pending, In Court, and Drafts, and only **File on Existing Case** is available -- criminal filings must be filed into an existing case, which you can find by case number or last name. {% hint style="warning" %} Switching divisions while a filing is open asks you to confirm: "You have an active filing in progress. Switching... will close it and return you to the dashboard. Any unsaved progress will be lost." Choose **Stay here** or switch. {% endhint %} ## Navigation The sidebar on the left provides links to all filer pages: * **Dashboard** -- The page described here. * **Notifications** -- View filing status updates and system alerts. * **Payments** -- View your payment history, receipts, and transaction details. * **Reports** -- Filing activity reports (available to attorneys and organization admins). * **Settings** -- Manage your organization profile, team members, billing, and preferences. Visible if you belong to an organization, or if you can create one (attorneys, paralegals, org admins, and government filers without a firm). {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Navigating the filer sidebar -- clicking Dashboard, Notifications, Payments, Reports, and Settings to show each page briefly. {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} You can also drag and drop PDF files anywhere on the page. If you have a filing wizard open, the files are added directly to your current filing. Otherwise, a dialog appears to let you upload and then start a new filing. {% endhint %} # Filing a New Case To file a new case, click **File a New Case** on the dashboard. The filing wizard opens inline, right above your filings table, and walks you through five steps: 1. **Court & Type** 2. **Parties** 3. **Documents** 4. **Fees** 5. **Review** A side panel guides each step. The bottom bar always offers **Back**, **Discard**, **Save Draft**, and **Next**. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Clicking "File a New Case" on the dashboard, the wizard opening inline with the "Court & Filing Type" side panel, and the bottom bar showing Back, Discard, Save Draft, and Next. {% endhint %} *** ## Step 1: Court & Type The **Court & Filing Type** panel asks you to select the court, case type, and filing type: 1. **Court** -- The court where you are filing. Only courts with e-filing enabled appear in the list. 2. **Case Type** -- The category of case (e.g., Civil, Probate). 3. **Filing Type** -- Required when the case type has subtypes; pick the one that best describes your matter. {% hint style="info" %} The court and case type determine which document types and fees are available in later steps. {% endhint %} ## Step 2: Parties The Parties panel starts with one empty card (**Party 1**). Click **Add Party** for each additional party -- the second party defaults to Defendant, later ones to Plaintiff. Use the trash icon (**Remove party**) to delete a card. For each party: * **Organization switch** -- Off for an individual, on for a business or organization. * **Party Role** (required) -- Plaintiff or Defendant. * **Individuals** -- First Name (optional), **Last Name** (required), and Email. * **Organizations** -- **Organization Name** (required). Click **Add more details** to open the optional fields: Title and Middle Name (individuals), Phone, Email (organizations), Address Line 1 and 2, City, State, ZIP, and a **Confidential** switch for parties whose information should be shielded from public view. {% hint style="warning" %} You must add at least one party. Individual parties require a last name; business parties require a business name. {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Adding a party -- toggling the Organization switch, choosing the Party Role, entering the last name, then expanding "Add more details" to fill in the address fields. {% endhint %} ## Step 3: Documents Drag and drop your files into the drop zone, or click to browse. **PDF only, max 500 MB per file.** Once at least one file is uploaded, the panel offers **Add file**, **Add deposit**, and **Add escrow deposit**. For each document: * **Docket Entry** (required) -- A searchable list of the court's document types (e.g., Petition, Motion). The first document you upload is automatically the lead document, and its title comes from the file name -- there is nothing extra to fill in. * **Note for the clerk (optional)** -- Up to 1,000 characters of context for the reviewing clerk, e.g. "proposed order attached, courtesy copy, refiling after correction." The note goes to the clerk only; it never becomes part of the court record. ### Organizing pages The document organizer gives you full page-level control: * **Split by range** -- Enter a page range (e.g., `1-2` splits the document into pages 1-2 and 3 onward). * **Merge documents** -- Combine adjacent documents into one. * **Page thumbnails** -- Rotate a page 90° or remove it individually. * **Multi-select** -- Click to select a page, Ctrl+click for multiple, Shift+click for a range. A toolbar then offers Rotate, Delete, Split to new document, and Clear. * **Reorder** -- Drag documents to change their order. * **Compress all** -- A switch that shrinks large files before submission. * **Delete document** -- Removes an uploaded document (you'll be asked to confirm). A status line keeps count: "N pages in N documents." {% hint style="info" %} The **Sealed** and **Redacted** options are marked "Coming soon" and cannot be used yet. {% endhint %} When you click Next, the system shows "Assembling documents..." while it prepares your files. This may take a moment for large filings. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Uploading a PDF, picking a Docket Entry type, typing a note for the clerk, selecting pages with Shift+click, and splitting them into a new document. {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} You can also drop PDF files anywhere on the dashboard while the wizard is open -- they are added to your current filing. With no wizard open, a dialog offers to start a new filing from the files. {% endhint %} ### Adding an Advance or Escrow Deposit Some filings need money on the case ledger beyond the document fees. Once you have uploaded at least one document, two buttons appear next to **Add file**: * **Add deposit** -- Adds an **Additional Advance Deposit** row with a dollar amount. These are extra funds added to the case ledger: no document is attached, the amount is charged with this filing and credited to the case. Use **Remove deposit** to take it off. The amount must be greater than $0 and no more than $100,000. * **Add escrow deposit** -- Adds an **Escrow Deposit** row. This money is held in the case's escrow account: it is charged with this filing and stays in escrow until the clerk releases it -- it does not pay down the case ledger. Deposits are added to the court amount before the e-filing and convenience fees are calculated. A filing must still contain at least one document -- you cannot submit a deposit on its own. {% hint style="warning" %} Deposits cannot be combined with a fee waiver or a fee-exempt filing. If you request a waiver while a deposit is attached, the wizard asks "Remove your advance deposit?" with the choices **Keep it for now** and **Remove deposit**. {% endhint %} ## Step 4: Fees The **Fee Summary** panel shows exactly what will be charged. Fees are only calculated once you have chosen a filing type in Court & Type. ### Deposit ledger card For a new case, a **Deposit Ledger Estimate** card shows: * **Advance deposit** -- The amount collected up front, based on the filing type and your documents. * **Estimated docket fees** -- What the clerk is expected to deduct for your documents. * **Estimated remaining balance** -- What stays on the case ledger after acceptance. ### Fee summary card The **Fee Summary** card itemizes your **Estimated Charge on Acceptance**: | Line | What it is | | --------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Advance Deposit -- {filing type}** | The court's deposit for opening this case type (the larger of the filing type's base fee and the estimated docket fees). Per-page document fees show as "$X base + N extra pg × $Y/pg". | | **Additional Advance Deposit** / **Escrow Deposit** | Any deposits you added in the Documents step. | | **E-Filing Fee** | A flat $6.00 per filing. | | **Convenience Fee (3.05%)** | 3.05% of the court amount plus the e-filing fee. | | **Estimated Total** | The full amount charged when the clerk accepts. | {% hint style="info" %} Your card is only charged when the clerk accepts your filing. If rejected, no charges are made. {% endhint %} ### Payment method Under **PAYMENT METHOD**, pick the card to charge. If your organization has a firm card on file, it is selected by default (e.g., "{Firm} firm card -- Visa ending in 1234") with a **Use my personal card instead** link to switch; with no firm card, your personal card form is shown. If fees apply and you have no card, no waiver, and no exemption, the filing cannot be submitted until a card is added. ### Fee waiver If you cannot pay the filing fees, check **Request fee waiver (will be reviewed by the clerk)** and choose a **Reason**: * **Pauper** -- You qualify to proceed in forma pauperis. * **Government Agency** -- You are filing for a government agency. An optional **Message** field lets you add details for the clerk. When a waiver is requested, the summary notes: "Fee waiver requested -- no charges will be made if the clerk approves your waiver." {% hint style="warning" %} If your fee waiver is denied, you'll need a payment method on file before the filing can be accepted. {% endhint %} ### Fee-exempt organizations If your organization is fee-exempt, the Fees step shows "Your organization is fee-exempt -- no charges will be made on this filing and no waiver request is needed." Amounts appear struck through with a $0.00 total, and there is no waiver box or card picker. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The Fees step showing the Deposit Ledger Estimate card, the Fee Summary with the e-filing and convenience fee lines, and the PAYMENT METHOD section with a firm card selected. {% endhint %} ## Step 5: Review & Submit The final step summarizes everything, with an **Edit** button on each card: * **Court & Case Information** -- Court, case type, filing type, filing category (New or Existing Case), and case number. * **Parties (N)** -- Every party, with "(Confidential)" flagged where set. * **Documents (N)** -- Each document with its Lead badge and file size. Deposit rows appear as "Additional Advance Deposit" or "Escrow Deposit" with a "No document" badge. * **Fee Summary** -- The Estimated Total. **Internal Reference (optional)** -- Your firm's own tracking number (matter number, file number, etc., up to 100 characters). It appears in reports and Excel exports. Before submitting, check the certification checkbox: > "I certify that the information provided is true and correct to the best of my knowledge. I understand that filing false documents may result in sanctions or other penalties under applicable law." Click **Submit Filing**. ### The success screen On success you'll see **"Filing Submitted Successfully"** -- "Your filing has been submitted and is now in the clerk review queue." -- along with your reference number ("Ref: ..."), the submission timestamp, and a note that an email confirmation has been sent to your registered email address. From here, choose **Back to Dashboard** or **File Another Case**. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The Review step -- scrolling the summary cards, entering an Internal Reference, checking the certification box, clicking "Submit Filing," and the success screen appearing with the reference number. {% endhint %} *** ## Saving, Auto-Save, and Discarding * **Auto-save** -- Once you have picked a court and case type, the wizard automatically saves a draft every time you click Next. If an auto-save fails, a message asks you to use Save Draft to preserve your progress. * **Save Draft** -- Saves everything and closes the wizard, returning you to the dashboard. Find the draft later on the **Drafts** tab (see [Working with Drafts](/filer-guide/working-with-drafts)). * **Discard** -- Opens a "Discard filing?" confirmation. For a saved draft, it warns: "This will permanently delete this draft, including all uploaded documents and party information. This action cannot be undone." Choose **Keep working** or **Discard filing**. * Submitting successfully removes the auto-saved draft -- no cleanup needed. # Filing on an Existing Case If you need to add documents to a case that already exists with the court, use **File on Existing Case** instead of starting a new case. ## Finding Your Case 1. Click **File on Existing Case** on the dashboard. A search panel appears: "Find an existing case to file on." 2. **First select a court** from the court dropdown -- until you do, the search field reads "Select a court first…". 3. Type your search term -- a case number (criminal searches also accept a last name). Results appear automatically a moment after you stop typing (two characters minimum), or press Enter. 4. Results show the case number, title (if any), type, and filed date, each with a **File** button. If nothing matches, you'll see "No cases found. Try a different search term." {% hint style="warning" %} A civil case that is not currently open cannot be e-filed on. You'll see: "This case is not currently open and is not eligible for eFiling. Please contact the Clerk's Office for further assistance." The search results stay on screen so you can pick another case. {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Selecting a court, typing a case number, results appearing automatically, and clicking "File" on a result row. {% endhint %} ## Selecting a Case Click **File** on a result to select the case. A context bar appears above the wizard showing the case number and the number of parties. Picked the wrong one? Click **Change** to return to the search. ## Confirming Who You Represent Before the wizard opens, the system checks whether you are on the case: * **You are listed on the case** -- If your bar number matches an attorney on the case's roster, you'll see **"Filing as"** -- "You are listed as attorney on this case." -- with the party you represent (or a button per party if you represent several). The panel also shows the case's **Deposit balance** with an **Add Funds** link to top it up before filing (see [Payments, Deposits & Receipts](/filer-guide/wallet-and-payments)). Click **Continue to Filing**. * **You are not listed** -- You'll see **"Who are you filing for?"** -- "You are not listed as an attorney on this case. Enter the party you represent." Pick the **Side** (Plaintiff or Defendant), type the party name, and continue. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The "Filing as" panel showing the matched party, the deposit balance with the Add Funds link, and clicking "Continue to Filing." {% endhint %} ## Sealed and Secured Cases On a sealed or secured case, the title and party names are masked as "Sealed" or "Secured" unless your bar number is on the case. The parties panel explains: "This case is sealed. The N parties on this case are hidden from your view. Your filing will still be attached to the existing parties when submitted." ## Completing the Filing The wizard opens **at the Documents step** -- Court & Type and Parties are locked, because they come from the existing case record. From here: 1. **Documents** -- Upload your PDFs, assign docket entry types, and organize pages exactly as for a new case (see [Filing a New Case](/filer-guide/filing-a-new-case)). 2. **Fees** -- Fees depend on the case's deposit balance for the party you represent: if the deposit covers the estimated docket fees, you pay only the $6.00 e-filing fee plus the convenience fee; any shortfall is added to the charge. If you represent more than one party on the case, the Fees step asks **"Which party are you filing for?"** -- "Pick which one you're filing for so the right deposit balance is applied." 3. **Review & Submit** -- Confirm the details and submit. Your filing is attached to the existing case, and the clerk reviews it like any other filing. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The wizard opening at the Documents step with Court & Type and Parties locked, then the Fees step asking "Which party are you filing for?" on a multi-party case. {% endhint %} ## Courts Without a Case Management System Some courts use CottFile for e-filing but keep their own case management system. At these courts there is no case search. Instead, an intro explains: "This court is not connected to a case management system, so enter the case details from your copy of the record. You only need to name the party you represent, not the whole caption -- the clerk verifies the case before accepting." Fill in: * **Case number** (e.g., 2024-12345) -- required before you can submit. * **Party you are filing for** (e.g., John Smith) and the **Side**. * **Case type** and **Filing type** (the filing type list appears once a case type is chosen). Click **Continue**. The Parties step is skipped -- the clerk matches your filing to the case in their own system. # Working with Drafts You do not have to complete a filing in one sitting. The system saves your progress as a draft and lets you come back later. ## How Drafts Are Saved * **Auto-save** -- Once you have picked a court and case type in the wizard, every click of **Next** automatically saves a draft. If an auto-save fails, a message asks you to use Save Draft to preserve your progress. * **Save Draft** -- The **Save Draft** button in the wizard's bottom bar saves everything -- court, case type, parties, documents, and fee preferences -- and closes the wizard, returning you to the dashboard. * Submitting a filing successfully removes its auto-saved draft. {% hint style="info" %} Drafts are never visible to clerks. {% endhint %} ## Finding Your Drafts Open the **Drafts** tab on the dashboard's My Filings card. The Drafts stat card at the top of the dashboard shows your count and jumps to the tab when clicked. Each draft card shows: * The case type name, with a **New Case** or **Existing Case** pill * The court and case type * How many parties and documents you have added so far * **Last updated** date {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Clicking the Drafts tab on the dashboard, showing draft cards with the New Case pill, party and document counts, and last-updated dates. {% endhint %} ## Resuming a Draft Click **Resume** on a draft card. The wizard opens with all your saved data loaded, at the first step that still needs work. ## Deleting a Draft Click the trash icon on a draft card. A **Delete Draft?** dialog confirms: "Are you sure you want to delete this draft? This action cannot be undone. All uploaded documents and party information for this draft will be removed." Choose **Cancel** or **Delete Draft**. {% hint style="warning" %} Deleting a draft is permanent. There is no way to recover a deleted draft, its documents, or its party information. {% endhint %} ## No Drafts Yet? With no saved drafts, the tab shows: "No drafts -- You have no saved draft filings. Start a new filing and save as draft at any step," with a **File a New Case** button to get started. # Tracking Your Filings After you submit a filing, you can track its progress from the dashboard or the case detail page. ## The Filings Table The **My Filings** table on the dashboard organizes everything into three tabs, each with a count badge: * **Pending** -- Every filing still waiting on a final outcome, including rejected and payment-failed filings. Columns: Case # (a green "NEW" badge for a case without a number yet), Court, Parties, Documents, Fees, Status, and Submitted (newest first). Search by case number, court, case type, or party; filter by Status, Court, Parties, or Document Type. * **Approved** -- Accepted filings grouped by case, one row per case, sorted by approval date. Expand a case to see its filings and documents. * **Drafts** -- Filings you started but have not yet submitted. Clicking a row on the Pending tab opens the full case detail page. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The My Filings table -- switching between the Pending, Approved, and Drafts tabs, then clicking a Pending row to open the case detail page. {% endhint %} ## Filing Statuses Your filing moves through these statuses as it is processed: | Status | Meaning | | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Submitted** | Your filing has been received and is waiting in the clerk's queue. | | **Under Review** | A clerk has picked up your filing and is reviewing the documents. | | **With Judge** | The filing has been routed to a judge for approval (required for certain filing types). | | **Judge Signed** | The judge has signed, and the filing is heading back for recording. | | **Returned to Clerk** | The judge sent the filing back to the clerk for further handling. | | **Accepted** | The filing has been accepted and is being recorded with the court. | | **Partial Accept** | Some documents were accepted and others were rejected. Check the document details to see which ones need correction. | | **Payment Failed** | The clerk accepted the filing but the card charge failed, so nothing is on the court record yet. Pay from the **Payments due** page to send it back for recording. | | **Rejected** | The filing was rejected by the clerk. See [Correcting a Rejected Filing](/filer-guide/correcting-a-rejected-filing) for next steps. | | **Recorded** | The filing has been fully processed and recorded with the court. This is the final state for a successful filing. | Rejected and payment-failed filings stay on the **Pending** tab until resolved, so nothing that needs your attention is hidden. ## The Case Detail Page Click any Pending row to open the case detail page. It shows: * **Header** -- The case number (or your filing number if no case number has been assigned yet), the current status badge, the case title (masked as "Sealed" or "Secured" on protected cases), a back arrow, and an **Edit & Resubmit** button when the filing was rejected. * **Four summary cards** -- Court, Filing Type, Filed Date (or "Not submitted"), and Filing Category (new or existing case). * **Rejection Details** -- If the filing was rejected, a highlighted card shows the reason, the clerk's notes, and when it was rejected. * **Note from the Clerk** -- If the clerk left you a note when accepting or rejecting, it appears in its own card. The same note is included in the acceptance or rejection email. * **Payment history** -- Charges related to this case appear below the tabs. ### Tabs * **Filings (N)** -- Your filings on this case, each with its case number (or "NEW"), status, court and type, lead document, and date. * **Parties (N)** -- All parties on the case. * **Documents (N)** -- Every document with its Lead, Sealed, or Redacted badge, document type, file size, status badge, and a single **Download** button. Download always serves the best available version of the document -- the signed copy if a judge signed it, otherwise the edited, stamped, or original file. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The case detail page -- the header with the status badge, the four summary cards, the Note from the Clerk card, and switching between the Filings, Parties, and Documents tabs, then clicking Download on a document. {% endhint %} ## Failed Payments If a filing's charge fails at acceptance, the filing moves to **Payment Failed** -- it is not stamped or recorded until it's paid. A **Payments due** banner on the dashboard shows how many filings are waiting and the total due; click **Review & pay** to pick a card and pay one or all of them at once. Once paid, the filing returns to the clerk's queue for recording, and the clerk's acceptance never charges you a second time. See [Payments, Deposits & Receipts](/filer-guide/wallet-and-payments) for the full flow. {% hint style="info" %} You will receive a notification and an email whenever your filing status changes. Check the Notifications page to see all updates -- see [Notifications and Email Preferences](/filer-guide/notifications). {% endhint %} # Correcting a Rejected Filing When a clerk rejects your filing, you receive a notification and an email explaining the reason. You can correct the issues and resubmit without starting from scratch. ## Understanding the Rejection Rejected filings stay on the **Pending** tab of your dashboard, so they are easy to spot. Open the filing to see its case detail page, where a **Rejection Details** card shows: * **Reason** -- Why the filing was rejected. * **Notes** -- A free-text explanation from the reviewing clerk describing what needs to be fixed. * **Rejected on** -- The date and time of the rejection. If the clerk left a separate **Note from the Clerk**, it appears in its own card and is also included in the rejection email. The rejection email is titled **"Filing Rejected"** and includes the reason and notes, plus a **Correct and Resubmit** button that takes you straight to the case page. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Opening a rejected filing from the Pending tab, showing the Rejection Details card with the reason, clerk notes, and rejection date. {% endhint %} ## Resubmitting 1. Open the rejected filing's detail page. 2. Click **Edit & Resubmit** in the top-right corner. 3. The filing wizard opens with your original data pre-filled -- court, case type, case link, parties, documents, deposits, fee waiver, and internal reference. Per-document notes to the clerk are not carried over, so re-enter any you still need. 4. A red alert at the top of the wizard summarizes the rejection: **"This filing was rejected"**, when it was rejected, the reason and notes, and -- if the clerk set a cure deadline -- **"Please resubmit by {date}"**. The deadline turns amber when it is within three days, and shows "Cure deadline passed" in red once it has expired. 5. Make the corrections -- re-upload fixed documents, change document types, or update party information -- then walk through the remaining steps and submit. The resubmission creates a **new filing linked to the original**. Both remain in your history -- the original stays rejected, and the new one begins its own review cycle. {% hint style="warning" %} If a cure deadline is shown, resubmit before it expires. After the deadline passes, you may need to contact the Clerk's Office or start a new filing. {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Clicking "Edit & Resubmit" on a rejected filing, the wizard opening pre-filled with the red rejection alert and cure deadline at the top, re-uploading a corrected document, and clicking Submit. {% endhint %} # Payments, Deposits & Receipts This page explains how CottFile charges you, how deposits work, and where to find your payment history and receipts. ## How You're Charged Your card is **only charged when the clerk accepts your filing**. If the filing is rejected, nothing is charged. Every paid filing charges three amounts together: * **Court fees** -- what the court collects (advance deposit on a new case, or the shortfall on an existing case). * **E-Filing Fee** -- a flat **$6.00** per filing. * **Convenience Fee (3.05%)** -- 3.05% of the court fees plus the e-filing fee. For example: $100 in court fees → $100 + $6.00 + $3.23 = **$109.23** total. If a filing has no court fees but isn't waived, you still pay the platform minimum of **$6.18** ($6.00 + 3.05%). * **New case** -- the court amount is the **advance deposit**: the larger of the filing type's base fee and the estimated docket fees for your documents. Per-page document types show a detail line like "$X base + N extra pg × $Y/pg". * **Existing case** -- you pay only the **shortfall**: estimated docket fees minus the deposit balance for the party you represent. If the deposit covers everything, you pay just $6.18. The full breakdown appears on the **Fees** step of the filing wizard before you submit, including a **Deposit Ledger** card showing the advance deposit or current balance, estimated docket fees, and the estimated remaining balance. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The Fees step showing the Deposit Ledger Estimate card, the Fee Summary with the E-Filing Fee and Convenience Fee lines, and the payment method selector. {% endhint %} ## Cards on File * **Personal card** -- add it from your **Profile** page under **Payment Methods** (or during onboarding). * **Firm card** -- your organization's shared card, managed under **Settings > Billing** by org admins and paralegals. On the Fees step, the firm card is used by default when one exists ("*{Firm}* firm card -- Visa ending in 1234"), with a **Use my personal card instead** link to switch. You need a card on file to submit a filing with fees -- unless you requested a fee waiver or are fee-exempt. {% hint style="info" %} **Can't see the card form?** Click **"Add your card using your phone"** -- scan the QR code, copy the link, or have it emailed. The link expires in 15 minutes. {% endhint %} ## Deposits CottFile supports three ways to put money on a case, beyond the automatic advance deposit: ### Additional Advance Deposit On the **Documents** step of the wizard, click **+ Add deposit** to add extra funds to the case ledger. No document is attached -- the amount is charged with this filing and credited to the case. It can't be combined with a fee waiver or used on fee-exempt filings. ### Escrow Deposit Also on the Documents step: **+ Add escrow deposit**. Escrow funds are held in the case's escrow account -- charged with the filing but kept in escrow until the clerk releases them. They do **not** pay down the case ledger. ### Add Funds (Deposit Top-Up) To top up a case's deposit **without filing anything**, go to **File on Existing Case**, pick the case and the party you're filing as -- the panel shows "Deposit balance: $X" with an **Add Funds** link. Choose an amount (quick picks: the amount owed, $100, $250, $500, $1,000) and confirm. * A top-up charges only the **3.05% convenience fee** -- no $6 e-filing fee. * It's charged to your card on file (firm card first). * Civil cases only, and you must be an attorney on the case. * You and the attorney of record receive a **Deposit Receipt** email, and the top-up appears on your Payments and Statements pages. ## Fee Waivers If you cannot afford the filing fees, request a waiver on the Fees step: 1. Check **Request fee waiver (will be reviewed by the clerk)**. 2. Pick a **Reason**: **Pauper** (in forma pauperis) or **Government Agency**, and optionally add a message for the clerk. 3. The clerk reviews the request before accepting. If approved, nothing is charged; if denied, you'll need a payment method on file before the filing can be accepted. {% hint style="info" %} **Government filers** and members of organizations marked **fee-exempt** are waived automatically -- the Fees step shows "Your organization is fee-exempt" and no waiver request is needed. The clerk can also apply **Defer Court Costs**, which draws the court's costs from the case's existing deposit while still charging the $6.18 platform fees. {% endhint %} ## If Your Card Is Declined If the charge fails when the clerk accepts, the filing is **not recorded with the court** -- it waits for payment. You'll get a "Payment failed" email, and your dashboard shows a **Payments due** banner ("N filings accepted by the clerk -- not on the court record until paid"). Click **Review & pay** to open the **Payments due** page: 1. Each row shows the case, filing, issue (e.g., "Card declined -- insufficient funds"), and amount. 2. Choose what to pay with: the firm card, your personal card, or **+ New card**. 3. Click **Pay $X & resubmit** (or **& resubmit all** for several at once). Paying charges the card immediately and sends the filing back to the clerk's queue for recording -- **the clerk's acceptance never charges you a second time**. The filing owner, the paralegal who prepared it, or an org admin can pay. Org admins can also use **Retry All** under **Settings > Billing**. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The "Payments due" banner on the dashboard, opening the Payments due page, selecting a card, and clicking "Pay & resubmit." {% endhint %} ## The Payments Page The **Payments** link in the sidebar shows your filing fee payments and transaction history. * **Summary cards:** **Total Paid** (successful charges), **Filings Paid**, and **Failed** (needs attention). * **Recent Transactions:** each row shows the description ("Filing Fee -- ..." or "Deposit -- {case #}"), date, a case link, the card used, the amount (refunds show as green credits), and a status badge. Failed rows show a **retry payment** link. * **Receipts:** successful payments have a download button. Org admins with **Accounting access** see the whole firm's transactions, not just their own. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The Payments page -- summary cards, the transaction list, clicking a case link, and downloading a receipt. {% endhint %} ## Receipts Each successful payment has a downloadable **PDF receipt** showing the court, suit and case number, the date, the card used, the PSP reference, and the charge breakdown (To Clerk of Court, E-Filing Fee, Convenience Fee, Total Charged). The "Filing Accepted" email also includes a payment receipt block. A **failed** transaction downloads as a *transaction record* instead -- clearly marked "No funds were charged." For a full, filterable history with per-column fee breakdowns and CSV export, see [Statements & Receipts](/filer-guide/statements). ## Refunds and Disputes Refunds are issued by the court through the payment portal -- not from CottFile. When one is issued, it flows back automatically and appears as a credit on your Payments and Statements pages, netted out of your totals. If you believe you were charged in error, contact the clerk's office for the court you filed in. # Statements & Receipts The **Statements** page (visible in the sidebar once you have at least one transaction) lists every card payment you've made, with downloadable receipts and a CSV export. It's the place to reconcile your filing spend. ## Summary Cards * **Total Charged** -- court costs plus processing fees, **net of refunds**. * **Transactions** -- successful charges. * **Failed** -- attempts where no funds moved. ## The Transactions Table A rolling list of your most recent transactions (up to 500), with one row per charge, top-up, or refund: | Column | What it shows | | ------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | | Date | When the transaction happened | | Case # / Suit | The case the payment belongs to | | Type | Filing charge, New suit filing, Deposit top-up, or Refund | | Court | The parish | | Card | Brand and last four digits | | Status | paid, refund, failed, or pending | | Court Fees / E-Filing / Conv. 3.05% / Total | The per-column fee breakdown | * Click a column header to **sort**; the funnel icon **filters** by value or date range. There's also a search box ("Search suits, cases, cards…") and a **Clear filters** link. * **Failed rows** are struck through -- hover to see the decline reason. No funds moved on those. * **Refunds** show as negative amounts and are netted out of the footer **Totals (net)** row. * The receipt icon downloads the PDF receipt for that row (failed rows download a *transaction record* instead). ## Export CSV Click **Export CSV** to download the table (respecting any active filters). The file includes the visible columns plus the filing number, transaction ID, and failure reason -- ready for your accounting system. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The Statements page -- filtering by date range, sorting by Total, downloading a receipt, and clicking Export CSV. {% endhint %} ## Who Sees What You see your own transactions. Org admins with **Accounting access** (set under Settings → Team Members) see the whole firm's transactions, with sealed case captions masked. {% hint style="info" %} Court staff have their own version of this page under **Clerk Portal → Payments**, scoped to money collected for their court. {% endhint %} # Reports The Reports page is an analytics and accounting dashboard for your organization's filing activity. It appears in the sidebar for **attorneys and org admins with Accounting access** -- a per-member switch set under **Settings > Team Members > Edit** ("Accounting access"), or by a platform administrator. Without it, the page says "Accounting access not enabled." ## Filters At the top of the page: * **Date Range** -- presets (Today, 7d, 30d, Month, YTD) or custom from/to dates with **Apply**. * **Court**, **Doc Type**, and **Status** (Submitted, Under Review, Accepted, Rejected, Partial Accept, Recorded). * An active-filter count with **Clear all**. ## Summary Cards Three stat cards reflect the current filters: * **Total Filings** -- filings submitted by your organization * **Total Fees** -- with a court vs. convenience breakdown ("Court $X · Conv. $Y") * **Acceptance Rate** -- percentage of decided filings that were accepted ## Charts * **Top Cases** -- the cases with the most filing activity, ranked with their fees * **Daily Spending** -- filing fees per day ## Filing Ledger A detailed table of every filing: **Case #**, **Internal Ref** (the matter number or file reference entered at filing time), **Court**, **Case Type**, **Doc Types**, **Total Fee** (hover for the court/convenience split), **Status**, and **Submitted**. Click any column header to sort. ## Case Deposits A second table lists deposit activity by case: **Case #**, **Court**, **Total Charged**, and **Paid**. Deposits are filtered by date and court only. Receipts download from the [Payments](/filer-guide/wallet-and-payments) or [Statements](/filer-guide/statements) pages. ## Export to Excel Click **Export to Excel** to download an `.xlsx` workbook with four sheets -- **Filing Ledger**, **Case Deposits**, **Daily Counts**, and **Summary** -- respecting your active filters. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The Reports page -- picking a date preset, filtering by court, scrolling the Filing Ledger, and clicking Export to Excel. {% endhint %} ## Related Pages * Your filing history also lives on the **dashboard** in the My Filings table. * For per-transaction financials with receipts and CSV export, use [Statements & Receipts](/filer-guide/statements). * For court-stamped copies of recorded documents, open the case detail page -- stamped documents include the court name, date, and recording number. # Notifications CottFile keeps you informed two ways: in-app notifications in the notification center, and emails for key events. In-app notifications are always on; emails are configurable. ## The Notification Center Click the bell icon in the top bar (it carries an unread count badge) or **Notifications** in the sidebar. The page has two modes: * **Notifications** -- Your notifications, newest first, with a "New" badge on unread items and the unread count in the mode switch. * **Activity Trail** -- The same events grouped by filing, shown as a timeline, so you can follow one filing's full history. Tools on the page: * **Search** -- "Search notifications..." finds items by text. * **Filters** -- Accepted, Rejected, Pending, In Review, Fee Waiver, and Activity. * **Mark all read** -- Clears the unread badges. * **Gear icon** -- Opens Email preferences. Select a notification to see its details in the pane beside the list; each one links to the related filing. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Opening the notification center from the bell icon, switching between Notifications and Activity Trail, filtering by Rejected, and clicking a notification to view its details. {% endhint %} ## Email Preferences Open **Email Preferences** from the gear icon on the notifications page. As the page explains: "Choose which notifications are delivered to your email. In-app notifications are always shown regardless of these settings." ### Where notifications are sent By default, emails go to your sign-in address. You can instead list **up to 5 addresses** -- including a shared firm inbox like `filings@yourfirm.com`: * **Add address** -- Adds a recipient field. * **Start from my sign-in address** -- Pre-fills the first field with your login email. {% hint style="warning" %} Adding any address replaces your sign-in address as the recipient. If you still want emails at your sign-in address, add it to the list explicitly. {% endhint %} ### Choosing which emails you get Six toggles control the email types, with **Enable all** / **Disable all** shortcuts: | Toggle | What it sends | | ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Filing Submitted** | Confirmation when your filing is submitted for clerk review. | | **Filing Accepted** | When the clerk accepts your filing (including when the clerk records a judge-signed filing). | | **Filing Rejected** | When your filing is rejected, with reasons and next steps. | | **Fee Waiver Decision** | The outcome of a fee waiver request. | | **Case Activity** | Reserved -- no emails are sent for case activity today. In-app updates always appear regardless of this toggle. | | **System Alerts** | Platform announcements and maintenance notices. | Click **Save preferences** to apply your changes. {% hint style="info" %} Judge steps themselves (routing, signing, returning) do not generate filer emails -- your email arrives when the clerk makes the final decision on the filing. {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The Email Preferences page -- adding a shared firm inbox under "Where notifications are sent," toggling off Filing Submitted, and clicking Save preferences. {% endhint %} ## The Emails You Receive | Email | When | What it contains | | --------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Filing Submitted** | Right after you submit | Case number (or "Pending"), court, filing type, lead document, submission time, estimated fee, and a **View Filing Details** button. | | **Filing Accepted** | When the clerk accepts | Filing details, a payment block with your receipt, and any Note from the Clerk. | | **Filing Rejected** | When the clerk rejects | The reason, notes, any Note from the Clerk, and a **Correct and Resubmit** button. | | **Fee Waiver Denied** | When a waiver request is denied | The decision -- a card must then be on file before the filing can be accepted. | | **Payment failed** | When the charge at acceptance declines | The failure reason, and a reminder that once payment goes through, your filing returns to the clerk's queue for acceptance. | | **Deposit Receipt** | After an Add Funds deposit top-up | Confirmation of the amount added to the case deposit. | {% hint style="info" %} If a paralegal prepared the filing, they receive the same emails according to their own email preferences. {% endhint %} # Managing Your Profile The Profile page lets you view and update your account details, credentials, and payment methods. ## Account Information The top of the profile page shows your role and key credentials: * **Email** -- Your primary login email. This is read-only. It is also the address the court uses to reach you about your filings, so it can only be changed by a system administrator -- contact your court if it needs updating. * **Role** -- Your account type (Attorney, Paralegal, Pro Se Litigant, Organization Admin, or Government). This is set during onboarding and determines your available features. * **Bar Roll Number** -- For attorneys (and government filers with bar credentials), your Louisiana State Bar registration. This is used to link you to cases in the court system. It must be unique -- if you see *"This bar roll number is already registered to another account"*, and the number is yours, contact the court so they can merge the duplicate record. * **PIN** -- For pro se litigants, a system-generated PIN (e.g., PS-12345) used for identification. ## Contact Details You can update the following fields at any time: * **First Name** and **Last Name** * **Phone Number** * **Mailing Address** -- structured fields: address lines, City, State, and ZIP. Attorneys must keep a complete mailing address on file. * **Bar Roll Number** (for attorneys) Click **Save** after making changes. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The Profile page showing account information at the top (role, bar number, email), editing the phone number and mailing address fields, and clicking Save. {% endhint %} ## Firm / Organization If you are part of a law firm or organization, your current firm affiliation is shown on the profile page. To join a firm, use the join flow in [Settings](/filer-guide/settings) (or during onboarding) -- CottFile matches you to your firm by email domain or name, and a member approves you when needed. To be added by your firm instead, ask a member to send you an invite from Settings → Team Members. ### Switching Firms If a firm adds your email while you already belong to another organization, you receive an **invite to switch**. Your dashboard shows an **Invitation to join** banner; click **Review invitation** to see what moving means -- you leave your current firm, your filings stay with you, and any paralegal assignments in the old firm are cleared. Choose **Accept & switch** or **Decline**. {% hint style="info" %} If you are the only admin of a firm that still has other members, assign another admin before switching. {% endhint %} ## Password You can change your password through the password management dialog accessible from the Profile page. You will need to enter your current password and then set a new one. ## Payment Methods The Profile page includes a **Payment Methods** section where you can manage your personal credit and debit cards: * **Add a card** -- Enter your card details through the secure payment form. The system automatically detects the card brand (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover). Your full card details are stored securely by the payment processor and are never visible to the system. * **Update your card** -- Click **Update** to replace your card with a new one. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Scrolling to the Payment Methods section on the Profile page, clicking to add a card, entering card details in the secure form, and seeing the card appear with brand and last four digits. {% endhint %} Your personal card is used for filing fees unless your organization has a shared firm card on file. During the Fees step of the filing wizard, you can choose which card to use. ## Notification Preferences Notifications are managed from the Notifications page, not the Profile page. There you can review all your in-app notifications, choose which emails you receive, and send emails to up to five addresses -- including a shared firm inbox. See [Notifications and Email Preferences](/filer-guide/notifications). # Settings The **Settings** link appears in the sidebar for anyone who belongs to an organization -- and for attorneys, paralegals, organization admins, and government filers who don't have one yet, so they can create or join one. It opens a dedicated settings area with four tabs: **Organization**, **Team Members**, **Billing**, and **Preferences**. {% hint style="info" %} Until you have an organization, the Team Members and Billing tabs are grayed out with "Create an organization first." {% endhint %} ## Creating or Joining an Organization If you're not part of an organization yet, the Organization tab shows **Create your organization**: enter an **Organization name** and click **Create organization** -- or join your firm if CottFile finds it. As you type, matching firms appear below the field (matched by your email domain and by name): * **Join** -- shown when your email domain clearly belongs to that firm. You're added immediately. * **Request to join** -- shown when CottFile can't confirm the firm from your email. A member of the firm is emailed to approve you. While a request is pending, this tab shows a **Request pending** card with a **Withdraw request** button. You can only have one pending request at a time; requests expire after 7 days. ## Organization Profile The **Organization Details** card lets you view and edit your organization's details: * **Organization Name** * **Organization Type** (Law Firm, Solo Practice, Government Agency, Legal Aid, Other) * **Address** * **Phone** * **Email** Click **Save Changes** after making edits. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Navigating to Settings in the sidebar, editing the organization name and address on the Organization tab, and clicking Save Changes. {% endhint %} ## Team Members The Team Members page shows everyone in your organization and lets you manage the team. Any attorney, paralegal, or org admin in the firm can add members, revoke invites, and remove members (with the limits noted below). ### Member List Shows each member's name, email, role, and status. Badges flag special situations: **Org Admin**, **(you)**, **suspended**, and -- for paralegals -- which attorneys they file **for**, or *"No attorneys assigned -- cannot file yet."* ### Adding Members Click **Add Member**, enter the person's **email address**, and pick a **role** (Attorney, Paralegal, Pro Se, or Government). What happens depends on the email: * **No account yet** -- an invitation email is sent. It expires in **7 days**, and the person picks their own account type at signup; the invite links them to your firm. * **Existing filer with no firm** -- they're added immediately with the chosen role and emailed a confirmation. * **Existing filer in another firm** -- they receive an **invite to switch** and must accept it themselves. Accepting moves their account to your firm; their filings stay with them. ### Pending Invitations Each outstanding invite shows the email, when it was sent, and a **Pending** badge, with a **Revoke** button. ### Join Requests When someone asks to join your firm (from onboarding or Settings), a **Join Requests** card appears here, and org members see an **ACTION NEEDED** banner on the dashboard. Each request shows the person's email, role, bar number, and when they asked, with **Approve** and **Decline** buttons. {% hint style="warning" %} Only approve people you know belong to your firm. Members can see the firm's team, use its saved payment card, and file on behalf of its attorneys. Approving adds them immediately; declining sends them a short notice. Requests expire after 7 days. {% endhint %} The requester is emailed either way. An organization admin who requests to join joins as an **attorney**. ### Editing a Member (Org Admins Only) Org admins see a pencil icon on each member row. The **Edit** dialog covers: * **Name and email** * **Role** -- Attorney, Paralegal, Org Admin, Pro Se, or Government. You can't change your own role -- promote another member to org admin first. * **Bar number** (optional for paralegals) * **Active (can log in and file)** * **Organization admin** -- grants org-admin powers (manage the team, billing, and org card) while keeping their role. * **Accounting access** -- shows the Reports tab with organization filings, fees, and revenue. * **Filing on behalf of** (paralegals) -- select the attorneys this paralegal can file for. ### Removing Members Click remove on a member's row and confirm. They keep their account but are no longer part of the organization. You can't remove yourself, and only an org admin can remove another org admin. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The Team Members page showing the member list and pending invites, clicking "Add Member", entering an email address, choosing a role, and sending the invitation. {% endhint %} ## Billing The Billing page manages the organization's shared payment method. Paralegals and org admins can manage the firm card; the billing contact and failed filings are org-admin only. ### Organization Payment Card Your firm can have a shared credit or debit card on file for filing fees. The card is displayed as a visual card showing the brand, last four digits, and expiration date. * **Add a card** -- If no card is on file, click the placeholder to open the card entry form. Card details are stored securely by the payment processor -- the system never sees your full card number. * **Update the card** -- Click the **Update** button below the card to replace it with a new one. When individual filers submit filings, they can choose the organization card or their personal card during the Fees step. ### Failed Filings (Org Admins) If any filings in your organization have failed payments, they appear in a table below the card: filing number, filer name, amount, and the date the payment failed. Click **Retry All** to attempt payment again on all failed filings at once. After updating the card, you will also be prompted to retry failed payments automatically. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The Billing page showing the visual card display, the failed filings table, clicking "Update" to change the card, then "Retry All" to reattempt payments. {% endhint %} ### Billing Contact (Org Admins) Set a billing contact email address for payment-related notifications. ## Preferences The **Filing Preferences** page currently offers: * **Email Notifications** -- live today. Choose which email notifications you receive and where they are sent -- including a shared firm inbox. See [Tracking Your Filings](/filer-guide/tracking-your-filings) for the events covered. Coming soon: * **Default Court** -- a default parish for new filings across your organization. * **Filing Defaults** -- pre-filled case type, document type, and party information for common filing patterns. * **Fee Waivers** -- fee waiver request policies for your organization. # Overview — The Review Queue The review queue is where you manage incoming e-filings for your court. When you open the Clerk Console, the queue is the first thing you see. ## Sidebar Navigation The Clerk Console sidebar gives you access to: * **Dashboard** -- The filing review queue (your home screen). * **Notifications** -- Filing assignments, acceptance/rejection confirmations, urgent alerts, judge returns, and general activity. Filter by category: Assigned, Accepted, Rejected, Urgent, or Activity. Mark individual or all notifications as read. * **Printing** -- Your personal print queue for documents you need to print. A badge shows how many items are waiting. See [Printing](/clerk-guide/printing). * **Payments** -- Card payment statements for your court, with a **Clerk fees only** / **All charges** toggle and CSV export. See [Payments](/clerk-guide/payments). * **AI Assistant** -- Coming soon. * **Settings** -- Parish-level configuration (visible to Clerks and Court Admins only). See [Settings](#settings) below. ## Stat Cards Across the top of the queue, stat cards give you a live count of each stage: * **RECEIVED** * **ACCEPTED** * **WITH JUDGE** -- reads "N accepted · awaiting signature" * **REJECTED** * **PAYMENT FAILED** * **RETURNED BY JUDGE** Clicking a card jumps straight to the matching tab or sub-tab. ## The Filing Queue Your queue is a sortable, searchable table organized into tabs by filing status. It is not a drag-and-drop board -- you click a row to open the filing in the review screen. The top-level tabs are: * **Received** -- New filings that have not been opened yet, plus filings already under review. * **My Drafts** -- Filings you (the clerk) have started and saved but not yet processed. * **Returned by Judge** -- Filings a judge has signed or sent back to you. Once a filing lands here, it no longer appears in Received. If nothing is waiting, the tab reads "Nothing returned by a judge" -- "Filings signed or sent back by a judge will appear here". * **Processed** -- Filings you have finished with. This tab has five sub-tabs: * **All** (the default) -- Everything you have processed. * **Accepted** -- Filings that passed review and have been recorded. * **With Judge** -- Filings routed to a judge and awaiting their decision. * **Rejected** -- Filings that were sent back to the filer. * **Payment Failed** -- Filings whose card payment did not go through at acceptance. Rows are sorted by **priority first**, then by **time entered** (oldest first). Urgent filings always float to the top. There is no inline accept or reject in the table -- every decision happens on the review page. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The clerk queue showing the stat cards and the Received tab, clicking the RETURNED BY JUDGE card to jump to that tab, then switching to the Processed tab and its All / Accepted / With Judge / Rejected / Payment Failed sub-tabs. {% endhint %} ## Queue Columns The Received and My Drafts tabs show these columns: | Column | What it shows | | --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | **Case #** | The case number (or where the number will go once assigned) | | **Case Title** | Derived from the parties (e.g., "Smith v. Jones") | | **Filer** | The submitting attorney or filer | | **Case Type** | Civil, Criminal, Family, etc. | | **Division** | The division letter on the case | | **Judge** | The judge on the case | | **Filing Type** | The type of filing submitted | | **Status** | The filing's current status badge | | **Priority** | Urgent, High, Normal, or Low | | **Filed** | When the filing was submitted | | **Documents** | Document count | | **Assigned** | The clerk the filing is assigned to | Two ways to tailor the table: * **Drag column headers to reorder them.** Your column order is saved and restored next time you open the queue. * **Division picker** -- A division-letter picker in the toolbar filters the queue to one division. Dates in the queue are absolute and shown in Central time. New-case filings are marked so you can distinguish them from filings on existing cases. ## Priority Levels Filings carry one of four priority levels: | Priority | When Used | | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | **Urgent** | Time-sensitive matters (TROs, emergency motions) | | **High** | Expedited requests or elevated by a routing rule | | **Normal** | Standard filings (default) | | **Low** | Informational or non-time-sensitive filings | You can change a filing's priority from the review screen. ## Assignment When you open a SUBMITTED filing for review, the system automatically assigns ("claims") it to you. The filing moves to **Under Review** and your name appears on the queue row. To reassign a filing to another clerk, open the filing and use the **Reassign to Clerk** option in the review panel (Court Admins are included in the list), or use **Move to unassigned** to release it back to the pool. ## Auto-Refresh The queue refreshes automatically every 30 seconds. You can also refresh manually with the refresh button in the toolbar. Each tab shows the total item count. ## Filtering and Sorting Use the search bar to filter by filing number, case number, filer name, or case title. You can also: * Sort any column by clicking the column header. * Switch tabs (Received, My Drafts, Returned by Judge, Processed) to focus on one stage. * Filter by division with the division picker, or narrow by case type, priority, or assigned clerk using the filter controls. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Using the search bar to filter the queue by filing number, picking a division letter from the Division picker, then dragging a column header to reorder the table. {% endhint %} ## Opening a Filing Click any row to open the filing in the review screen. The system will: 1. Assign the filing to you (if it is unassigned). 2. Move the filing to **Under Review** (if it was a newly submitted filing). 3. Load the document viewer and review panel. After your decision, where you land depends on the filing: * **Accepting a new case** keeps you on the review page, so you can route the filing to a judge if needed. * **Accepting a filing on an existing case** returns you to the queue. * **Rejecting** returns you to the queue. The queue does **not** automatically advance you to the next filing. When you want the next one, press **Alt + N**. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Clicking a filing row in the Received tab, the filing opening in the review screen with the document viewer and review panel, the filing status changing to Under Review. {% endhint %} ## Processed Tab Every Processed sub-tab groups filings by case. Each case row shows its filings, documents, and fees; expand a case row to see individual filings. The columns are: **Case #, Case Name, Attorney, Filings, Documents, Fees, Status, Docket Entries, Clerk** (who processed it), **Reason, Processed** (when). The **Fees** column carries a badge when fees were waived: **Waived**, **Costs waived**, or **Partly waived**. The Processed toolbar includes: * **Export** -- Downloads a CSV of the rows currently shown (filters applied). * **Print** -- Opens a printable report in a new tab. * Date presets **Today**, **Last 7 days**, **Last 30 days**, plus a range calendar. ### "Signed · with staff" A filing the judge has signed but that chambers staff are still holding shows in the **With Judge** sub-tab with a **Signed · with staff** badge. Its tooltip explains: "Judge signed -- chambers staff are finishing edits. It returns to your queue when they release it." {% hint style="info" %} If your account is not associated with a court, you will see a message asking you to contact an administrator. Only clerks assigned to a court can access the queue. {% endhint %} ## Settings Clerks and Court Admins reach the **Settings** area from the sidebar. Settings has its own navigation: * **Filing Configuration** -- Disabled for now; it reads "Coming soon -- requires Verdict integration". * **Staff** -- Manage clerk and staff accounts for your court. * **Announcements** -- Post announcements visible to filers using your court. * **Reports** -- Access filing volume, processing time, and other reports for your court. * **Notifications** -- Your personal email notification preferences (see below). * **Court** -- Court Admins only. Includes **Stamp Behavior**, with the option **Default to stamping the first page only**. ## Email Notification Preferences Under **Settings → Notifications**, the **Email Notifications** page controls which events are emailed to you: "Choose which events are emailed to your address. These settings only affect email; your in-app notifications are unchanged." | Toggle | Default | When it emails you | | --------------------------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Filing assigned to me** | On | "When a filing is assigned or routed to you for review." | | **Any new filing** | Off | "When any filing is submitted to your parish, whether or not it is assigned to you. Off by default -- busy parishes see many a day." | | **Payment failed** | On | When a payment fails on a filing you accepted. | | **Payment processed** | On | When a failed payment is later collected. | | **Returned from the judge** | On | "When a judge returns or denies a filing assigned to you." | A summary bar shows "All email notifications enabled" or "N of 5 enabled", with **Enable all** / **Disable all** shortcuts. Click **Save preferences** to apply -- you'll see "Preferences saved successfully." {% hint style="info" %} There is no email toggle for "judge signed" -- when a judge signs a filing, you are notified in-app only. {% endhint %} # Reviewing a Filing When you open a filing from the queue, you enter the review screen. This is a split-panel layout: the **document viewer** on the left, the **review panel** on the right. ## Layout * **Left panel** -- PDF document viewer with toolbar. * **Right panel** -- Filing details, parties, documents list, fees and docket entries, notes, and action buttons. * **Footer buttons** -- Save Draft, Accept, and Reject at the bottom of the review panel (see [Footer Buttons](#footer-buttons)). You can collapse and expand the right panel to give the document viewer more space. Drag the divider to resize the panels. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The review screen split-panel layout -- dragging the divider between the document viewer and review panel to resize, then collapsing and expanding the right panel. {% endhint %} ## Document Viewer The viewer displays each document as a tab. The **lead document** is shown first. Click any tab to switch between documents in the filing. Toolbar features: * **Stamps** -- Add one or more stamps to a document. Choose from system presets (Filed, Certified Copy, Conformed Copy, etc.) or create your own custom stamps. Each stamp can be positioned, resized, and set to appear on the first page only or all pages. Lock a stamp in place when you are satisfied with its position. * **Margins** -- Toggle margin guides on or off. * **Redact** -- Coming soon. The button is visible but disabled for now. * **Organize** -- Open the document organizer to rearrange, split, or merge pages. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Using the document viewer toolbar -- adding a court stamp to the first page, positioning and resizing it, locking it in place, then toggling the margin guides on and off. {% endhint %} ## Filing Information The review panel's Filing Info section shows: * **Submitted** -- When the filing arrived. * **Filer** -- Who submitted it. * **Case Type** and **Filing Type** -- The classification chosen by the filer. * **Case #** -- The case number, if one exists. * **Division** and **Judge** -- The division letter and judge on the case. * **Parties** -- All parties on the filing. Click **Edit parties** to change them, **Add Party** to add one, and **Save Parties** when done. The court itself is not editable -- a filing submitted to the wrong court must be rejected so the filer can refile in the right parish. ## Checking Documents For each document, verify: 1. The document type is correct (e.g., "Petition" not "Motion"). 2. The document is legible and complete. 3. Signatures are present where required. 4. No personally identifiable information is exposed (SSNs, dates of birth). 5. The filing fee matches the case type and document type. You can change a document's **title** and **document type** directly from the review panel if the filer chose incorrectly. Click the document in the documents list to edit its metadata. ## The Documents Step Each document in the documents list carries its own controls: * **Accept / Reject per document** -- Mark each document individually. Rejecting some but not all documents turns your final decision into a partial accept (see [Accepting and Rejecting](/clerk-guide/accepting-and-rejecting#partial-accept)). * **Note from filer** -- If the filer attached a note to a document, it appears in a callout so you see it before deciding. * **Send to court in color** -- A toggle for documents that should be recorded in color rather than black and white. * **Replace document** -- Swap in a corrected version of a document. The original is kept for the record. * **Attach document to docket entry** -- Link a document to a specific docket entry on the filing. ## Clerk Notes vs. Note to Filer There are two separate note fields on the review screen -- one private, one the filer will see: * **Clerk Notes** are internal. The placeholder reads "Add internal notes about this filing (never shown to the filer)...". Other clerks can read them; the filer never can. * **Note to filer** is a message the filer sees once you decide. Its placeholder reads "Note to the filer (optional) -- they see it once the filing is accepted or rejected...". It is limited to 2,000 characters. The note usually sits in the Fees step under the waiver panel; if the filing has no Fees step (a civil filing with no fee and no waiver), it appears in Notes & History instead. After your decision, the filer sees your note as a **Note from the Clerk** card on their case page, and the same text is included in the acceptance or rejection email. It also accompanies a fee-waiver denial. {% hint style="warning" %} Neither field auto-saves. Notes are saved when you click **Save Draft**, **Accept**, **Reject**, or **Deny** (on a waiver). A note typed just before you accept or reject is saved with that decision -- but if you leave the page without doing any of those, the text is lost. {% endhint %} The Reject dialog has its own third, reject-only **Notes (optional)** field -- that one travels with the rejection itself. ## Fees, Deposits & Docket Entries The Fees step (labelled **Docket Entries** for criminal filings) is where you check the money side of the filing. * **Ledger balance** -- For a filing on an existing case, the panel shows the case's **Ledger Balance** and current ledger, so you can confirm the deposit covers the docket fees. * **Collect deposit** -- An editable field for new money added to the ledger ("New money added to the ledger"). Whatever you enter is charged with the filing and credited to the case. * **Docket entries** -- The list of docket entries the filing will record. To add one, search with **Search docket entry types...**, set the amount, and click **Add docket entry**. Drag entries to reorder them ("Drag to reorder"). ### Changing a Docket Entry's Type If the filer picked the wrong docket entry type, click the entry's **description**. A **Change docket entry type** list opens -- it shows all types until you start typing to filter. Picking a type fills in the matching description and fee. If the entry was submitted by the filer with a document attached, the linked document is re-typed too, so the court record gets the corrected type. Re-typing is refused once the entry has been recorded with the court, or once acceptance has started. ### When Fees Are Locked If the filer's payment has already been collected (for example, after a failed payment was retried), fee amounts are locked and the panel shows a **PAID -- fees locked** badge. Its tooltip explains: "The charge was already collected -- fee amounts are locked so they match the money received". {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Clicking a docket entry's description, filtering the "Change docket entry type" list, picking the correct type, and the description and fee updating -- then adding a new docket entry and dragging it into position. {% endhint %} ## Document Operations ### Split Split a multi-document PDF into separate filing documents: 1. Click the **split** action on a document. 2. Define segments by selecting page ranges. 3. Assign a title, document type, and lead status to each segment. 4. Confirm. The original document is marked as split and hidden; the new segments replace it. ### Reorganize Reorganize lets you restructure all documents in a filing at the page level: 1. Open the document organizer from the toolbar. 2. Drag pages between document groups or create new groups. 3. Rotate or remove pages as needed. 4. Assign titles, document types, and flags (lead, sealed) to each group. 5. Save. The system reassembles the PDFs and replaces the originals. ### Redact Redaction is **coming soon**. The Redact button appears in the toolbar but is disabled for now -- if a document contains unredacted personal information, reject the filing with notes explaining what needs to be redacted so the filer can correct and resubmit. ## Sending a Filing to a Judge When a filing needs judicial review or a signature, use the **Actions** step of the review panel. There are two modes: * **E-Filing** -- **Send to Judge** delivers the filing to a judge (or their judicial staff) inside the system. See [Accepting and Rejecting -- Sending to a Judge](/clerk-guide/accepting-and-rejecting#sending-to-a-judge). * **Paper** -- **Email to Judge** sends document links by email to a judge who works outside the system. Enter the judge's email, optionally a message ("Message to judge (optional)..."), and click **Email**. The filing status changes to **Emailed to Judge** and a confirmation shows who was emailed and when (e.g., "Emailed to · Jul 2"). You can then use **Send to Printer** to queue paper copies. ## Send to Printer You can send a filing's documents to your personal print queue from the **Actions** step. 1. In the review panel, find the **Send to Printer** section. 2. Click **Add N document(s) to Print Queue**. The documents are added to your print queue (accessible from the **Printing** page in the sidebar). Documents that are already in the queue are not duplicated. See [Printing](/clerk-guide/printing) for more about managing the print queue. ## Footer Buttons At the bottom of the review panel: * **Save Draft** -- Saves your work so far (stamps, notes, document decisions) without deciding the filing. * **Accept** -- Opens the Accept dialog. The button reads **Partial** when any document is marked rejected. For a judge-signed filing that was already recorded, it reads **Record signed version** instead (or **Send to print queue** at a [standalone parish](/clerk-guide/standalone-parishes)). * **Reject** -- Opens the Reject dialog. Two situations disable a footer button, with a tooltip explaining why: | Button | Disabled when | Tooltip | | ---------- | ------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Reject** | Payment has already been collected | "Payment has already been collected. Accept the filing to record it, or refund the charge in ValPay before rejecting." | | **Accept** | Fees are owed and no card is on file | "This filing still owes the e-filing and convenience fees, and no card is on file to charge -- not the filer's, their paralegal's, or the firm's. Waiting for one of them to add a card." | ## Keyboard Shortcuts | Shortcut | Action | | ----------- | ------------------------------------ | | **Alt + A** | Open the Accept dialog | | **Alt + R** | Open the Reject dialog | | **Alt + N** | Skip to the next filing in the queue | {% hint style="warning" %} Keyboard shortcuts are disabled when you are typing in a text field or textarea. {% endhint %} # Accepting and Rejecting Once you have reviewed the documents and verified the filing information, you make a decision: accept, reject, partially accept, or send to a judge. ## Accepting a Filing 1. **Configure stamps** before accepting. In the document viewer, add stamps to each document as needed (see [Reviewing a Filing -- Stamps](/clerk-guide/reviewing-a-filing#document-viewer)). Lock each stamp in place when you are satisfied with its position. You can add multiple stamps to the same document. 2. **Decide any pending fee waiver** (see [Fee Waivers and Deferrals](#fee-waivers-and-deferrals) below). Acceptance is blocked while a waiver request is undecided. 3. Click the **Accept** button (or press **Alt + A**). 4. The Accept dialog opens, showing: * A summary of the filing (case and filer). * A fee / ledger breakdown (hidden for criminal filings). * An **Assign Filing To** party selector -- choose the party all docket entries are booked against. * For new cases, a **Filing Date** field for the case record. * A summary of which documents will be stamped and with which stamp types. 5. Click **Accept** to confirm. When you confirm, a progress overlay walks through each step: reviewing data, **processing payment** (charging the filer's card), then stamping and recording. Note that **the card is charged first** -- if the charge fails, nothing is stamped or recorded (see [Payment Failed](#payment-failed-and-payment-collected)). On success: * The filing status changes to **Accepted**. * All pending documents are marked as accepted. * Court stamps are burned into accepted documents using the positions you configured. * The filing is recorded with the court -- a case is created (for new-case filings) or docket entries are added (for existing-case filings). * The filer receives an in-app notification and email confirmation, including any **Note to filer** you wrote. * The queue item moves to the **Accepted** sub-tab under **Processed**. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Accepting a filing -- clicking the Accept button, the Accept dialog showing the filing summary and stamp preview, clicking Accept, the progress overlay stepping through payment and recording, and the filing appearing under the Processed tab's Accepted sub-tab. {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} At a parish not connected to a case management system, the Accept dialog looks slightly different -- see [Standalone Parishes](/clerk-guide/standalone-parishes). {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} If stamping fails for a document, the filing is still accepted. You will receive a system notification alerting you to the unstamped document so you can address it manually. {% endhint %} ## Partial Accept If some documents pass review but others do not: 1. In the review panel, set each document's status individually -- **Accepted** or **Rejected**. 2. Click **Accept** (the button reads **Partial** once any document is rejected). The filing status is set to **Partial Accept**. 3. The filer is notified that their filing was partially accepted and told which documents were rejected. Partially accepted filings are still recorded. The rejected documents are excluded from the case record. ## Rejecting a Filing 1. Click the **Reject** button (or press **Alt + R**). 2. The Reject dialog opens. Fill in the required fields: * **Reason code** (required) -- Select the primary reason: * Incomplete Filing * Incorrect Form * Missing Signature * Incorrect Fee * Wrong Court * Duplicate Filing * Defective Service * Other * **Notes** (optional) -- Provide additional detail for the filer. * **Cure deadline** (optional) -- Set a date by which the filer should refile. 3. Click **Reject Filing**. When you confirm: * The filing status changes to **Rejected**. No charge is made. * All pending documents are marked as rejected. * The filer receives an in-app notification and email with the reason, notes, cure deadline, and any **Note to filer** you wrote. * The queue item moves to the **Rejected** sub-tab under **Processed**. Rejection is final for that filing -- it never returns to your queue. The filer uses **Edit & Resubmit** to create a **new** filing, pre-filled from the rejected one and linked back to it, which arrives in your queue as a fresh submission. {% hint style="warning" %} **Reject is disabled once payment has been collected** on a filing. The tooltip explains: "Payment has already been collected. Accept the filing to record it, or refund the charge in ValPay before rejecting." {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Rejecting a filing -- clicking the Reject button, selecting "Incomplete Filing" as the reason, typing notes, setting a cure deadline date, and clicking Reject Filing. {% endhint %} ## Fee Waivers and Deferrals The waiver panel in the Fees step is always available, whether or not the filer asked for a waiver. Its buttons: | Button | When it appears | What it does | | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Defer Court Costs** | Filings on existing civil cases only | Draws the court costs from the deposit already held on the case. The $6 e-filing fee and 3.05% convenience fee are still charged, and any deposits on the filing are still collected. A banner confirms: "Court costs waived -- drawn from the advance deposit on the case" / "The e-filing and convenience fees still apply." | | **Defer All Fees** | Always (reads **Approve Waiver** when the filer requested a waiver) | Waives everything -- the filer pays $0. | | **Deny** | Only when the filer requested a waiver | Denies the request. The filer is emailed ("Fee Waiver Denied"), along with any **Note to filer** you wrote, and the original fees apply. | | **Revoke Waiver** | After an approval | Clears the waiver decision so fees apply again. Revoking is not a denial -- it simply undoes the decision. | **Defer All Fees is disabled when the filing carries a deposit.** The tooltip explains: "This filing carries an advance deposit, which cannot be deferred. Use Defer Court Costs instead -- it defers the court's charges and still collects the deposit." Banners you may see on the waiver panel: * **Action needed** / "Filer requested a fee waiver" -- a decision is required. * "Fee waiver approved -- all fees waived" or "Fee waiver denied" -- the decision made. * A charge-to-deposit request: "Filer asked to charge this to the case deposit -- If the balance on the case covers it, approve 'Defer Court Costs' below\..." * A green fee-exempt banner: "Fee-exempt organization -- \[Organization]" / "All fees are waived automatically on every filing from this organization; no approval is needed. If you believe this organization should not be fee-exempt, contact the Cott Systems team." {% hint style="warning" %} **Acceptance is blocked until a requested waiver is decided.** The message reads: "The filer requested a fee waiver. Approve or deny it before accepting -- accepting now would charge the filer while the waiver is still undecided." {% endhint %} Waivers from government filers and fee-exempt organizations are approved automatically at submission -- no action needed from you. All waiver decisions are audit-logged with the clerk who made them. ## Sending to a Judge Some filings need judicial review or a signature before or after acceptance (proposed orders, sealed filings, matters requiring judicial discretion). In the review panel's **Actions** step, choose the mode: ### E-Filing Mode: Send to Judge 1. Click **Send to Judge**. 2. Pick the recipient -- the search reads "Choose a judge or judge staff...". Judges appear as "Hon. First Last"; judicial staff as "First Last -- Judge Staff". 3. Set a **Priority** (Low, Normal, High, Urgent). 4. Set the **due date** -- this is required, and the Send button stays disabled until you set one. A **Today** shortcut fills in today's date. 5. Optionally click **Add message** and write a note ("Optional message to judge..."). 6. Send. A confirmation appears, e.g., "Sent to Hon. Smith". The judge signs the filing, returns it, or denies it -- it then comes back to your **Returned by Judge** tab. The filer is never notified at any judge step; only your final accept or reject reaches them. ### Routing After Accepting You can also send an already accepted (or partially accepted) filing to a judge -- typically for a proposed order. The filing shows as **Accepted · awaiting judge**. This is why accepting a new case keeps you on the review page: so you can route it immediately. ### Sending a Signed Filing Back If a signed filing needs the judge again, the panel header reads **Send back to judge**. Signatures build up -- sending a filing back never removes the signature already on it. ### Paper Mode: Email to Judge For judges who work outside the system, switch to **Paper** mode and use **Email to Judge**: enter the judge's email and an optional message, then click **Email**. The status changes to **Emailed to Judge**, with a confirmation showing who was emailed and when. Follow up with **Send to Printer** if the judge needs paper copies. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Sending a filing to a judge -- clicking Send to Judge, choosing "Hon. Smith" from the recipient search, setting priority to High, clicking the Today shortcut for the due date, adding a message, and sending. {% endhint %} {% hint style="warning" %} Only send to a judge when the matter genuinely requires judicial authority. Routine deficiencies (wrong form, missing signature) should be rejected directly so the filer can fix and resubmit quickly. {% endhint %} ## Filings Returned by a Judge A filing a judge has signed, returned, or denied lands in your **Returned by Judge** tab. You can accept it directly from there -- no extra routing step. If the filing was already accepted and charged, accepting the signed version does **not** charge the filer again; the footer button reads **Record signed version**. ## Payment Failed and Payment Collected The filer's card is charged at the moment you accept. If the charge is declined: * The filing moves to **Payment Failed**. Nothing was stamped or recorded. * On review, a banner shows **Payment failed** with the decline reason, and explains: "Nothing was recorded with the court, and no stamps have been applied..." along with the filer's deadline: "They have until \[date] to resolve it." * The filer is emailed and pays from their **Payments due** page. The 48-hour deadline is informational -- the filing stays in Payment Failed indefinitely. Once the window has closed, the banner changes to "The payment window closed \[date]..." and offers a **Reject filing** button. Once the filer pays: * The filing returns to your queue as Under Review with a **Payment collected** banner ("Payment collected -- $X on \[date]"): "Accepting this filing will not charge the filer again. Fees are locked because the charge has already been collected." * Accept as normal -- acceptance now stamps and records without charging. ## After Your Decision * **Accepting a new case** keeps you on the review page, so you can send the filing to a judge if needed. * **Accepting a filing on an existing case** returns you to the queue. * **Rejecting** returns you to the queue. The queue does **not** auto-advance to the next filing -- press **Alt + N** when you want the next one. # Case View There is no dedicated "Case Lookup" search box in the clerk console -- the sidebar has no lookup or search feature. Instead, you reach a read-only case view from the filings themselves. ## Opening the Case View From the review screen, two paths lead to the case view: * Click the **case name** in the breadcrumb at the top of the review screen. * Open the **Filings in this case** popover and click **View full case**. Note that the **Review** link on a Processed row opens the filing in the review screen, not the case view -- open the case from there. ## What the Case View Shows The case view header displays: * **Case title** (e.g., "Smith v. Jones") * **Case number** (or the filing number if no case number has been assigned) * **Court name** * **Case type** and subtype * **Filed date** * **Status badge** A **Send to Printer** button in the header adds all non-rejected documents on the case to your print queue. See [Printing](/clerk-guide/printing). Below the header, four tabs organize the data: ### Timeline A chronological view derived from the filing -- the case-opened event and the filing's own submitted / accepted / rejected events. It does not show a full court docket; richer docket data is a planned follow-up. If there is nothing to show, the tab reads "No timeline events yet." ### Parties The parties on the filing, showing each party's name and role (Plaintiff, Defendant, Petitioner, Respondent, etc.) and active/inactive status. ### Documents This tab is currently an empty placeholder -- case-level documents are not populated here. To view a filing's documents, open the filing in the review screen instead (the **Filings** tab links straight to it). ### Filings The e-filings tied to this case. Each row shows the filer, the filing status, the submission date, and a document count, with a **Review** link that opens the filing in the review screen. {% hint style="info" %} The case view is read-only. To make changes, open the filing in the review screen while it is under review. There you can edit the **Case Type**, **Filing Type**, and **Parties** (via **Edit parties**, **Add Party**, and **Save Parties**) in the Filing Info section -- which also shows **Submitted**, **Filer**, **Case #**, **Division**, and **Judge**. The court itself is not editable -- a filing submitted to the wrong court must be rejected so the filer can refile in the right parish. See [Reviewing a Filing](/clerk-guide/reviewing-a-filing). {% endhint %} # Printing Court clerks frequently need printed copies of filed documents for physical case files, judge chambers, or in-court proceedings. The **Print Queue** page (from the **Printing** link in the sidebar) is where you batch and print them: "Select documents and print them in batch." ## The Two Tabs * **Queue (N)** -- Documents waiting to be printed. * **Printed (N)** -- Documents you have already printed. Each card in the queue shows the file name, filing number, case number, document type, page count, filer name, and when it was queued. The sidebar badge on the **Printing** link shows how many items are waiting. ## Adding Documents to the Print Queue * **From the review screen** -- In the Actions step, use **Send to Printer** and click **Add N document(s) to Print Queue**. Documents already in the queue are not duplicated. * **From the case view** -- Click **Send to Printer** in the case-view header to queue all non-rejected documents on the case. * **At standalone parishes**, accepted and judge-signed documents are added to your print queue automatically -- see [Standalone Parishes](/clerk-guide/standalone-parishes). ## Printing 1. Select the documents you want (or none, to print everything). 2. Click **Print All (N)** or **Print Selected (N)**. The selected documents are combined into **one PDF** and your browser's print dialog opens. As soon as the dialog opens, the documents are **marked as printed automatically** and move to the Printed tab -- there is no separate "Mark as Printed" step. If the dialog fails to open, you'll see: "Couldn't open the print dialog. Nothing was marked as printed -- try again." {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The Print Queue page -- selecting several documents, clicking Print Selected, the combined PDF opening in the browser print dialog, and the documents moving to the Printed tab automatically. {% endhint %} ## Managing the Queue * **Drag cards to set print order.** The combined PDF prints in the order shown. * **Remove (N)** -- Takes selected items out of the queue, after a confirmation ("...will be removed. This cannot be undone."). * **Clear selection** -- Deselects everything. * **Preview** -- Click any card to open a preview panel, with **Previous**/**Next** to step through the queue. ## The Printed Tab * **Reprint All** / **Reprint Selected** -- Print again; the documents stay in the Printed tab. * **Remove (N)** -- Remove selected printed items. * **Clear All (N)** -- Empty the Printed tab. ## What the Printed Copy Looks Like * A document queued **before** acceptance prints with the stamp you placed on it in the review screen; if you placed none, it prints with the default FILED stamp. * Originals that were split and documents that were replaced are left out -- only the current version prints. * Print order matches the order of the cards in your queue. ## Printing Tips * **Scale to fit** -- Court stamps are positioned relative to the page. If you scale the print, the stamp scales with it. * **Color vs. grayscale** -- Court stamps include the court name, date, and recording number. Print in color if your court requires color stamps on official copies. * **Duplex printing** -- For multi-page documents, enable double-sided printing to reduce paper use. * **Multiple copies** -- Set the copy count in your browser's print dialog rather than printing the same batch twice. # Payments The **Payments** page in the clerk sidebar shows every card payment collected for your court, with receipts and a CSV export. It is available to **clerks, court admins, and platform admins** -- judges and judicial staff don't have it. ## Scope Toggle Two views, switched at the top of the page: * **Clerk fees only** -- court-bound money only, net of refunds; Cott's e-filing and convenience fees are excluded. The summary card reads "Collected for Clerk of Court." * **All charges** -- everything the filer's card was charged, court costs plus platform fees, net of refunds. ## The Transactions Table One row per charge, deposit top-up, or refund: **Date**, **Case #**, **Suit**, **Type**, **Filer**, **Clerk** (the clerk who accepted the filing), **Card**, **Status**, the fee breakdown columns (**To Clerk**, **E-Filing**, **Conv. 3.05%**, **Total**), and a receipt download icon. * Sort by clicking a column header; filter with the funnel icon or the search box. * Failed rows are struck through -- no funds moved; hover to see the decline reason. * Refunds show as negative amounts, netted out of the footer totals. ## Export CSV **Export CSV** downloads the table (respecting active filters) as `payments-{court}-{date}.csv`, including the accepting clerk per row -- useful for daily or monthly reconciliation against your deposit account. {% hint style="info" %} For the court's monthly settlement view (gross deposits, refunds, chargebacks, net), platform administrators use the parish [Payment Statements](/admin-guide/payment-statements) page. {% endhint %} # Standalone Parishes Some parishes use CottFile for e-filing while keeping their own case management system. If your parish is set up this way, CottFile never writes to any case management system -- your office enters accepted filings into your own system, and CottFile adapts in a few visible ways. Everything else in the clerk guide works the same. ## Case Numbers Come From Your System CottFile never issues a case number at a standalone parish -- your case management system does. So: ### At acceptance, the case number is optional The Accept dialog has a **Case number (optional)** field (placeholder "e.g., 2024-12345"). Its help text explains: "Stamped onto the documents. Leave blank if this case hasn't been entered into your case management system yet -- you can add the number from the queue afterwards, and the stamp will simply omit it." ### Adding or editing the number afterwards An **Add case #** link appears in the queue's Case # cell and in the review panel's Filing Info Case # row (placeholder "e.g. FA-COTT-2026-00161"). Type the number your system assigned and save. * If you accepted with the field blank, the stamp simply omits the case number. Adding the number later does **not** change the stamp already on the documents. * An existing number stays editable (**Edit case number**). {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Accepting a filing with the case number field left blank, then clicking "Add case #" in the queue's Case # cell and typing the number assigned by the parish's own system. {% endhint %} ## Editable Case and Filing Types Because reference data is not synced from a case management system, **Case Type** and **Filing Type** are editable on the review screen -- even on existing cases. (Your admin portal is where the lists themselves are maintained.) ## Deposits and Fees * A local **Deposit** docket entry type is created automatically for your parish. It powers the filer's **Add deposit** option and your **Collect deposit** field ("New money added to the ledger") on the review screen. * Deposits and fees are charged to the filer's card at acceptance, exactly as at any other parish. Nothing is posted to any case management system. * There is no **Ledger Balance** column and no **Remaining Ledger Balance** row -- the deposit ledger lives in your own system. ## What the Accept Dialog Leaves Out Compared to other parishes, the Accept dialog at a standalone parish: * Has the **Case number (optional)** field described above. * Has no **Assign Filing To** party selector. * Has no case-management-system **Filing Date** block. The acceptance overlay's last step reads "Recording the filing". ## Automatic Print Handoff So your office always has paper to enter into its own system: * Every document on an accepted filing is added to the accepting clerk's print queue automatically. * Judge-signed filings are handed to the print queue the same way -- the footer button on a signed filing reads **Send to print queue** (instead of **Record signed version**). See [Printing](/clerk-guide/printing) for working the print queue. # Best Practices Practical guidance for working the review queue efficiently and consistently. ## Queue Management * **Work oldest first.** The queue sorts by priority then entry time. Unless a filing is flagged Urgent or High, process items in the order they arrived. * **Claim before reviewing.** Opening a filing auto-assigns it to you. Avoid opening filings you do not intend to review immediately -- it blocks other clerks from picking them up. * **Use priorities sparingly.** Elevate priority only when the matter is genuinely time-sensitive (TROs, emergency motions, court-ordered deadlines). Overusing Urgent degrades the signal for everyone. * **Check fee waivers early.** If a filing has a fee waiver request, decide on it before completing the rest of your review -- acceptance is blocked until the waiver is approved or denied. * **Add clerk notes.** Leave notes on anything unusual -- prior related filings, conversations with the filer, reasons you escalated. The next clerk who touches the filing will thank you. Notes do not auto-save -- click **Save Draft** (or make your decision) before leaving the page, or the text is lost. ## Common Rejection Patterns These are the issues you will see most often. Pick the matching rejection reason and spell out the problem in the notes so filers get clear, consistent feedback. | Pattern | Rejection Reason | What to Tell the Filer | | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Petition missing a required exhibit | Incomplete Filing | "Exhibit A (contract) referenced in paragraph 3 is not attached." | | Document is a scan of a scan, barely readable | Incorrect Form | "Document is not legible. Please resubmit a clearer copy." | | Filing submitted to 19th JDC but case is in City Court | Wrong Court | "This case belongs to Baton Rouge City Court. Please refile there." | | Fee amount does not match the case type schedule | Incorrect Fee | "Filing fee for a Civil Suit is $XXX. The submitted amount is incorrect." | | Signature line is blank or typed only (no wet/electronic signature) | Missing Signature | "The petition requires an original or electronic signature on page X." | | Unredacted Social Security number in body of pleading | Other | "Social Security number on page 3, paragraph 7 must be redacted before filing." | {% hint style="warning" %} Always be specific. "Incomplete filing" with no further detail forces the filer to guess what is wrong. Name the document, page, and field whenever possible. {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Rejecting with specific detail -- selecting the rejection reason, typing notes that name the document, page number, and exact issue, then clicking Reject Filing. {% endhint %} ## When to Send to a Judge vs. Reject Send to a judge when: * The filing requests **sealed status** and your court requires judicial approval to seal. * A **fee waiver** is contested or requires judicial sign-off per local rule. * The filing raises a **jurisdictional question** you cannot resolve (e.g., a transfer motion). * The filer is requesting **emergency or ex parte relief** that needs immediate judicial attention. * A **complex procedural issue** requires legal judgment, not administrative correction. Reject directly when: * A document is missing, illegible, or in the wrong format. * The wrong form was used. * Signatures are missing. * The fee is incorrect. * The filing was submitted to the wrong court and needs to be refiled. * The filing is a duplicate of one already on the case. **Rule of thumb:** If the filer can fix the problem themselves and resubmit, reject with clear instructions. If the problem requires a court order or judicial discretion, use **Send to Judge**. If the judge does not use the e-filing system, switch the Actions step to **Paper** mode and use **Email to Judge** instead. This sends the filing documents to the judge by email. See [Reviewing a Filing](/clerk-guide/reviewing-a-filing#sending-a-filing-to-a-judge) for details. ## Document Quality Checks Before accepting, run through this mental checklist: 1. Is the lead document correctly identified? 2. Are all documents the correct type? 3. Is every page legible? 4. Are all required signatures present? 5. Is PII redacted (Social Security numbers, dates of birth for minors)? 6. Does the party information match what is on the documents? 7. If this is an existing case, does the filing match the parties already on the case? ## Efficient Workflows * **Use keyboard shortcuts.** Alt + A to accept, Alt + R to reject, Alt + N to move to the next filing. These save time when processing a high volume. * **Split combined PDFs immediately.** If a filer uploaded one PDF containing multiple documents, split it before reviewing. It makes per-document decisions cleaner and the CMS record more accurate. * **Batch similar filings.** If multiple filings from the same attorney have the same problem, the notes you write for the first one can inform the rest. * **Collapse the review panel** when you need to focus on reading a document. Expand it when you are ready to make your decision. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Efficient clerk workflow -- using Alt+A to open the Accept dialog, confirming, returning to the queue, pressing Alt+N to jump to the next filing, then using Alt+R to reject it with a quick note. {% endhint %} # Overview — Your Inbox When you sign in, the judge portal opens to your **Inbox** -- the central place where you receive and manage filings that need your attention. ## Sidebar Navigation The sidebar on the left gives you quick access to: * **Inbox** -- your main workspace for filings and signed history * **Profile** -- your saved signature, default signing destination, and email notification settings ## How Filings Reach You Clerks route filings to you after their initial review. When a clerk sends a filing your way, it appears in your inbox automatically. The clerk may attach a **routing note** with context or instructions for you. ## Dashboard and Filter Cards At the top of the page, you will see a welcome message with your name. Below it, three quick-filter cards let you narrow the Inbox at a glance. Click a card to toggle that filter on or off: * **Priority** -- filings flagged Urgent or High * **Unread** -- filings you have not opened yet * **Last 24 hours** -- filings that arrived in the past day Each card shows a count for how many filings match. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The judge portal landing page -- the welcome message and the three quick-filter cards (Priority, Unread, Last 24 hours), clicking a card to filter the inbox and clicking again to clear it. {% endhint %} ## Your Inbox The inbox has three tabs: * **Inbox** -- filings waiting for your review and signature. These have the status "With Judge." * **Signed** -- filings you have already signed. This tab serves as your history and stays accessible even after the clerk records the filing. * **Returned** -- filings you returned or denied to the clerk. This is a lasting record of your return/deny actions, each row showing the action taken and the reason. Each tab shows a count badge so you can see at a glance how many items are in each section. ## What You See for Each Filing Every row in the Inbox table displays: | Column | What it shows | | ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Case #** | The case number. Sortable | | **Case** | The case title (e.g., "Smith v. Jones"). Unread filings appear bold | | **Parish** | The parish the filing belongs to. Only shown if you serve more than one parish | | **For** | Which judge the filing is addressed to. Shown for judicial staff and anyone handling more than one judge's inbox | | **Type** | The lead document type (e.g., Order, Motion) | | **Message** | An icon when the clerk attached a routing note. Hover to read it | | **Notes** | How many chambers notes are on the filing | | **Pages** | The total page count | | **Sent By** | Who routed the filing to you | | **Age** | How long ago the filing arrived. Sortable | In the **Signed** tab, the columns are **Case**, **Type**, **Status**, **Docs**, and **Signed** -- showing how long ago you signed the filing. In the **Returned** tab, the columns are **Case**, **Type**, **Action** (Returned or Denied), **Reason**, and **Returned** -- when you sent it back. ## Search and Filter You can narrow down filings using the tools in the toolbar: * **Search** -- type a case title, case number, or filing number to find a specific item * **Filter** -- open the filter panel to narrow by document type or filer name Active filters appear as removable pills below the toolbar. Use "Clear all" in the filter panel to reset. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Using the search and filter tools in the judge inbox -- typing a case number in the search field, then opening the filter panel to narrow by document type, showing filter pills appearing below the toolbar. {% endhint %} ## Pagination If you have more filings than fit on one screen, the inbox table paginates automatically. Use the page controls at the bottom of the table to move between pages. The total count is shown in each tab's badge. ## Opening a Filing Click any row in the inbox table to open the filing in the review screen, where you can read the documents, mark them up if needed, and sign, return, or deny the filing. {% hint style="info" %} Filings only appear in your inbox if a clerk has routed them to you. If you expect a filing and do not see it, contact your clerk's office. {% endhint %} ## Your Profile Open **Profile** from the sidebar to manage three things that shape your signing workflow. ### Saved Signature Your saved signature appears here once you have saved one. You save a signature from inside the sign dialog by checking **"Save this signature for future use"** (or **"Replace saved signature with this one"** if you already have one). A saved signature means you do not have to draw or upload again on every filing -- and it is required before you can deny a filing with a DENIED stamp. ### After Signing, Send Filings To The **"After signing, send filings to"** card sets your default destination for signed filings. Two options: * **My judicial staff — for final edits** -- signed filings go to your linked judicial staff, who finish any edits and release the filing to the clerk's office. * **The clerk's office — skip staff review** -- signed filings return straight to the clerk's queue. Your choice saves as soon as you select it -- there is no Save button. * If you have linked judicial staff, your default is **"Pre-selected in the sign dialog. You can still change it on any individual filing."** * If you have no linked staff, the card explains: **"You have no linked judicial staff, so signed filings always return to the clerk's office. This choice takes effect once staff are linked to you."** {% hint style="info" %} Judicial staff are linked to you by a court administrator on the Users page -- you cannot link staff yourself. See [Working with Judicial Staff](/judge-guide/judicial-staff). {% endhint %} ### Email Notifications The **Email Notifications** section controls which events are emailed to you. These settings only affect email; your in-app notifications are unchanged. There is one toggle: * **Filing assigned to me** -- "When a filing is assigned or routed to you for review." On by default. This covers the email the clerk's **Send to Judge** action triggers. Click **Save preferences** to apply any change. # Reviewing a Filing When you click a filing row in your inbox, the review screen opens. This is a split-panel layout with the document viewer on the left and the filing details panel on the right. ## The Review Layout * **Left side** -- a PDF viewer showing the filing's documents * **Right side** -- a details panel with filing information, document list, and action buttons * **Drag handle** -- the divider between the two panels can be dragged to resize. Double-click it to collapse or expand the details panel. A breadcrumb bar at the top shows your path: **Inbox > Court > Case > Filing Number**. The filing number appears in a tab with a status badge that tells you where the filing stands: | Badge | Meaning | | --------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Pending Signature** | The filing is waiting for your signature | | **Signed — Pending Your Release** | The judge has signed; judicial staff are finishing edits before releasing it to the clerk | | **Signed** | You signed the filing | | **Returned** | You returned the filing to the clerk | | **Denied** | You denied the filing | Click "Inbox" to return to your inbox at any time. When the details panel is fully collapsed, a floating action bar appears at the bottom of the screen with a **Sign Filing** button and an **Expand Panel** button so you can quickly act without re-expanding. Once you have acted on a filing, it becomes read-only. The footer tells you why: * "You've already signed this filing. It's read-only now." * "You returned this filing to the clerk. It's read-only now." * "You denied this filing. It's read-only now." {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The judge review screen layout -- the PDF viewer on the left showing a document, the details panel on the right with filing info, dragging the divider to resize, and collapsing the panel to show the floating action bar. {% endhint %} ## Filing Details Panel The details panel is organized into numbered workflow steps: **Filing Info**, **Documents**, and **Chambers Notes**, followed by the return panel. ### Step 1: Filing Info This section shows key details at a glance: * **Case Number** -- the case number, or **NEW** for a new-case filing * **Received** -- how long ago the filing arrived * **Filer** -- who submitted the filing * **Court** -- the court name (abbreviated for long names) * **Case Type** -- the case type, with **Filing Type** showing the subtype * **Case #** -- the case number (shown again when filed on an existing case) * **Clerk** -- the clerk who routed the filing to you ### Parties If the case has parties on file, you can expand the **Parties** section to see each party's name and role (Plaintiff, Defendant, Petitioner, Respondent, etc.). ### Clerk Routing Note If the clerk included a note when routing the filing to you, it appears in a highlighted box below the filing info. Read this carefully -- it often contains context about why the filing needs your attention or what action the clerk expects. {% hint style="info" %} The routing note is set by the clerk when they send the filing to you. It cannot be edited from the judge portal. {% endhint %} ### Step 2: Documents The document list shows all documents in the filing. Each document displays: * **Title** and document type * **File size** * A **Lead** badge on the primary document * A **seal icon** if the document is sealed Click any document in the list to view it in the PDF viewer on the left. The selected document is highlighted with a ring outline. ### Step 3: Chambers Notes **Chambers Notes** are private sticky notes on the filing, shared between you and your judicial staff. Use them to flag things to look at, record your reasoning, or leave instructions for staff -- and read notes your staff left for you. The step heading shows a count of notes on the filing. {% hint style="info" %} Chambers notes stay inside chambers. The clerk and the filer never see them. {% endhint %} ## Reading Documents The PDF viewer displays the selected document. You can scroll through pages and switch between documents by clicking them in the details panel. ## Editing a Document If a document needs changes before you sign -- fixing a date in a proposed order, striking a line, adding a short note -- use the inline editor: 1. Select the document you want to change in the document list. The editor works on whichever document is selected, not just the lead document. 2. Click the **Edit** button (marked "beta"). The document opens in the **Edit document** editor. 3. The editor has two tabs: * **Markup** -- add text and draw directly on the pages. New text defaults to a comfortable reading size, and text boxes are transparent so they sit cleanly on the page. * **Signature boxes** -- place boxes marking where a signature should go. 4. Click **Save** to apply your changes. Your markup is burned into the PDF -- it prints with the document and flows into the signed version. Click **Cancel** (**Close** on the Signature boxes tab) to leave without saving. If you try to leave with unsaved changes, a dialog asks **"Discard edits?"** -- "You have unsaved changes to this document. If you leave the editor, your edits will be lost." Choose **Keep Editing** or **Discard Edits**. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Editing a document -- selecting a document, clicking "Edit," adding a text markup on the Markup tab, switching to the Signature boxes tab, and clicking Save to burn the changes into the PDF. {% endhint %} {% hint style="warning" %} The **Sign** button is disabled while the editor is open. Save or discard your edits first, then sign. {% endhint %} After saving, the PDF viewer updates to show the modified version. When you sign, your edits are included in the signed document. ## PDF Tools Below the document list, you have access to PDF tools for: * **Margins** -- toggle margin guidelines on the document * **Redact** -- coming soon. The button is currently disabled * **Deny** -- place red "DENIED" stamps when you are denying all or part of the filing rather than signing it as-is (see [Signing and Returning](/judge-guide/signing-and-returning)) * **Organize** -- rearrange or split documents if needed # Signing and Returning After reviewing a filing, you have three options: **sign** it to approve, **return** it to the clerk if something needs attention, or **deny** it (in whole or in part) with DENIED stamps. ## Signing a Filing Signing a filing means you approve it. The signature dialog runs in two steps: first you provide a signature, then you place it. 1. Click the **Sign Filing** button at the bottom of the review panel. 2. **Step 1 -- Sign Filing.** Provide your signature: * **Draw** -- use your mouse, trackpad, or finger (on a touchscreen) to draw your signature on the canvas. Click "Clear" to start over. * **Upload Image** -- select a PNG or JPEG image of your signature. * **Use saved signature instead** -- if you have previously saved a signature, click this to reuse it. 3. Check **"Save this signature for future use"** so you do not have to draw or upload again next time. If you already have a saved signature, the checkbox reads **"Replace saved signature with this one."** 4. Continue to step 2, **Select Documents & Position Signature**. {% hint style="info" %} A saved signature is also what allows you to **deny** a filing -- the DENIED stamp carries your signature. If you plan to use denial stamps, save a signature here first. {% endhint %} ### Choosing Where to Sign In step 2, the dialog lists all documents in the filing. Select which documents to sign using the checkboxes next to each document name. For each selected document, you can: * **Add signature placements** -- place multiple signatures on the same document (e.g., signing on different pages). * **Position the signature** -- drag the signature on the page to place it exactly where you want it, and resize it from the corner handle. * **Step through placements** -- use **Next** and **Prev** to move between signature placements. If your judicial staff placed signature boxes for you, the dialog starts at those boxes so each one is ready to fill. Under **Signature text**, two checkboxes control the text printed with your signature: * **Show name above the signature** -- prints "Signed by The Honorable {your name}" * **Show the "Signed on" date below the signature** ### Choosing Where the Filing Goes After Signing The placement step includes a box titled **"After signing, send to"** with two options: * **My judicial staff — for final edits** -- pick which staff member receives it. They finish any edits and release the filing to the clerk. * **The clerk's office — skip staff review** -- the signed filing returns straight to the clerk's queue. Your default from your Profile is pre-selected; you can change it for any individual filing ("Change your default in Profile."). If you have no linked judicial staff, the box simply says: **"This filing returns to the clerk's office after signing."** Finally, click the sign button. It reads **"Sign & Send to Staff (N)"** when sending to staff, or **"Sign N Document(s)"** when sending to the clerk. Use **Back** to return to step 1 if you need to redo the signature. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Signing a filing -- clicking "Sign Filing," drawing a signature, checking "Save this signature for future use," moving to Select Documents & Position Signature, stepping through placements with Next/Prev, choosing "The clerk's office" in the After signing box, and clicking "Sign 1 Document(s)." {% endhint %} ### What Happens When You Sign * Your signature is applied to each selected document and signed copies are saved. Any edits you made before signing are included. * The filing status changes to **Judge Signed**. * If you sent it to staff, it stays with your judicial staff as **Signed — Pending Your Release** until they release it to the clerk. * Otherwise it goes straight to the clerk's **Returned by Judge** queue at **High** priority, and the assigned clerk gets an in-app notification ("Filing signed by judge"). * The clerk then records the signed filing -- signing does not itself stamp, charge, or record anything. * The filing moves from your Inbox tab to your Signed tab, and you are returned to your inbox automatically. {% hint style="warning" %} The filer is **not** emailed when you sign. Filers only hear about a filing when the clerk accepts or rejects it. {% endhint %} ## Returning a Filing to the Clerk If the filing has an issue that prevents you from signing it, you can return it to the clerk with an explanation. 1. Click the **Return** button at the bottom of the review panel. 2. A return panel slides open. Select a **reason** from the available options: * **Needs revision** -- the document content needs changes * **Wrong case** -- the filing was routed to the wrong case * **Missing signature** -- a required signature is absent from the document * **Incomplete** -- the filing is missing required information or documents * **Other** -- any other reason 3. Optionally add a **note** with details for the clerk (e.g., what specifically needs to be fixed). 4. Click **Confirm Return** to send it back. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Returning a filing to the clerk -- clicking "Return," selecting "Needs revision" as the reason, typing a note explaining what needs to change, and clicking "Confirm Return." {% endhint %} ### What Happens When You Return * The filing status changes to **Returned to Clerk**. * The filing is placed back in the clerk's **Returned by Judge** queue with **High** priority so it gets prompt attention. * The assigned clerk is notified in the app, and emailed if they have the "Returned from the judge" email notification turned on. * The filer is **not** emailed -- judge activity is never announced to filers. * The filing moves to your Returned tab, and you are returned to your inbox automatically. {% hint style="warning" %} You must select a return reason before submitting. The note is optional but recommended -- it helps the clerk understand exactly what needs to be addressed. {% endhint %} ## Denying a Filing To deny a filing, you place red **DENIED** stamps on its pages. Each stamp shows the word "DENIED", your signature, and the reason you give. {% hint style="warning" %} Denying requires a **saved signature**, because the stamp carries it. If you have not saved one, open the sign dialog on any filing and check **"Save this signature for future use"** first. {% endhint %} 1. Click **Deny** in the PDF Tools. A footer opens explaining the tool: "Denial stamps — drag each onto a page and give it a reason. Add as many as you need, on any page. Deny the whole filing, or sign it with only the stamped items denied." 2. Drag the stamp onto the page where it belongs (stamps are draggable on touch screens too). 3. Give the stamp a reason in **"Reason for this stamp"** (e.g. "Missing required exhibit"). Reasons are 3 to 500 characters. 4. Adjust the **Stamp size** slider if needed (10% to 65% of the page width). A resize box shows while you are editing a stamp. 5. Use **Add another stamp** to place more -- as many as you need, on any page. The footer lists every placed stamp by page and reason; click one to edit it, or the ✕ to remove it. 6. Turn on **Stamp every page** to "Put this stamp's reason on every page without one." 7. Click **Stamp & Return** to deny the whole filing. The stamped filing goes back to the clerk as **Returned to Clerk**, and the clerk is notified. Or click **Cancel** to discard the stamps. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Denying a filing -- clicking "Deny" in PDF Tools, dragging a DENIED stamp onto the page, typing a reason, adjusting the stamp size slider, and clicking "Stamp & Return." {% endhint %} ## Denying Part of a Filing Sometimes only part of a filing should be denied -- for example, granting a motion but denying one requested item. In that case you sign the filing with only the stamped items denied: 1. Place DENIED stamps on the items being denied, exactly as above. 2. Instead of "Stamp & Return," click **"Sign & Deny Stamped Items"** -- "Sign the filing; only the stamped items are denied." 3. The sign dialog opens. The stamped documents are pre-selected and cannot be deselected. A red notice explains: "N DENIED stamps will be burned in with your signature. Only the stamped items are denied. The stamps are outlined below so you can keep your signature clear of them." 4. Place your signature as usual and sign. The filing goes to the clerk as **Judge Signed** in their Returned by Judge queue, and the clerk's notification notes which items you denied in part, with your reasons. ## When to Sign vs. Return vs. Deny | Sign the filing | Return to clerk | Deny (whole or part) | | ------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | The documents are correct and complete | The document has errors that need correction | You are ruling against the request itself | | You have made any needed edits yourself | The filing was sent to the wrong case | Part of the filing is granted, part denied -- use "Sign & Deny Stamped Items" | | The filing is ready for the clerk to record | A required signature or document is missing | | | | You need the clerk to gather more information | | {% hint style="info" %} If a minor correction is needed, you can use the **Edit** (beta) feature to make the change yourself and then sign, rather than returning the filing to the clerk. {% endhint %} # Judicial Staff Judicial staff are the chambers team -- law clerks and assistants who prepare filings for a judge and finish them after signing. This page covers what judicial staff can do in the portal and how work flows between staff and judge. {% hint style="info" %} Judicial staff are **linked to judges by a court administrator** on the Users page. A staff member sees nothing in their inbox until they are linked to at least one judge. {% endhint %} ## Your Inbox as Judicial Staff As judicial staff, your inbox shows the filings of **every judge you are linked to**, combined into one list. * The **For** column tells you which judge each filing is addressed to. * The **"Your desk"** filter narrows the list to filings routed directly to you. Clerks can route a filing either to a judge or directly to a staff member -- so some filings land on your desk first for preparation, while others go straight to the judge. ## What Judicial Staff Can Do Before the judge sees a filing, you can prepare it: * **Review** the filing -- the review screen is the same one the judge uses. * **Mark up documents** -- use the **Edit** (beta) editor to add text and drawings, which are burned into the PDF on save. * **Leave Chambers Notes** -- private sticky notes shared between you and the judge. The clerk and filer never see them. * **Place signature boxes** -- mark exactly where the judge should sign on each document. When the judge opens the sign dialog, it starts at the boxes you placed. * **Forward to the judge** -- click **Send to Judge** when the filing is ready for signature. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** A judicial staff member preparing a filing -- opening it from the combined inbox, leaving a chambers note, placing a signature box on the order, and clicking "Send to Judge." {% endhint %} ## After the Judge Signs If the judge's signed filings are set to come to staff (their "After signing, send filings to" preference, or their choice on an individual filing), the signed filing returns to your inbox with the badge **"Signed — Pending Your Release."** At this point you: 1. Finish any remaining edits to the documents. 2. Click **Send to Clerk** to release the filing to the clerk's office. The filing then lands in the clerk's Returned by Judge queue at High priority, and the clerk records it. ## What Judicial Staff Cannot Do Judicial staff can **never sign or deny** a filing. Signing and denial stamps always carry the judge's own signature and can only be applied by the judge. | You can | You cannot | | ------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------- | | See every linked judge's inbox | Sign a filing | | Review and mark up documents | Deny a filing or place DENIED stamps | | Leave chambers notes | Link yourself to a judge (a court admin does this) | | Place signature boxes for the judge | | | Send a filing to the judge | | | Release a signed filing to the clerk | | # Overview The Admin Panel is a platform-administrator tool with a parish-first design: you pick a parish from a card grid, then see and manage everything about that parish. From here you manage parishes, organizations, users, reports, and per-parish settings. {% hint style="info" %} You must have the **Platform Admin** role to access the Admin Panel. If you don't see the Admin link in your sidebar, contact your system administrator. {% endhint %} ## Navigation The Admin Panel has two navigation contexts. ### Global sidebar ("Platform Admin") When you first open the Admin Panel, a left sidebar titled "Platform Admin" lists: | Section | Purpose | | ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Parishes** | Card-grid landing page listing every parish. Click a parish to manage it | | **Organizations** | View law firms and organizations registered on the platform (read-only) | | **Reports** | Cross-parish analytics: filing volume, rejection reasons, queue depth, and clerk productivity | | **Accounting** | Platform accounting. Visible only to designated super users | | **Audit Log** | Record of platform activity (coming soon). Visible only to designated super users | | **AI Assistant** | Coming soon | {% hint style="info" %} **Accounting** and **Audit Log** appear only for designated super users -- ordinary platform admins do not see these two sections. {% endhint %} ### Parish landing page The **Parishes** page shows a card for each parish. Each card shows the parish name, an **Active/Inactive** badge (whether e-filing is on), the user count, and how many civil and criminal filings are pending in its queues. ### Parish sidebar Clicking a parish opens that parish's own sidebar (titled with the parish name, with a "Back to Parishes" link). It is grouped into three sections: | Group | Pages | | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | Operations | **Overview**, **Users**, **Civil Queue**, **Criminal Queue** | | Reference data | **Filing Types**, **Docket Entries**, **Fee Schedules** | | Administration | **Statements**, **Announcements**, **Config** | | Page | Purpose | | ------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Overview** | Parish stats -- Active Users, Pending in Queue, E-Filing Active/Inactive -- and a Recent Filings table (Case #, Filer, Status, Submitted) | | **Users** | Manage court staff roles, dockets, stamp titles, and active status; invite new staff. See [Managing Users](/admin-guide/managing-users) | | **Civil Queue** / **Criminal Queue** | Live review queue for each docket, with the full clerk actions | | **Filing Types** / **Docket Entries** | Read-only mirrors of Verdict CMS for most parishes; editable at standalone parishes. See [Case Types and Documents](/admin-guide/case-types-and-documents) | | **Fee Schedules** | Read-only fee schedule view | | **Statements** | The parish's portion of every charge, refund, and chargeback in a period. See [Payment Statements](/admin-guide/payment-statements) | | **Announcements** | Create and manage court announcements | | **Config** | Court settings: name, code, state, jurisdiction label, e-filing toggle, Verdict codes, standalone switch, stamp behavior (ValPay accounts shown read-only). See [Setting Up a Parish](/admin-guide/setting-up-a-court) | {% hint style="info" %} **Queue and routing-rule configuration lives in the Clerk settings area**, not the Admin Panel. See [Queues and Routing](/admin-guide/queues-and-routing). {% endhint %} ## What Only Platform Admins Can Do A few actions exist nowhere else in the system: * Turn the **Standalone** switch on or off for a parish (Config page) * Grant **Additional parishes** to judges and judicial staff whose district spans several parishes (Users page) * Choose **which parish a staff invitation goes to** * Work **any parish's queue and review filings** from the admin Civil/Criminal Queue pages (filings opened this way are not auto-claimed) ## Getting Started Parishes (courts) are provisioned directly in the database following a go-live checklist — there is no "create a parish" form in the Admin Panel. Once a parish exists, your day-to-day work in the panel is: 1. **Review the parish Config** — confirm the court name, codes, jurisdiction label, and Verdict civil/criminal codes are correct, and that e-filing is enabled 2. **Invite court staff** and assign their roles, dockets, and stamp titles on the Users page 3. **Monitor the Civil and Criminal queues**, Statements, and Reports as filings come in For parishes connected to Verdict, filing types, docket entries, and fee schedules require no setup here — they sync from Verdict CMS automatically. Standalone parishes manage their filing types and docket entries on these pages instead. # Setting Up a Parish Parishes (courts) are the top-level entity in the system. Every queue, filing, and announcement belongs to a specific parish. {% hint style="warning" %} **There is no "create a parish" form in the Admin Panel.** New parishes are provisioned directly in the database as part of a go-live checklist — the court record, payment (ValPay) accounts, queues, and staff users are inserted by hand. For parishes connected to Verdict, case types, sub-types, document types, and fee schedules then auto-sync from Verdict CMS at runtime. Once a parish exists, you adjust its settings from the per-parish **Config** page described below. {% endhint %} ## Editing a Parish (Config) To edit a parish, open it from the **Parishes** card grid, then choose **Config** in the parish sidebar. The Config page is a form with five sections: **General**, **E-Filing**, **Verdict CMS**, **Stamp Behavior**, and a read-only **ValPay** section. ### General | Field | Required | Description | | ---------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Court Name** | Yes | Full name of the court (e.g., "22nd Judicial District Court") | | **Code** | Yes | Short identifier, 2-10 characters (e.g., "WASH") | | **State** | Yes | Two-letter state code (e.g., "LA") | | **Jurisdiction Label** | Yes | How the jurisdiction is labeled in forms. Use "Parish", "District", or "County" | | **External ID (CMS)** | No | Unique identifier used by the external CMS (e.g., a Verdict GUID or court identifier) | ### E-Filing A single **E-Filing Enabled** toggle. When disabled, the court is removed from the filer's court list entirely — filers cannot even select it when starting a filing. ### Verdict CMS | Field | Description | | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Civil Court Code** | Court code used by the Verdict CMS API for civil cases (e.g., "WA-Civil") | | **Criminal Court Code** | Court code used by the Verdict CMS API for criminal cases (e.g., "WA") | | **Standalone** | Switch labeled "Standalone — CottFile is this parish's case management system." For parishes that are not on Verdict (or any connected CMS) | **What standalone means:** the parish gets the full e-filing product — filings are reviewed, stamped, and charged at acceptance exactly as usual — but nothing is pushed to a case management system. Because no CMS issues case numbers through CottFile, the **clerk types in the case number** from the parish's own case management system when (or after) accepting a filing. A standalone parish also manages its own filing types and docket entries in the Admin Panel — see [Case Types and Documents](/admin-guide/case-types-and-documents). The switch is disabled while any Verdict court code is set: "Unavailable while a Verdict court code is set — Verdict is the system of record for this parish." To move a standalone parish onto Verdict later, simply fill in its Verdict court codes — the Verdict connection then takes over. ### Stamp Behavior One setting: **"Default to stamping the first page only."** As the help text explains: "When on, opening a filing in the review console defaults the court stamp to the first page only. Clerks can still override per filing. When off, the stamp defaults to every page." ### ValPay (read-only) The ValPay section lists each payment account configured for the court — its role, a Live/Test badge, store ID, balance account ID, and DBA name. These accounts are managed in the Adyen dashboard and are **read-only** here. ### Saving Make your changes and click **Save Changes**. The button is disabled until you change something; while you have unsaved edits, a "You have unsaved changes" note appears, and the button shows "Saved" briefly after a successful save. {% hint style="info" %} There is no row-level e-filing toggle, no delete-parish action, and no location management in the Admin Panel — all court editing happens through this Config form. {% endhint %} # Organizations The **Organizations & Filers** page gives platform administrators a platform-wide view of registered filers, organizations, and sign-up activity -- and the tools to manage them. ## The Overview At the top of the page, stat cards summarize the platform: * **Organizations** -- total registered firms and agencies * **Total Filers** -- all filer accounts * **Solo (no org)** -- filers not attached to any organization * **New (last 30d)** -- recent sign-ups, with a count for the last 7 days Below the cards, three searchable tabs: **Recent Sign-ups**, **Organizations**, and **Solo Filers**. ## Creating an Organization Click **New Organization** to create an organization that filers can be assigned to. Enter the **Name**, **Type** (Law Firm, Government Agency, etc.), **Contact email**, and **Phone**, then click **Create Organization**. {% hint style="info" %} Filers can also create their own organizations during onboarding or from Filer Portal → Settings. Admin-created organizations are useful when you want to set a firm up before its members sign up -- for example, ahead of a parish go-live. {% endhint %} ## Managing an Organization Each organization row has a **Fee exempt** toggle -- turn it on for government agencies or other organizations that should never be charged filing fees. Expanding a row shows two sections: ### Members Each member row shows Name, Email, Phone, Role, Bar #, Filings, and Status, with two actions: * **Edit** -- opens **Edit user access**: * **Email address** -- changes their sign-in address immediately (no verification email is sent). * **Primary role** -- changing to a court-staff role removes the user from any organization. * **Organization admin** -- a secondary capability layered on the primary role: they can manage the team, billing, and the org card while keeping their role. * **Show accounting** -- shows the Reports tab with organization filings, fees, and revenue. * **Move to org** -- moves the filer to a different organization. A **Make organization admin** toggle controls their standing in the new firm; if left off, an existing org admin joins as an attorney and other roles are unchanged. The only admin of a firm with other members cannot be moved until another admin is assigned. ### Pending Invites Shows each outstanding invite's Email, Invited By, Sent, and Expires, with **Resend** (issues a fresh 7-day invite) and **Revoke** actions. Click **Invite Member** to send a new invite by email address. ## Solo Filers The **Solo Filers** tab lists filers with no organization. Use **Move to org** to attach them to a firm -- handy when someone signed up without finding their firm. ## Org Self-Service Organization members manage their own settings from **Filer Portal → Settings**, including the organization profile, team invites, join-request approvals, and the shared billing card. For details, see [Filer Settings](/filer-guide/settings). {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Expanding an organization row -- viewing members, editing a member's access, and resending a pending invite. {% endhint %} # Managing Users The Users page (titled **Court Staff**) manages the court staff for a single parish. Open a parish from the **Parishes** card grid, then choose **Users** in the parish sidebar. From here you manage staff roles, dockets, stamp titles, and active status, and you invite new staff by email. {% hint style="info" %} This page manages **court staff only** — Clerk, Judge, Judicial Staff, and Court Admin. It does not manage filer accounts (attorneys, pro se litigants, organization admins, government filers). Filer accounts are created through registration and onboarding. {% endhint %} ## Viewing Staff The staff table lists everyone assigned to this court. Each row shows the staff member's name (with "(you)" after your own), parish code, email, role, docket, an **Active** toggle, and Edit/Remove actions. You can search by email and filter by: * **Role** -- All, Clerk, Judge, Judicial Staff, or Court Admin * **Docket** -- All, Civil, Criminal, or Both * **Status** -- Active, Inactive, or All ## Court Staff Roles | Role | Description | | ------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Clerk** | Reviews and processes filings in the review queue | | **Judge** | Judicial officer. Reviews filings routed for judicial signing | | **Judicial Staff** | Chambers staff supporting one or more judges | | **Court Admin** | Full administrative access for the court. Can configure queues, routing rules, users, and other clerk-settings pages | ## Inviting Staff New court staff are added by **email invite** -- there is no form for creating an account with a password. Click **Invite Staff Member** and fill in: * **Email** (e.g., "") * **Role** -- Clerk, Judicial Staff, Judge, or Court Admin * **Docket** -- Both, Civil, or Criminal The dialog notes: "An invitation email will be sent. The link expires in 7 days." The invitee follows the link to set up their own account. {% hint style="info" %} When inviting **Judicial Staff**, the dialog reminds you: after they accept the invite, edit their account here to link them to their judge(s) -- until then their inbox will be empty. {% endhint %} If an invite cannot be sent, you'll see why: "A pending invite already exists for this email" or "This person is already a member of your court". ### Pending Invitations Invites that have not yet been accepted are listed in a **Pending Invitations** table showing Email, Role, Docket, Sent, and Expires. You can **revoke** a pending invite; to send a fresh link, revoke the old invite and create a new one. ## Editing a Staff Member Click the **pencil icon** on a row to open the edit dialog. The fields shown depend on the person's role: * **Role** -- Clerk, Judge, Judicial Staff, or Court Admin. You cannot change your own role * **Docket** -- Civil, Criminal, or Both. Shown for **every** staff role, judges included * **Stamp title** (Clerk and Court Admin) -- the title shown after this clerk's name on the e-file stamp (e.g., "Deputy Clerk", "Chief Deputy Clerk"). A live preview shows exactly how the stamp line will read: "by First Last, Title". Leave blank to show no title * **Judges served** (Judicial Staff) -- checkboxes linking the staff member to judges. As the dialog explains: "Judicial staff see the inbox of every judge they're linked to. They can review, mark up documents, and leave notes — but cannot sign or deny." * **Additional parishes** (Judge and Judicial Staff; **platform admin only**) -- grants access to other parishes in the same judicial district. The home parish is always included. The dialog warns that every parish is listed, so check that the one you pick really is in this judge's district before granting it Click **Update** to save, or **Cancel** to close without changes. {% hint style="warning" %} You cannot change your own role. This prevents accidentally locking yourself out. {% endhint %} ## Activating and Deactivating Staff Use the **Active** toggle on each row to activate or deactivate an account. Deactivated users lose access. You cannot deactivate your own account. * Deactivating a staff member **releases any filings held by them after signing**, so signed work does not get stuck in a departed employee's queue. * Deactivated staff receive **no notification emails**. ## Removing a Staff Member Click the **trash icon** on a row to remove a staff member from the court. You are asked to confirm ("Remove {name} ({email}) from this court?"). You cannot remove your own account. # Case Types and Documents Filing types and docket entries define what filers can submit and how those submissions are recorded. How you manage them depends on the parish: * **Parishes connected to Verdict CMS** -- both pages are **read-only** mirrors of Verdict data. * **Standalone parishes** (not connected to a CMS) -- both pages are **editable** here in the Admin Panel. {% hint style="info" %} **Naming:** what the Admin Panel calls a **Filing Type** is what filers see as a **Case Type**, and an admin **Filing Subtype** is the filer's **Filing Type**. Keep this in mind when matching a filer's question to these pages. {% endhint %} ## Verdict Parishes: Read-Only View For a parish with Verdict court codes, filing types, docket entries, and fee schedules all originate in Verdict CMS and sync into the e-filing system automatically. To change them, change them in Verdict — the Admin Panel reflects whatever Verdict has. Each page carries a note that the data "...are managed in Verdict CMS. This is a read-only view." ### Filing Types Open a parish from the **Parishes** card grid, then choose **Filing Types** in the parish sidebar. Each row shows: * **Name** -- Display name of the case type (e.g., "Civil") * **Code** -- Short identifier * **Sub-Types** -- Count of sub-types under this case type * **Document Types** -- Count of document types associated with this case type If no filing types have synced yet, the page shows "No filing types configured." ### Docket Entries Choose **Docket Entries** in the parish sidebar. Each row shows: * **Name** -- Display name shown to filers (e.g., "Petition") * **Code** -- Short identifier * **Filing Type** -- The case type this document type is associated with, if any If no docket entries have synced yet, the page shows "No docket entry types configured." ## Standalone Parishes: Editable Reference Data A standalone parish has no CMS behind it, so its reference data lives here. The Filing Types page explains: "{court} is not connected to Verdict CMS, so its case types, filing types, and advance deposits are managed here." ### Filing Types The page shows a tree -- **Filing Types — Manage filing types and filing subtypes organized by court** -- with an **Add Filing Type** button. Each filing type row has a **+** button ("Add Filing Subtype"), a pencil to edit, and a trash to delete (with the confirmation "Delete this case type and all filing types?"). **Add/Edit Filing Type** dialog fields: | Field | Example / help | | --------------- | -------------- | | **Name** | e.g., "Civil" | | **Code** | e.g., "CIV" | | **Description** | Optional | **Add/Edit Filing Subtype** dialog fields: | Field | Example / help | | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Name** | e.g., "Personal Injury" | | **Code** | e.g., "PI" | | **Description** | Optional | | **Advance deposit ($)** | "Leave blank if no deposit is set" -- "Charged when a filer opens a new case of this type." | ### Docket Entries The Docket Entries page notes that the parish's "docket entry types and their fees are managed here." The table columns are **Name**, **Code**, **CMS Event Code**, **Linked Filing Type**, and **Actions**, with a search box and an **Add Docket Entry** button. Deleting asks "Delete this docket entry?" **Add/Edit Docket Entry** dialog fields: | Field | Example / help | | ---------------------- | -------------------------------------- | | **Name** | e.g., "Petition" | | **Code** | e.g., "PET" | | **CMS Event Code** | e.g., "PTNFLD" | | **Description** | Optional | | **Base fee ($)** | "Blank = no fee" | | **Per-page rate ($)** | "Blank = no per-page fee" | | **Linked Filing Type** | Optional; choose a filing type or None | {% hint style="warning" %} **Blank is not the same as $0.** A blank fee means *no fee is set*. Entering $0 as a filing type's deposit or a docket entry's fee does **not** make filings fee-exempt -- the platform's e-filing and convenience fees still apply. {% endhint %} ## Fee Schedules The **Fee Schedules** page is read-only at every parish -- standalone included. The table shows **Category**, **Type**, **Amount**, and **Effective** only. At standalone parishes, fees are set on the docket entry types above, not here. # Fees For parishes on Verdict CMS, fees are not configured in the Admin Panel: the court-side amount comes from Verdict, and the platform fees are fixed in code. The **Fee Schedules** page in the parish sidebar is a **read-only** view that mirrors Verdict CMS. **Standalone parishes are the exception** -- see below. {% hint style="info" %} **There is no fee builder.** The Admin Panel does not let you define flat, per-page, or graduated fee rules, and there is no fee-versioning by effective date. This page documents how a filer's charge is actually computed and what the Fee Schedules view shows. {% endhint %} ## How a Filing Is Charged When a clerk accepts a filing, the filer's stored card is **charged first** -- before anything is stamped or recorded. The charge is the sum of three parts: 1. **Court amount** -- the court's docket total for the filing (after any advance-deposit drawdown and clerk adjustments). 2. **E-filing fee** -- a fixed **$6.00** platform fee. 3. **Convenience fee** -- **3.05%** of the court amount plus the e-filing fee. A filing with a $0 court amount that isn't waived still charges the platform minimum of **$6.18**. If the card declines, the filing moves to **Payment Failed**: nothing is stamped and nothing is recorded with the court. The filer pays from their "Payments due" page, and the filing returns to the clerk's queue for a normal acceptance -- which does not charge again. ## Deposits and Top-Ups * Some case types carry a **base fee** that acts as an advance deposit. On a new case it seeds the case's deposit balance; later filings draw it down, and filers are charged only the shortfall. * Filers can add an **Additional Advance Deposit** or an **Escrow Deposit** with a filing, and can top up an existing case's deposit from the filing screen (**Add Funds**). A standalone top-up charges only the 3.05% convenience fee -- no $6 e-filing fee. * New deposit money is added to the court amount **before** the platform fees are calculated. ## Fee Exemptions and Waivers There are several distinct mechanisms: * **Fee-exempt case types** -- a case type is exempt only when its advance-deposit schedule is **exactly $0** and no filing subtype carries a positive base fee that overrides it. A case type with **no** schedule at all is not exempt -- its filings still charge docket fees (or the $6.18 platform minimum). * **Fee-exempt organizations** -- the **Fee exempt** toggle on the [Organizations](/admin-guide/organizations) page waives every filing from that organization automatically; the clerk sees a banner and no approval is needed. * **Government filers** -- waiver requests with reason "Government Agency" are approved automatically at submission. * **Filer-requested waivers** -- reviewed by the clerk, who can **Approve Waiver** (nothing is charged) or **Deny**. * **Defer Court Costs** -- a clerk option on existing civil cases: the court's costs are drawn from the deposit already on the case, but the $6 + 3.05% platform fees are still charged. A filing that carries an advance or escrow deposit cannot be fully waived -- the deposit money must be collected, so the clerk uses Defer Court Costs instead. ## The Fee Schedules View (Verdict Parishes) Open a parish from the **Parishes** card grid, then choose **Fee Schedules** in the parish sidebar. The page shows a read-only table sourced from Verdict CMS, with columns for **Category**, **Type**, **Amount**, **Filing Type**, **Document Type**, and **Effective** date. If no fee schedules have synced, the page shows "No fee schedules configured." {% hint style="info" %} This view reflects what Verdict CMS holds. To change court fees at a Verdict parish, change them in Verdict -- there is nothing to edit here. {% endhint %} ## Standalone Parishes A standalone parish (one not connected to Verdict CMS) manages its own reference data **in the Admin Panel**: its Filing Types and Docket Entries pages are editable. The fees live in two places: * **Filing Types** -- each filing subtype carries an **Advance deposit ($)**, charged when a filer opens a new case of that type. * **Docket Entries** -- each docket entry type carries a **Base fee ($)** and an optional **Per-page rate ($)**. Per-page entries charge the base amount plus the per-page rate for every page after the first. # Payment Statements Each parish has a monthly **Payment Statements** page (open a parish, then **Statements** in the parish sidebar). It shows the **court's portion** of every charge, refund, and chargeback in the period -- the money that settles to the court. ## Reading a Statement * The page defaults to the **previous month**; arrows step month by month (you can't go past the current month). * Summary cards: **Gross Deposits** (court portion of charges), **Refunds**, **Chargebacks**, and **Net Deposited**. * If there were chargebacks, an alert flags them: "N chargeback(s) this period -- Total reversed: $X (court portion). Review flagged rows below." * The table lists each transaction: **Date**, **Type** (Deposit / Refund / Chargeback), **Filing #**, **Case #**, **PSP Reference**, and **Court Amount**, with a **Net Deposited** footer. ## Exports * **Export CSV** -- `statement-{court}-YYYY-MM.csv`, with summary lines prefixed `#`. * **Export PDF** -- a landscape PDF of the same statement. ## Refunds Refunds are **not** issued from CottFile. Issue the refund in the ValPay portal -- it flows back automatically, appears on the statement, and is netted out of the filer's totals. A full refund on a filing that hasn't been accepted yet releases its payment lock so the clerk can reject or edit it. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Opening a parish's Payment Statements page, stepping back a month, reviewing the summary cards, and clicking Export CSV. {% endhint %} # Queues and Routing Queues and routing rules organize how incoming filings reach clerks for review. Queues group filings for review; routing rules automatically assign a filing to a queue, user, or priority when it is submitted. {% hint style="info" %} **Queues and routing rules are configured in the Clerk settings area, not the Admin Panel.** The pages live under **Clerk > Settings > Queues** and **Clerk > Settings > Routing Rules**, and access is limited to **Court Admin** and **Clerk** roles. Each of these pages operates on the signed-in user's own court. (The parish sidebar in the Admin Panel shows the live Civil and Criminal queues, but queue configuration happens in Clerk settings.) {% endhint %} {% hint style="warning" %} These two pages currently have **no link in the settings menu** — they are reachable only by typing their direct URLs (`/clerk/settings/queues` and `/clerk/settings/routing-rules`). Bookmark them if you manage queues regularly. {% endhint %} ## Review Queues ### Viewing Queues Go to **Clerk > Settings > Queues**. The queues for your court are listed in order of their display order. Each queue shows: * **Display order** -- The queue's ordering number (lower numbers first) * **Name and code** -- Display name and short identifier * **Default badge** -- Indicates the court's default queue for filings that do not match any routing rule * **Assignment method** -- How filings in this queue are assigned to clerks * **Auto-assign toggle** -- Whether filings are automatically assigned to a clerk when they enter the queue ### Adding a Queue 1. Click **Add Queue**. 2. Fill in the queue details: | Field | Required | Description | | --------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Name** | Yes | Display name (e.g., "New Filings") | | **Code** | Yes | Short identifier (e.g., "NEW") | | **Description** | No | Optional description | | **Display Order** | Yes | Numeric ordering position (lower numbers first) | | **Assignment Method** | Yes | How clerks are assigned to items in this queue (see below). Defaults to Manual | | **Default Queue** | No | Toggle on to make this the fallback queue for the court | | **Auto-Assign** | No | Toggle on to automatically assign a clerk when a filing enters this queue | 3. Click **Create**. ### Assignment Methods | Method | Description | | --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Manual** | Clerks manually pick up filings from the queue. No automatic assignment | | **Round Robin** | Filings are assigned to clerks in rotation, distributing work evenly | | **Rules Based** | Filings are assigned based on routing rules (see below) | The **Auto-Assign** toggle is independent of the assignment method — it controls whether a clerk is assigned automatically the moment a filing enters the queue. ### Display Order and Moving Filings Queues are ordered by their display-order number. Queue items can only move **forward** (to a queue with a higher display order) — never backward. If a filing needs to return to an earlier stage, a clerk must reject it and have the filer resubmit. {% hint style="info" %} A typical queue setup might be: **New Filings** (order 1) > **Under Review** (order 2) > **Ready to Record** (order 3). {% endhint %} ### Editing and Deleting Queues * Click the **pencil icon** to edit a queue's name, code, order, or assignment method * Use the **Auto-assign** toggle directly on the queue row to enable or disable auto-assignment * Click the **trash icon** to delete a queue ## Routing Rules Routing rules automatically assign filings to queues, users, or priorities when they are submitted. Rules are evaluated in priority order — the first matching rule wins. ### Viewing Rules Go to **Clerk > Settings > Routing Rules**. Rules for your court are listed by priority. Each rule shows its priority, name, court, condition, action, and active status. ### Adding a Routing Rule 1. Click **Add Routing Rule**. 2. Fill in the rule details: **General settings:** | Field | Required | Description | | ------------- | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | | **Rule Name** | Yes | Descriptive name (e.g., "Route Civil to Queue A") | | **Priority** | Yes | Numeric priority. Lower numbers are evaluated first | | **Court** | Yes | The court this rule applies to | | **Active** | No | Toggle to enable or disable the rule. Defaults to on | **Condition** -- defines when the rule matches: | Field | Options | | ------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Field** | Filing Type, Docket Entry, Filer Type, Fee Status | | **Operator** | Equals, Not Equals, Contains | | **Value** | The value to match against (e.g., a filing type code like "CIV", a docket entry code like "PET", or a filer type like "ATTORNEY") | **Action** -- defines what happens when the rule matches: | Action Type | Description | Example Value | | ----------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------- | | **Assign to Queue** | Route the filing to a specific queue | Queue code (e.g., "CIVIL") | | **Assign to User** | Assign the filing directly to a clerk | User email address | | **Set Priority** | Set the filing's priority level | HIGH, URGENT, LOW | | **Trigger Notification** | Send a notification when the rule matches | Notification type | | **Require Judicial Approval** | Flag the filing for judge review before clerk processing | Judge email or "true" | 3. Click **Create**. ### How Routing Works When a filing is submitted: 1. The system evaluates all active routing rules for the filing's court, ordered by priority (lowest number first). 2. For each rule, it checks whether the filing's attributes match the condition. 3. The first matching rule's action is applied. 4. If no rules match, the filing goes to the court's default queue. ### Example Rules | Rule Name | Condition | Action | | ---------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | Route Civil Filings | Filing Type equals CIV | Assign to Queue: CIVIL | | Prioritize Government Filers | Filer Type equals GOVERNMENT | Set Priority: HIGH | | Fee Waiver Review | Fee Status equals WAIVER\_REQUESTED | Require Judicial Approval: true | | Criminal to Judge Smith | Filing Type equals CRIM | Assign to User: | ### Activating and Deactivating Rules Use the **Active** toggle on each rule row to enable or disable it without deleting it. Deactivated rules are skipped during evaluation. ### Editing and Deleting Rules * Click the **pencil icon** to edit any field on a rule * Click the **trash icon** to permanently delete a rule # Announcements and Reports ## Court Announcements Announcements let you record important notices for a court. You create and manage them per parish. {% hint style="warning" %} Announcements are created and stored, but there is **no filer-facing display** for them today — they do not yet appear on the filer dashboard or anywhere else for filers. Treat this page as a place to author announcements ahead of a future release that surfaces them. {% endhint %} ### Viewing Announcements Open a parish from the **Parishes** card grid, then choose **Announcements** in the parish sidebar. The table shows the title, court, active status, start date, and end date. ### Creating an Announcement 1. Click **Add Announcement**. 2. Fill in the details: | Field | Required | Description | | -------------- | -------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Title** | Yes | Headline for the announcement (e.g., "Holiday Closure Notice") | | **Content** | Yes | The full announcement text. Supports longer messages | | **Court** | Yes | The court this announcement applies to | | **Start Date** | Yes | The date the announcement becomes active | | **End Date** | No | The date the announcement is automatically deactivated. Leave blank for no end date | | **Active** | No | Toggle to enable or disable immediately. Defaults to on | 3. Click **Create**. ### Managing Announcements * **Edit** -- Click the pencil icon to update the title, content, dates, or court * **Delete** -- Click the trash icon to permanently remove an announcement * **Activate / Deactivate** -- Use the Active toggle on each row {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Creating an announcement -- clicking "Add Announcement," entering a title and content, selecting a court, setting a start date and end date, and clicking Create. Then toggling the Active switch on the new announcement row. {% endhint %} ## Admin Reports For a parish's financial data -- every charge, refund, and chargeback in a period -- see the parish [Payment Statements](/admin-guide/payment-statements) page. The Reports page provides a **cross-parish** analytics dashboard with four key views, aggregating data across every court. Open **Reports** from the global "Platform Admin" sidebar. ### Filters All reports share a set of filters at the top of the page: * **Court** -- Filter the cross-parish data down to a specific court, or view all courts * **From / To dates** -- Narrow the date range for time-based reports ### Filing Volume A bar chart showing the number of filings submitted per month over the last 12 months. Use this to track filing trends and seasonal patterns. * Grouped by month * Filterable by court and date range * **Export CSV** -- Download the raw data as a CSV file ### Rejection Reasons A pie chart showing the distribution of reasons why filings were rejected. Use this to identify common filer mistakes and areas where guidance could be improved. * Shows each rejection reason as a percentage of total rejections * Displays the total number of rejected filings ### Queue Depth A table showing the current state of each review queue across all courts: | Column | Description | | ----------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Court** | The court the queue belongs to | | **Queue** | Queue name and code | | **Items** | Number of filings currently waiting in the queue | | **Avg Age** | Average time filings have been sitting in the queue (in hours) | Use this to identify bottlenecks where filings are piling up or aging. * **Export CSV** -- Download the queue depth data ### Clerk Productivity A table showing how many filings each clerk has processed: | Column | Description | | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Clerk** | Clerk's name | | **Email** | Clerk's email address | | **Processed** | Total filings the clerk has acted on | | **Accepted** | Number of filings accepted (includes partial accepts and recorded) | | **Rejected** | Number of filings rejected | | **Acceptance Rate** | Percentage of processed filings that were accepted | Acceptance rate badges are color-coded: * 80% or higher -- standard * 60-79% -- secondary * Below 60% -- highlighted as needing attention * **Export CSV** -- Download clerk productivity data {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The Admin Reports page -- selecting a court from the filter dropdown, viewing the filing volume bar chart, switching to the rejection reasons pie chart, then scrolling to the queue depth and clerk productivity tables. {% endhint %} # Audit Log The Audit Log provides a complete record of all actions taken across the platform. Use it to review who did what and when for compliance and troubleshooting purposes. {% hint style="info" %} This feature is coming soon. The Audit Log page is not yet functional, and it appears in the sidebar only for **designated super users** -- ordinary platform admins do not see it. {% endhint %} ## Planned Capabilities When available, the Audit Log will allow you to: * View a chronological list of all administrative and filing actions * Filter by user, action type, parish, or date range * Drill into individual entries for full detail on what changed {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The planned Audit Log interface -- filtering the log by user and action type, scrolling through chronological entries, and expanding an entry to see the full change details. {% endhint %} # The Filing Lifecycle Every filing in Cott E-Filing follows a defined path from creation to final recording with the court. This page walks through the complete journey across all roles. *** ## Lifecycle Overview ``` ┌─────────────────────┐ │ DRAFT │ Filer saves, not yet submitted └──────────┬───────────┘ │ Filer submits ▼ ┌─────────────────────┐ │ SUBMITTED │ Enters the clerk queue └──────────┬───────────┘ │ Clerk picks up ▼ ┌─────────────────────┐ ┌───────▶│ UNDER REVIEW │ Clerk reviewing documents │ └──┬──────┬──────┬─────┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Clerk sends to judge │ │ │ ▼ │ │ │ ┌─────────────┐ signs ┌──────────────┐ │ │ │ │ WITH JUDGE ├───────────▶│ JUDGE SIGNED │──┐ │ │ │ └──────┬──────┘ └──────────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ returns / denies │ │ │ │ ▼ │ │ │ │ ┌───────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ RETURNED TO CLERK │────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ └───────────────────┘ back to the clerk, │ │ │ │ who accepts │ │ │ │ Clerk rejects │ │ │ ▼ │ │ │ ┌──────────┐ Final. "Edit & Resubmit" creates │ │ │ │ REJECTED │ a NEW filing linked to this one. │ │ │ └──────────┘ │ │ │ Clerk accepts ◀──────────────────────────────────────┘ │ ▼ │ ┌──────────────────────────┐ │ │ Card charged first │ │ └──────┬──────────┬────────┘ │ decline │ │ success │ ▼ ▼ │ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────────────────────┐ │ │PAYMENT FAILED│ │ ACCEPTED / PARTIAL ACCEPT │ │ └──────┬───────┘ │ stamped, recorded │ │ │ │ (shows as "Accepted") │ │ filer │ └──────────────────────────────┘ │ pays │ └─────────┘ returns to the clerk queue, "Payment collected" ``` {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** A filing moving through the lifecycle -- starting as a Draft, filer clicking Submit, the filing appearing in the clerk queue as Submitted, a clerk picking it up (Under Review), accepting it, and the status showing Accepted. {% endhint %} *** ## Step-by-Step Walkthrough ### 1. Draft (Filer) You begin a filing using the 5-step wizard: select a court, add parties, upload documents, review fees, and confirm. At any point before submission you can save your progress as a draft and return later from the **Drafts** page. * No notifications are sent at this stage * Drafts do not appear in the clerk queue * You can delete drafts you no longer need ### 2. Submitted (Filer) When you click **Submit**, the filing leaves draft status and enters the clerk queue at the assigned court. You receive a filing number (e.g., EF-EBR-2026-0042) and a confirmation. * **Email notification:** Filing submitted confirmation sent to the filer * The filing appears on your dashboard with status **Submitted** ### 3. Under Review (Clerk) A clerk picks up the filing from the queue (or it is auto-assigned via routing rules). The clerk opens the review page to examine each document. * The assigned clerk's name appears on the filing * Filers see the status change to **Under Review** on their dashboard ### 4. Clerk Decision After reviewing the documents, the clerk makes one of four moves: #### Accepted All documents pass review. The system: * **Charges the filer's card first** -- if the charge fails, nothing else happens (see Payment Failed below) * Stamps each PDF with court metadata (court name, date, recording number, clerk name) * Creates a case record with the court (for new cases) and docket entries for each accepted document * Sends an acceptance email to the filer, including any **Note from the Clerk** #### Partial Accept Some documents are accepted and some are rejected. Accepted documents are stamped and recorded. The filer receives details about which documents were rejected and why. #### Rejected The filing does not meet requirements. The clerk selects a rejection reason code and may add notes. The system sends a rejection email with the reason code, the clerk's notes, any **Note from the Clerk**, and a cure deadline if one was set. No charge is made. {% hint style="info" %} Rejection is final for that filing -- it never re-enters the clerk's queue. The filer uses **Edit & Resubmit** to create a **new** filing, pre-filled from the rejected one and linked back to it. {% endhint %} #### With Judge The clerk uses **Send to Judge** for filings that need judicial review or a signature (proposed orders, sealed filings, matters needing judicial discretion). ### 5. Judge Action (if routed) The judge reviews the filing from their inbox and does one of three things: * **Signs** it -- the filing becomes **Judge Signed** and returns to the clerk's **Returned by Judge** tab. * **Returns** it with notes -- the filing becomes **Returned to Clerk**. * **Denies** it (in whole or in part, with DENIED stamps) -- it also comes back as **Returned to Clerk** (or Judge Signed, when only some items were denied). {% hint style="warning" %} A judge's signature is not acceptance. Signing never charges the filer, stamps the documents with the court stamp, or records anything. In every path, it is the **clerk** who accepts the filing -- including accepting a returned or denied filing directly. The filer is never emailed at any judge step; only the clerk's final accept or reject reaches them. {% endhint %} ### 6. Recorded (Final) Accepted filings are recorded with the court. This is the terminal state -- the stamped documents, docket entries, and case records are fully committed. In the clerk and filer views, a recorded filing simply displays as **Accepted**. ### Routing After Acceptance An accepted filing can still be sent to a judge -- typically a proposed order. It shows as **Accepted · awaiting judge**, becomes **Judge Signed** when the judge signs, and the clerk finishes with **Record signed version**. The filer is not charged again. ### The Payment Failed Loop The card is charged at the moment of acceptance. If it is declined: 1. The filing becomes **Payment Failed**. Nothing was stamped or recorded with the court. 2. The filer is emailed and pays from their **Payments due** page. 3. Once paid, the filing returns to the clerk's queue with a **Payment collected** banner. 4. The clerk accepts again -- this time acceptance stamps and records without charging, because the charge was already collected. *** ## Status Transition Table | From | To | Triggered by | What happens | | -------------------------------- | ------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Draft | Submitted | Filer clicks Submit | Filing enters clerk queue. Confirmation email sent. | | Submitted | Under Review | Clerk picks up or auto-assignment | Clerk assigned. | | Under Review | Accepted | Clerk accepts all documents | Card charged, PDFs stamped, court records created. Acceptance email sent. | | Under Review | Partial Accept | Clerk accepts some, rejects others | Accepted docs stamped and recorded. Rejection details sent. | | Under Review | Rejected | Clerk rejects filing | Rejection email with reason code and notes. Final -- resubmission is a new filing. | | Under Review | Payment Failed | Card declined at acceptance | Nothing recorded. Filer emailed to retry payment. | | Payment Failed | Under Review | Filer pays on Payments due | Back in the clerk queue with "Payment collected". Acceptance won't charge again. | | Under Review | With Judge | Clerk sends to judge | Filing appears in judge's inbox. No filer email. | | With Judge | Judge Signed | Judge signs | Returns to the clerk's Returned by Judge tab. No charge, stamp, or recording yet. | | With Judge | Returned to Clerk | Judge returns or denies | Returns to the clerk, who can accept it directly. | | Judge Signed / Returned to Clerk | Accepted | Clerk accepts | Normal acceptance -- charge (if not already collected), stamp, record. | | Accepted | Accepted · awaiting judge | Clerk routes an accepted filing | E.g., a proposed order sent for signature. | | Accepted · awaiting judge | Judge Signed | Judge signs | Clerk records the signed version. No second charge. | | Accepted / Partial Accept | Recorded | System (automatic) | Records finalized. Displays as "Accepted". Terminal state. | *** ## Email Notifications The system sends email notifications at key points in the lifecycle: | Event | Recipient | Content | | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Filing submitted | Filer | Confirmation with filing number and court details | | Filing accepted | Filer | Acceptance notice with stamped document links, payment receipt, and any **Note from the Clerk** | | Filing rejected | Filer | Rejection reason, clerk notes, any **Note from the Clerk**, cure deadline, resubmit instructions | | Payment failed | Filer | The decline reason and how to pay from the Payments due page | | Payment received | Clerk | The failed payment was collected; the filing is back in the queue | | Fee waiver denied | Filer | Denial of the fee waiver request, with any Note from the Clerk | | Filing assigned / sent to me | Clerk, judge, or judicial staff | A filing was assigned or routed to them (each controls this with their own email toggles) | | Returned from the judge | Clerk | A judge returned or denied a filing assigned to them (if their toggle is on) | | E-service received | Served party | Notification that a document has been electronically served | {% hint style="warning" %} The filer is **never** emailed at any judge step -- not when a filing is sent to a judge, signed, returned, or denied. Only the clerk's final acceptance or rejection notifies the filer. {% endhint %} *** ## Resubmitting a Rejected Filing A rejected filing stays rejected -- resubmission creates a new filing. From the case detail page: 1. Review the rejection reason code and any clerk notes 2. Click **Edit & Resubmit** to create a new filing pre-filled with data from the rejected original 3. Make the necessary corrections (fix documents, update party info, etc.) 4. Submit the corrected filing The new filing links back to the original, giving clerks full visibility into the correction history. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Resubmitting a rejected filing -- viewing the rejection details on the case page, clicking Edit & Resubmit, the wizard opening with pre-filled data, making corrections, and submitting the new filing. {% endhint %} # Filing Statuses Explained Every filing in Cott E-Filing has a status that tells you where it is in the review process. This page explains what each status means, who can see it, and what actions are available. *** ## Status Reference Table | Status | Description | Visible to | Available actions | | ----------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Draft** | Saved but not yet submitted. The filing is incomplete or the filer chose to finish later. | Filer only | Edit, resume wizard, delete | | **Submitted** | The filer has submitted the filing. It is in the clerk queue waiting to be picked up. | Filer, Clerk, Admin | Filer: view status. Clerk: pick up for review. | | **Under Review** | A clerk has been assigned and is actively reviewing the documents. | Filer, Clerk, Admin | Clerk: accept, reject, partial accept, send to judge, reassign, add notes. Filer: view status. | | **Accepting** | Acceptance is in progress -- the card is being charged and the documents stamped and recorded. | Clerk, Admin | Wait for it to finish. | | **With Judge** | The clerk has sent the filing to a judge (or judicial staff) for review or signature. | Filer, Clerk, Judge, Admin | Judge: sign, return, or deny. Clerk: view status. Filer: view status. | | **Judge Signed** | The judge signed the filing. It is back in the clerk's Returned by Judge tab -- signing does not charge, stamp, or record anything. | Clerk, Judge, Admin | Clerk: accept (or record the signed version if already accepted). | | **Returned to Clerk** | A judge returned or denied the filing, with notes or DENIED stamps. | Clerk, Judge, Admin | Clerk: accept it directly, or reject. | | **Emailed to Judge** | The clerk emailed the documents to a judge who works outside the system (paper workflow). | Clerk, Admin | Clerk: await the judge's answer, then decide the filing. | | **Accepted** | The filing was accepted, charged, stamped, and recorded. | Filer, Clerk, Admin | Filer: download stamped documents. Clerk: view details, send to a judge if a signature is still needed. | | **Accepted · awaiting judge** | An accepted filing (e.g., a proposed order) was sent to a judge for signature. | Filer, Clerk, Judge, Admin | Judge: sign or return. Clerk: view status. | | **Partial Accept** | Some documents were accepted and some were rejected. Accepted documents are stamped and recorded; rejected documents require correction. | Filer, Clerk, Admin | Filer: view per-document decisions, Edit & Resubmit the rejected portions. Clerk: view details. | | **Rejected** | The filing did not meet requirements. The clerk provided a rejection reason and optional notes. Final. | Filer, Clerk, Admin | Filer: view rejection details, Edit & Resubmit (creates a new filing). Clerk: view details. | | **Payment Failed** | The filer's card was declined at acceptance. Nothing was stamped or recorded. | Filer, Clerk, Admin | Filer: pay from the Payments due page. Clerk: wait, or reject once the payment window closes. | | **Submitted to CMS** | The accepted filing is being handed to the court's case management system. | Clerk, Admin | Wait for recording to finish. | | **Sent to Print Queue** | The filing's documents were added to a clerk's print queue. | Clerk, Admin | Clerk: print from the Printing page. | | **Printed** | The queued documents have been printed. | Clerk, Admin | View only. | | **Recorded** | Terminal state -- the filing is fully recorded with the court. In the clerk and filer views it simply displays as **Accepted**. | Filer, Clerk, Admin | View only. Filer: download stamped documents. | {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** The status badges on the filer dashboard -- showing a filing row with status changing from Submitted to Under Review, then expanding the row to see document-level status badges (Pending, Accepted, Rejected). {% endhint %} *** ## Status Details ### Draft The filer has started the filing wizard but has not yet submitted. Drafts are private to the filer and do not appear in any clerk queue. You can resume a draft from the **Drafts** page in the filer portal. {% hint style="info" %} Drafts are auto-saved as you progress through the wizard. If you close the browser mid-filing, your work is preserved. {% endhint %} ### Submitted The filing has left the filer's hands. It is now in the clerk queue at the selected court, waiting to be assigned to a reviewer. The filer receives a filing number and a confirmation email. No further edits are possible by the filer at this point. If you realize you made an error, contact the court before the filing is picked up for review. ### Under Review A clerk is actively reviewing the filing. The clerk examines each document, checks party information, verifies fees, and decides whether to accept or reject. The assigned clerk's name is visible on the filing. ### With Judge The clerk sent the filing to a judge (or the judge's staff) for review or signature. The filing appears in the judge's inbox. The judge signs it, returns it, or denies it -- in every case it comes back to the **clerk**, who makes the final accept/reject decision. The filer is not notified at any judge step. ### Judge Signed and Returned to Clerk **Judge Signed** means the judge signed the filing; **Returned to Clerk** means the judge sent it back or denied it, with notes or DENIED stamps explaining why. Both land in the clerk's **Returned by Judge** tab, and the clerk can accept either one directly. A judge's signature on its own never charges the filer, stamps the documents, or records anything. ### Accepted The clerk accepted the filing. The filer's card was charged, each accepted PDF was stamped with the court stamp, and the records were created. If a signature is still needed (a proposed order, for example), the clerk can send the accepted filing to a judge -- it then shows **Accepted · awaiting judge** until the judge signs, and the clerk records the signed version. No second charge is made. ### Rejected The filing did not pass review. The clerk selected a rejection reason code (e.g., "Incomplete Filing", "Incorrect Form", "Missing Signature") and may have included explanatory notes and a cure deadline. {% hint style="warning" %} Rejection is final -- a rejected filing never re-enters the clerk's queue. To fix the problem, use **Edit & Resubmit**: it creates a **new** filing, pre-filled from the rejected one and linked back to it, which the clerk reviews fresh. {% endhint %} ### Partial Accept Some documents in the filing were accepted and others were rejected. This happens when a filing envelope contains multiple documents and only some meet requirements. Accepted documents are stamped and recorded. The filer should review the per-document decisions and resubmit the rejected documents. ### Payment Failed The filer's card was declined when the clerk accepted. Nothing was stamped or recorded with the court. The filer pays from their **Payments due** page; once paid, the filing returns to the clerk's queue with a **Payment collected** banner, and the clerk's acceptance will not charge again. ### Recorded The accepted filing has been fully recorded with the court -- docket entries exist and the stamped documents are available for download. This is the final state; in the clerk and filer views it displays simply as **Accepted**. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Following a filing through its status history on the case detail page -- scrolling through the timeline showing each status transition with timestamps, from Submitted through Accepted. {% endhint %} # Document Requirements This page covers file format rules, size limits, document types, and special document handling in Cott E-Filing. *** ## File Format All uploaded documents must be in **PDF format**. The system validates the MIME type on upload and rejects non-PDF files. {% hint style="warning" %} Word documents (.docx), images (.jpg, .png), and scanned TIFFs must be converted to PDF before uploading. Most word processors and scanners have a "Save as PDF" or "Export to PDF" option. {% endhint %} *** ## Size Limits | Limit | Maximum | | ------------ | ------- | | **Per file** | 500 MB | If a single document exceeds 500 MB, reduce its size before uploading. Common approaches: * Re-scan at a lower resolution (150-200 DPI is sufficient for most court documents) * Use a PDF compression tool to reduce file size * Split large documents into multiple parts *** ## Document Types Each document you upload must be assigned a **document type** that matches the kind of filing you are making. The available document types depend on the case type you selected in the first step of the wizard. Common document types include: * Petition / Complaint * Answer / Response * Motion * Memorandum * Order (proposed) * Exhibit * Affidavit / Declaration * Subpoena * Notice * Judgment * Stipulation {% hint style="info" %} Court administrators configure which document types are available for each case type. If you do not see the document type you need, contact the court. {% endhint %} *** ## Lead Document Every filing must have exactly **one lead document**. The lead document is the primary document in your filing -- the one that drives the docket entry. For example: * In a new case filing, the lead document is typically the **Petition** or **Complaint** * In a motion filing, the lead document is the **Motion** itself * Supporting exhibits, memoranda, and affidavits are non-lead documents Mark your lead document using the **Lead** toggle in the document upload step. The lead document appears first in the clerk's review and is used to generate the primary docket entry. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** In the document upload step of the filing wizard -- uploading two PDF files, setting the document type for each, toggling the Lead switch on the primary document, and entering document titles. {% endhint %} *** ## Page Count The system automatically detects and records the page count for each uploaded PDF. Page counts are used for: * **Per-page fee calculation** -- Some fee schedules charge by the page * **Clerk review** -- Clerks can see how many pages each document contains * **Docket entries** -- Page counts are recorded in the CMS You do not need to manually enter page counts. The system reads them from the PDF. *** ## Sealed Documents If a document contains sensitive information that should not be publicly accessible, mark it as **Sealed** during upload. Sealed documents: * Are stored with restricted access * Are flagged in the clerk's review interface * Are recorded in the CMS with a sealed indicator * Are not included in public docket searches {% hint style="warning" %} Marking a document as sealed does not automatically grant a sealing order. The court must approve the sealing. Check your court's local rules for sealing requirements. {% endhint %} *** ## Redacted Documents If a document contains personally identifiable information (PII) that must be removed before it becomes part of the public record, mark it as **Redacted** during upload and upload the redacted version. Clerks also have redaction tools available during review: * **PII detection** -- The system can scan a PDF for common PII patterns (Social Security numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses) * **Manual redaction** -- Clerks can draw redaction rectangles over sensitive areas in the document viewer Redacted versions are stored separately from the original, and the redacted path is tracked in the filing record. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Marking a document as Sealed and Redacted during upload -- toggling the Sealed checkbox and the Redacted checkbox on a document in the upload panel, with the flag badges appearing on the document card. {% endhint %} *** ## Summary Checklist Before submitting your filing, verify: * [ ] All documents are in **PDF format** * [ ] No single file exceeds **500 MB** * [ ] Each document has the correct **document type** assigned * [ ] Exactly **one document** is marked as the **lead document** * [ ] Sensitive documents are marked as **sealed** or **redacted** as appropriate * [ ] Page counts look correct (the system detects these automatically) # Glossary Key terms used throughout Cott E-Filing. *** | Term | Definition | | ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Accounting Access** | A per-member switch (set by an org admin or platform administrator) that unlocks the Reports page -- organization-wide filings, fees, and revenue -- and firm-wide visibility on the Payments and Statements pages. | | **Advance Deposit** | Money placed on a case's ledger with the court. A new case's first filing charges one automatically (the larger of the filing type's base fee and the estimated docket fees); filers can also add an **Additional Advance Deposit** with any filing or top up an existing case with **Add Funds**. | | **Bar Roll Number** | A unique identifier assigned to an attorney by the state bar. Required during account registration for attorneys and used to link filings and cases to the correct attorney record. Each bar roll number can be registered only once. | | **Case Type** | A classification for the kind of case being filed (e.g., Civil, Criminal, Family, Probate). Each court configures its own set of case types, and the available document types and fees depend on the case type you select. | | **Chargeback** | A card dispute raised with the filer's bank. Chargebacks appear on court statements and are netted out of totals; if the dispute is reversed, the amount is restored. | | **Convenience Fee** | A processing fee of **3.05%** of the court amount plus the e-filing fee, charged on every paid filing and deposit top-up. | | **Court Stamp** | A digital stamp applied to accepted PDF documents by the system. Includes the court name, filing date, recording number, and clerk name. Replaces the physical ink stamp used in paper filing. | | **Cure Deadline** | The date by which a filer should correct and resubmit a rejected filing. Set by the clerk at the time of rejection and shown in the resubmit wizard. | | **Defer Court Costs** | A clerk option on existing civil cases that draws the court's costs from the deposit already held on the case instead of charging them to the filer's card. The e-filing and convenience fees still apply. | | **Deposit Ledger** | The running balance of money held on a case. Docket fees are deducted from it as filings are accepted; the Fees step shows the balance and the estimated remainder. | | **Docket Entry** | A record in the case management system documenting an event in a case. When a filing is accepted, the system creates docket entries for each accepted document using the appropriate event codes. | | **Document Type** | A classification for a specific document within a filing (e.g., Petition, Motion, Order, Exhibit). Each document type maps to a CMS event code that determines how it is recorded in the docket. | | **E-Filing Fee** | A flat **$6.00** platform fee charged on every paid filing. | | **Envelope** | The complete package of documents submitted together in a single filing. An envelope contains one or more documents; the first document is the lead. Each individual file may be up to 500 MB. | | **Escrow Deposit** | Money charged with a filing but held in the case's escrow account until the clerk releases it. Unlike an advance deposit, it does not pay down the case ledger. | | **E-Service** | Electronic service of documents on parties in a case. When a document is filed and accepted, opposing parties who have registered for electronic service receive a notification with access to the served document. | | **Fee Waiver** | A request to waive filing fees, reviewed by the clerk before acceptance. Reasons are Pauper (in forma pauperis) or Government Agency. If approved, nothing is charged; government filers and fee-exempt organizations are waived automatically. | | **Filing** | A submission of one or more documents to the court through the e-filing system. Each filing has a unique filing number (e.g., EF-EBR-2026-0042), a status, and belongs to a specific court and case. | | **Filing Queue** | The clerk's main work list, rendered as a sortable, searchable table. Tabs organize filings by stage -- Received, My Drafts, Returned by Judge, and Processed (All, Accepted, With Judge, Rejected, Payment Failed). Clicking a row opens the review page. | | **Judicial Staff** | Chambers staff linked to one or more judges. They see their judges' inboxes, mark up documents, place signature boxes, and release signed filings to the clerk -- but can never sign or deny. | | **Lead Document** | The primary document in a filing -- always the first document. It determines the main docket entry and is displayed first during clerk review. | | **Note to Filer** | An optional message the clerk writes during review. The filer sees it as a "Note from the Clerk" on the case page and in the acceptance or rejection email. Separate from internal Clerk Notes, which the filer never sees. | | **Organization (Firm)** | A law firm or agency on CottFile. Members share a team roster, an optional firm payment card, and (for members with access) organization-wide reports and statements. | | **Party** | A person or organization involved in a case (e.g., plaintiff, defendant). At least one party is required per filing. Parties are synced to the CMS party registry when a filing is accepted. | | **Payments Due** | The filer page listing accepted filings whose card charge failed. Paying from it sends each filing back to the clerk's queue for recording; the clerk's acceptance never charges twice. | | **Pro Se** | A person who represents themselves in court without an attorney. Pro se filers register with a system-generated PIN (e.g., PS-12345) instead of a bar number. | | **Routing Rule** | An automated rule that determines which queue a filing enters when submitted. Rules can be based on case type, document type, filer type, or fee status. When no rule matches, the system falls back to round-robin assignment. | | **Standalone Parish** | A parish that uses CottFile without a connected case management system. Its reference data is managed in the Admin Panel, case numbers come from the parish's own system (typed in by the clerk), and nothing is pushed to a CMS. | | **Verdict CMS** | The court's case management system. When a filing is accepted at a Verdict parish, the system records it in Verdict by creating or updating the case record, syncing parties, creating docket entries, and tracking financial records. | # FAQ Common questions organized by role. If you cannot find your answer here, visit the [Support page](https://github.com/Cott-Systems/e-filing/tree/main/support/README.md). *** ## Filer Questions ### How long does filing review take? Review times vary by court and filing volume. Most filings are reviewed within 1-2 business days. You can check your filing's current status at any time from your **Dashboard** or the **Case Detail** page. When the status changes, you will receive an email notification and an in-app alert. ### What happens if my filing is rejected? You will receive an email and in-app notification with the rejection reason, any notes from the clerk, and a cure deadline (if applicable). You do not need to start over -- open the case page and click **Edit & Resubmit** to create a corrected filing pre-filled with your original data, linked to the original. ### How do I check the status of my filing? * **Dashboard** -- Your most recent filings and their statuses are shown on your filer dashboard * **Case detail page** -- Click any filing to see its full status history, documents, and any clerk notes ### When is my card charged? Only when the clerk **accepts** your filing. If the filing is rejected, nothing is charged. If your card is declined at acceptance, the filing is not on the court record until you pay from the **Payments due** page -- see [Payments, Deposits & Receipts](/filer-guide/wallet-and-payments). ### Why was I charged $6.18 on a filing with no court fees? Every paid filing carries a flat **$6.00 e-filing fee** plus a **3.05% convenience fee**. On a filing with no court fees that isn't waived, that minimum works out to $6.18. ### How do fee waivers work? On the **Fees** step of the wizard, check **Request fee waiver (will be reviewed by the clerk)** and pick a reason -- **Pauper** or **Government Agency** -- with an optional message. The clerk decides the waiver before accepting; you're notified either way. If denied, you'll need a payment method on file before the filing can be accepted. Government filers and members of fee-exempt organizations are waived automatically with no request needed. The clerk can also apply **Defer Court Costs** on an existing civil case, which draws the court's costs from the case deposit while the platform fees are still charged. ### How do I get a receipt? Every successful payment has a downloadable PDF receipt -- from the **Payments** page, the **Statements** page, or the "Filing Accepted" email. Statements also offers a CSV export of your full history. See [Statements & Receipts](/filer-guide/statements). ### How do refunds work? Refunds are issued by the court through the payment portal, not from CottFile. When one is issued it flows back automatically and appears as a credit on your Payments and Statements pages. If you believe you were charged in error, contact the clerk's office for the court you filed in. ### How do I put money on a case? Three ways: add an **Additional Advance Deposit** or an **Escrow Deposit** on the Documents step of a filing, or top up an existing case's deposit with **Add Funds** (no filing needed -- it charges only the 3.05% convenience fee). See [Payments, Deposits & Receipts](/filer-guide/wallet-and-payments). ### Can I edit a filing after I submit it? No. Once a filing is submitted, it cannot be edited. If you need to make changes before the clerk picks it up, contact the court directly. If the filing is rejected, you can resubmit with corrections. ### What file formats are accepted? Only **PDF** files are accepted. Convert Word documents, images, or scans to PDF before uploading. See [Document Requirements](/reference/document-requirements) for full details. ### What are the file size limits? * **500 MB** per individual file ### How do I file on an existing case? Click **File on Existing Case** on the dashboard. First select the court, then search for the case by case number (for criminal cases you can also search by a party's last name). Once you select the case, the filing wizard opens with the court and case information pre-filled. ### Can I save my filing and finish later? Yes. Your progress is auto-saved as a **draft** each time you click Next in the wizard, and **Save Draft** saves and exits. Resume any draft from the **Drafts** tab on your dashboard. ### Why can't I click "Join" on my firm? CottFile only offers a direct **Join** when your email domain clearly belongs to that firm -- it has an active member with your domain, and no other firm shares it. Free email providers (like Gmail) and domains used by more than one firm (like `la.gov`) can't be auto-confirmed -- use **Request to join** instead, and a member of the firm will approve you. Organization administrators can't join an existing firm directly either; they request to join and come in as an attorney. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Common filer tasks -- checking filing status on the dashboard, opening a rejected filing's case page, and clicking Edit & Resubmit. {% endhint %} *** ## Clerk Questions ### How are filings assigned to me? Assignment depends on your court's configuration: * **Round-robin** -- Filings are distributed evenly across available clerks * **Rules-based** -- Routing rules assign filings based on case type, document type, filer type, or fee status * **Manual** -- A supervisor or lead clerk assigns filings manually You can see your assigned items in the **Filing Queue** -- the sortable, searchable table of filings for your court. ### What if I need to route a filing to a judge? In the review panel's **Actions** step, use **Send to Judge**. Pick the judge (or their judicial staff), a priority, and a due date, with an optional message. The filing moves to **With Judge** and appears in the judge's inbox; when the judge signs or returns it, it lands in your **Returned by Judge** tab. ### Can I reassign a filing to another clerk? Yes. On the review page, use **Reassign to Clerk** to transfer the filing to a different clerk or court admin, or **Move to unassigned**. This is useful when a filing requires expertise in a specific case type or when balancing workload. ### What rejection reason codes are available? The system provides a fixed set of rejection reason codes: * Incomplete Filing * Incorrect Form * Missing Signature * Incorrect Fee * Wrong Court * Duplicate Filing * Defective Service * Other You can also add free-text notes to explain the rejection in detail. ### What happens if the filer's card is declined when I accept? The filing moves to **Payment Failed**: nothing is stamped and nothing is recorded with the court. The filer is emailed and pays from their Payments due page; the filing then returns to your queue with a **Payment collected** banner, and accepting it will not charge them again. ### How do I handle a partial acceptance? When some documents pass review but others do not, use **per-document decisions**. Mark each document individually as Accepted or Rejected with a reason. The filing receives a **Partial Accept** status, and the filer is notified about which documents need correction. {% hint style="info" %} **📹 GIF:** Clerk workflow overview -- the filing queue table with filing rows, clicking a row to open the review screen, the split-panel layout with the document viewer and review panel, and the Accept/Reject buttons at the bottom. {% endhint %} *** ## Judge Questions ### Can I edit documents before signing? Yes. Click **Edit (beta)** on a document to open the inline markup editor -- your markup is burned into the PDF when you save and flows into the signed document. For corrections the filer or clerk should make instead, use **Return to Clerk** with notes. ### What happens after I sign a filing? Signing does not record anything by itself. The signed filing goes to your judicial staff for final edits (if that's your chosen destination) or straight to the clerk's **Returned by Judge** queue at high priority -- the clerk then records it with the court. The filer is not notified until the clerk completes that step. ### What happens when I return a filing to the clerk? The filing moves back to **Returned to Clerk** status and appears in the clerk's Returned by Judge tab. Your notes are attached so the clerk knows what action to take. The filer is not emailed at this step. ### Can I deny just part of a filing? Yes. Use **Deny** in the PDF Tools to place DENIED stamps with reasons on specific pages, then choose **Sign & Deny Stamped Items** to sign the filing with only the stamped items denied -- or **Stamp & Return** to deny the whole filing. See [Signing and Returning](/judge-guide/signing-and-returning). *** ## General Questions ### What browsers are supported? Cott E-Filing supports the latest versions of: * Google Chrome (recommended) * Microsoft Edge * Mozilla Firefox * Safari {% hint style="warning" %} Internet Explorer is not supported. For the best experience, use an up-to-date version of Chrome or Edge. {% endhint %} ### Is there a mobile app? There is no dedicated mobile app, but the platform is accessible from mobile browsers. The filer portal and clerk console are responsive and work on tablets and phones. For document-heavy tasks like clerk review, a desktop or laptop is recommended. ### Who do I contact for technical help? Visit the **Support** page (accessible from the navigation bar) for: * FAQ and troubleshooting guides * Contact methods for the support team * Support hours * Emergency filing procedures (for when the system is unavailable) ### Are my filings secure? Yes. All documents are stored in private, encrypted storage. Access is controlled by role-based permissions: * Filers can only see their own filings * Clerks can only see filings for their assigned court * All actions are recorded in an audit trail ### What happens during system maintenance? Scheduled maintenance is announced through system alert notifications. During maintenance, you may not be able to submit new filings. ### How do I update my profile or contact information? Open **Profile** from the user menu in the top-right corner. You can update your name, phone number, and mailing address. Bar roll numbers must stay unique -- if yours is registered to another account, contact the court so they can merge the duplicate record.