Mass. Int. R. Elec. Fil'g 2
"Clerk" shall refer to the Clerk, Clerk Magistrate, or Register of Probate of any Pilot Court, as well as their respective assistants or deputies.
"Conventional method" shall refer to court rules and procedures that would apply in the absence of an E-filing Pilot Project. Parties or counsel who are ordered or opt to proceed "conventionally," as provided in these E-Filing Rules, must look to the appropriate Massachusetts Court Rules and Orders for guidance.
"ECF" shall refer to the electronic case file maintained on the Pilot Court's case management and document management systems.
"Electronic filing," "e-filing," or "electronically filed" shall refer to the submission of documents through the e-filing system for purposes of filing in a Pilot Project case. E-mailing or sending a document by facsimile does not constitute "e-filing" a document.
"Electronic filing system" or "e-filing system" shall refer to the Provider's system of electronic filing and electronic service of documents via the internet.
"Electronic service" or "e-service" shall refer to the electronic transmission of a notice of filing to the electronic mail (e-mail) address of a party who has consented to electronic service through the Provider. The notice will contain a hyperlink to access the document that was filed electronically for the purpose of accomplishing service. E-service according to these E-Filing Rules shall be deemed in compliance with the Massachusetts Court Rules and Orders that govern service and notice. Service of process or summons to gain jurisdiction over persons or property may not be made bye-service.
"Electronic signature" or "electronically signed" shall mean a signature from a User, Judge, or Clerk, that complies with the requirements set forth in Rule 12, below.
"Envelope" shall refer to a submission containing one or more filings to be filed on a single case by a filing User.
"Massachusetts Court Rules and Orders" shall mean the Rules of Civil, Criminal, and Appellate Procedure, the Rules of the Supreme Judicial Court, Appeals Court and Trial Court, the Rules of the various Trial Court Departments, and the Rules Governing Time Standards and Case Management, together with all Standing Orders.
Non-Registered Participant" shall mean a party to a Pilot Project case who has not registered with the Provider.
"PDF" (Portable Document Format) shall refer to the file format compatible with the latest version ofAdobe Reader. There are two types of PDFs: electronically converted PDFs and scanned PDFs.
Electronically converted PDFs are created from word processing documents (MS Word, WordPerfect, etc.) using Adobe Acrobat or similar software. They are text searchable, accessible, and their file size is small. Electronically converted PDFs are preferred.
Scanned PDFs are created from paper documents run through an optical scanner. Scanned PDFs have a larger file size and lower quality image and should be avoided when possible.
"Provider" shall refer to the Electronic Filing Service Provider designated by the courts.
"Provider Notification" shall mean a provider-generated notice acknowledging activity within the e-filing system.
"Public access terminal" shall mean a publicly accessible computer provided by Pilot Courts for the purposes of allowing e-filing and viewing public electronic court records. The public access terminal shall be located at the courthouse and will be available during normal business hours.
"Service Contact" shall mean an individual to be served electronically by the electronic filing system.
"User" shall refer to a participant in a Pilot Project case who has properly registered with the e-filing system. An "Independent User" shall refer to a user who is not affiliated with a law firm.
"User ID" shall refer to the e-mail address provided during registration that is USed to login to the e-filing system.
"Waiver Account" shall refer to a method of payment whereby court and provider fees may be waived. The acceptance of any document filed under a waiver account shall be subject to the court's determination that use of the account is appropriate, given the nature of the filing.
Mass. Int. R. Elec. Fil'g 2