CM/ECF NextGen user account information is managed at the PACER Service Center. You can change, recover, and reset your account information there.

If you have not linked your old Middle District of Pennslyvania CM/ECF account with the new NextGen system, follow the instructions here.

Scanned documents are frequently very large and may cause ECF to "time out" during filing. In addition, CM/ECF will not accept files larger than 50 MB. To avoid being timed out, choose the optimal scanner setting of black and white (not grayscale or color), set the resolution to 300 dpi, and the paper size of 8½x11. If the scanned document is still too large, separate it into smaller PDF files.

File a document indicating your intention using the Withdrawal of Document event located in the Misc. Events category.  Create a link between the document you’re filing and the document being withdrawn.

The court is open 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday - Friday, except for federal holidays.

Local Civil Rule 5.2 requires original documents to be filed.  Faxes are not accepted, unless otherwise authorized by the court.

Judges are randomly chosen by a computer database similar to a deck of cards.  When one judge is assigned, the cards are shuffled again for the next selection.  The Clerk’s Office has no discretion in the assignment of cases.

Attorneys may seek Special Admission also known as Pro Hac Vice or General Admission.  The Petition for Admission form is available on this website under forms.  Attorneys seeking General Admission must be a member of the Pennsylvania State Bar and their sponsor must be admitted to practice in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

General Admission requires the attorney and their sponsor to appear before a district judge to take an oath.  Upon completion of their oath the attorney must file the proper Petition for Admission and filing fee of $224.00 with the Clerk’s office.

Special admission is sought for one case only and is electronically filed on the case for which the counsel is seeking admission and decided by the judge assigned to that case. Payment of the $50.00 Special Admission fee will be through Pay.Gov.

Certificates of Good Standing are available from the Clerk’s Office for a fee of $21.00. Requests should be submitted to: Peter J. Welsh, Clerk of Court, William J. Nealon Federal Building, 235 North Washington Avenue, Scranton, PA 18503. Please enclose a self-addressed, postage pre-paid USPS or UPS envelope for return.

For civil cases you have 30 days from the date that the order was entered to file a Notice of Appeal.  If the U.S. Government is a party to the action, the time for filing a Notice of Appeal is 60 days from the date the order was entered.

Please contact the Clerk’s Office at (570) 207-5600. There is a charge of .50 per page for copies. Additional charges may apply if the record is with the National Archives and Records Administration.

There is also a public terminal in the Clerk’s Office for viewing dockets and case information.  You may view the case on this terminal and print documents for .10 per page.

You can also access copies of cases and documents from the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) service which provides electronic public access to federal court records.

There are two ways to obtain copies of documents from a case that has been transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Northeast Philadelphia Federal Records Center (FRC):

Place your copy order directly with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) using the forms and procedures provided at their website. In order to complete your request, you will need case accession information. If you have a PACER account, for case years 2000 to present, select QUERY, and CASE FILE LOCATION, and enter the case number in order to find the accession data. For case years 1999 and older, or if you don’t have access to PACER, please contact our Clerk's Office Help Desk in order to obtain case-specific archive information. Next, complete the applicable civil or criminal copy order form and FAX or e-mail it to NARA. Please note that as of July 1, 2011, the Northeast Philadelphia Federal Records Center (FRC) Research Room was permanently CLOSED to the public.

Place your order with the Clerk's Office, at (570) 207-5600. The current retrieval fee is $64.00 per case and must be paid in advance. It takes approximately 7-14 days for a case to arrive by mail. We will contact you upon receipt of the case, then allow you to view the case documents and place a copy order if desired, at the rate of $.50 per page. When requested, a certified copy (court seal and signature of a deputy clerk) may be obtained for an additional fee of $11.00 per document. For retrievals involving multiple boxes, $39 for each additional box.  For electronic retrievals, $10 Judiciary fee plus a $9.90 flat rate pull charge and $0.65 per page collected on behalf of the FRC.

You no longer need to notify the court of law firm changes or changes of address.  Any changes made to your law firm or address need to be updated in your PACER account under the “maintenance tab."

The United States District Court cannot recommend any attorney.

In the Scranton Area:
If you wish to speak with a lawyer, you may contact Northern Pennsylvania Legal Services at 570-342-0184. Or if you are looking for a recommendation about a lawyer, you can contact the Lackawanna Bar Association at 570-969-9161.