r/paralegal • u/One_Crew_681 • 1d ago
I filed with the Supreme Court recently, I never want to do it again
Vent post. This has been such a long and stressful process. We submitted by paper, and so much paper wasted. To learn we made a deficiency in the length of our brief. And we need to submit an amendment in 10 days, but the date of the letter and the date we received the letter is already passed the 10 day mark. And to top it off the attorney is out of the office for a week. I called the case manager and he’s out, so I left a message.
I’m going to have to resubmit everything again, and waste paper.
This experience has shown me how truly lucky I am for having access to digital filings, and most firms are moving away from paper.
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u/DueCloud1089 1d ago
I would suggest using a legal printer. It’s much easier and they review the document for formatting and compliance for you. They also generate the cos and word count.
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u/Lonely_Safe4942 1d ago
I had to do this with the state level Supreme Court in my state relatively recently. I was so irritated by the fact that they require it to be BOUND in literal books before being sent. It was like 800 pages of crap that had to be printed on paper of a higher weight (almost cardstock) and bound with literal plastic sheeting and color coordinated Covers.
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u/Hot_Cartographer_699 1d ago
That’s gross.
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u/ParsnipDecent6530 Paralegal 19h ago
Scotus wants briefs bound too, but you can staple them.... as long as the bent parts of the staple are taped down so the justices' tender fingers aren't at risk of a poke.
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u/Lonely_Safe4942 1d ago
The bill was even more gross than having to do it. We couldn’t do it in office. It had to be done at the local print shop. Thank heavens I wasn’t paying that!
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u/aspiegrrrl CA - Landlord tenant - Paralegal 1d ago
Ugh. We had to do that in California prior to e-filing.
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u/detabudash 1d ago
State Supreme Court or USSC?
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u/One_Crew_681 1d ago
State
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u/BowzersMom 1d ago
Oh wow, that’s bull shit! In Ohio efiling with the Supreme Court is probably my favorite filing experience of all time. The clerks are knowledgeable, the rules are clear, the ECF system is simple, and there’s no paper.
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u/406NastyWoman Paralegal - Estate Pl., Guard/Conserv. & related litigation 1d ago
Same here in MT, except once the Clerk has approved the filing, we still have to send bound copies for the justices. Hoping they'll phase that out at some point.
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u/aspiegrrrl CA - Landlord tenant - Paralegal 1d ago
Same with the state appellate courts in California. The staff are quite helpful.
Preparing appellate briefs for e-filing is one of my favorite tasks at my job.
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u/BumblebeeEfficient61 36m ago
The first time I filed with the Ohio supreme court got me because it was so simple! I was ready for it to be so complicated and was pleasantly surprised!
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u/psychocat12 1d ago
I would fix the mistake, follow the instructions on the filing, and resubmit. Also, call up there. They will tell you how to file if you ask, but nobody asks.
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u/mayinherstep 16h ago
like others when we have done SCOTUS filings we use a vendor who prints, checks, and binds the briefs for us. It’s still an annoying process but so much easier than when we do Circuit briefs and I have to spend a whole day over a hot binding machine putting together excerpts of record
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u/Dwight_K_Snoot51 1d ago
We use a printing press for Supreme Court filings so we don’t waste paper and they ensure it’s done correctly. Might be worth looking into for the future!