Dockets, filings, and court records
CM/ECF
CM/ECF is the federal courts' Case Management and Electronic Case Files system, the software each court uses to receive filings and maintain its docket.
Lawyers file into CM/ECF; the public reads what comes out of it through PACER. Each court runs its own instance, which is why there is no single federal login and why the look of a docket changes slightly as you move between districts.
When a document is filed, CM/ECF stamps it, gives it a docket number, and emails a notice of electronic filing to everyone in the case. That notice carries the one free look at the document, which is why firms save the attachment the moment it arrives.
There is no national CM/ECF search. Each court is its own island, which is exactly why the PACER Case Locator and commercial tools exist, and why an attorney practicing in five districts keeps five sets of filing credentials.
How it appears on a docket
The footer stamped across a filed PDF reads Case 1:23-cv-04517-JMF Document 42 Filed 11/08/25 Page 3 of 19, which is CM/ECF's header, not part of the original document.
Related terms
- Notice of Electronic Filing — A notice of electronic filing, or NEF, is the automatic email CM/ECF sends everyone in a case each time a document is filed.
- PACER — PACER is the federal judiciary's public access system for court records, charging ten cents a page with most single documents capped at thirty pages.
More on dockets, filings, and court records
See this term in a real case
Search federal court records and read the filings where cm/ecf actually shows up. New to federal dockets? Start with how to find a federal case.