Michigan Court of Appeals E-Filing and Service

Project Summary

In partnership with Wiznet, Inc., the Michigan Court of Appeals presently offers electronic case initiation, filing, and service of pleadings on a voluntary basis for all cases types.

Through the E-File&Serve system, users can initiate an appeal, file all pleadings and forms with an electronic cover sheet that includes a proof of service, and electronically serve all filings on opposing parties. Fee payment may also be made through this system. If you represent a party and are interested in electronically filing in an existing case or initiating a new case, we encourage you to register for the Wiznet E-File&Serve system. For details, please review the Invitation to Participate.

Court E-Filing and Service Guidelines

Court of Appeals E-Filing & Service Guidelines have been developed for use in electronic filing. The Guidelines are important to users of the electronic filing and service system because they provide guidance in how users can ensure that their filings meet the technical requirements of the system while also conforming to the requirements of the Michigan Court Rules. The Guidelines are subject to change as circumstances require.

Many participants of the E-File&Serve system have opted to create a generic office-wide email address that is monitored by multiple people to ensure that e-filed information is properly and timely routed. The Court of Appeals has created a List of Generic Email Addresses for your reference.

The Process

• Attorneys will prepare required forms, pleadings, and other filings as detailed in the Court Rules. Attorneys’ existing document templates and forms may be used. Before filing, all documents must be converted by the filer to PDF format. While appendices and other non-original filings may be scanned and need not be searchable, the Court prefers to receive original appellate pleadings in searchable PDF. Adobe Acrobat, a commercial product for preparing PDF documents, is available here. Alternatively, PDFCreator (an open source, no-charge option) is available here.
• Existing printable Court forms have been reproduced in a specially designated e-filing format that permits typed signatures so that the forms can be saved in PDF (using either of the PDF creation tools mentioned above) and do not need to be printed, signed, and scanned.
• Once all filings are compiled in PDF format in the user’s personal work directory, the user should proceed to the Wiznet E-File&Serve site to submit a filing transaction.

Contacts

If you forget your Firm ID, Username or Password, please contact your Firm Administrator.

For technical support, contact Wiznet at 800.297.5377 or support@wiznet.com.

For non-technical information or questions regarding the E-Filing project, contact the Lansing Clerk's Office at 517.373.0786 or COAEfileSupport@courts.mi.gov