TITLE TWO — COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION; SERVICE OF PROCESS, PLEADINGS, MOTIONS AND ORDERS
Rule 5.5. Programmatic Filings
Programmatic Filing Defined. A “programmatic filing” is a filing transmitted to the electronic filing system through the legacy programmatic interface rather than through the authenticated channel by which a person files.
Character of a Programmatic Filing. A programmatic filing differs from every other filing in that:
It asserts its own attribution. The account to which it is attributed is named by the transmitting service and is not authenticated; where no such account exists, one is created.
It is assessed no fee.
It passes no party check and no access check. The transmitting service need not be a party, an attorney of record, or an officer of the court.
It is recorded as Submitted upon transmission, without regard to whether its documents were in fact received.
Rejection Required. The clerk shall reject a programmatic filing unless, before the clerk decides it, a party to the case or an attorney of record in the case has ratified it.
Ratification. Ratification is made by a filing transmitted under Rule 5.2 by a party or an attorney of record which:
Identifies the programmatic filing by its Bates number;
States that the ratifying person adopts the programmatic filing and its documents as that person’s own; and
Bears the electronic signature of the ratifying person, with the effect prescribed by Rule 5.2(2).
Effect of Ratification. Upon ratification, the programmatic filing may be accepted and, from the moment of acceptance, is treated as though it had been signed by the ratifying person. Ratification alters the filing date of neither filing. Each filing bears the date the electronic filing system recorded for it.
Programmatic Filing in a Restricted Matter. A programmatic filing in a restricted matter, or in a matter to which Rule 5.4(4) assigns an owning workflow, shall be rejected in every case. It is not subject to ratification.
No Service. A programmatic filing effects no service unless and until it is accepted. A programmatic filing that is rejected serves no person and is not upon the public docket.
Use by a Person Not Entitled to File. A person who causes a programmatic filing to be transmitted in a case in which that person could not have filed under Rule 5.1, or who causes a programmatic filing to be attributed to an account other than that person’s own, is subject to sanction under Rule 11, to contempt under Rule 53, and to referral for prosecution.