{"id":149563,"date":"2026-04-24T15:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T23:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/04\/24\/attorneys-often-clog-efiling-systems-with-unnecessary-filings\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T15:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T23:42:10","slug":"attorneys-often-clog-efiling-systems-with-unnecessary-filings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/04\/24\/attorneys-often-clog-efiling-systems-with-unnecessary-filings\/","title":{"rendered":"Attorneys Often Clog eFiling Systems With Unnecessary Filings"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am old enough to remember when many courts did not have electronic systems to accept documents for filing.\u00a0During this time, filing motion papers, pleadings, and other documents was an arduous process that either involved going to court or using a service to file hardcopy documents with clerks located in various places.\u00a0Efiling systems offer a convenient way to file and serve papers with courts and adversaries, and the entire process can be completed from the comfort of an attorney\u2019s home or office.\u00a0However, some people use efiling systems to send unnecessary documents to stakeholders involved in litigation, which can lead to unnecessary filings and clogged dockets that make it more difficult to find relevant documents.\u00a0In many instances, there are certain documents that attorneys should try not to efile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Letters To Counsel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It usually makes sense to efile letters to a judge, although some judges prefer that letters be emailed so that they are seen faster, and individual practices should be consulted.\u00a0However, it almost never makes sense to efile letters to counsel.\u00a0There is no reason why courts need to be involved in letters to counsel, and before efiling systems, no one would ever think of filing letters between counsel with the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I have had several adversaries over the years who efile letters to counsel.\u00a0In some instances, \u201cgood faith\u201d letters about discovery disputes are efiled, and in other cases, letters about scheduling and other matters are efiled.\u00a0In some instance, filers style these letters as \u201cletters to the court\u201d or something similar since there is usually no filing option for letters between counsel.\u00a0Of course, efiling a letter might be a good way to create a record about a dispute and show when a letter was indeed served on other stakeholders to a case.\u00a0However, letters between counsel should usually just be sent by email or other nonpublic means, and they can be attached as exhibits to motion papers as needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Demands And Responses<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some attorneys efile discovery demands and responses, and in some instances, it makes sense to efile discovery demands.\u00a0For instance, in one jurisdiction in which I practice, attorneys can gain an advantage if they file a notice to take deposition with their answer. However, it often does not make sense to efile every single discovery demand that is sent in a case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It makes less sense to efile discovery responses.\u00a0In the days before efiling systems, people would never think of filing discovery responses with courts since discovery responses are not the type of legal papers that need to be filed. In addition, discovery responses often contain social security numbers and other confidential information that should not be included in the public domain.\u00a0Again, if discovery is relevant to a motion, it can be filed with motion papers, but it need not be filed in the first instance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Affirmations Of Service<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a pet peeve of mine, but some court rules specifically provide that if an efiling system is used, a separate affirmation of service does not need to be filed.\u00a0The confirmation of efiling is sufficient to satisfy any type of affirmation of service requirement. Notwithstanding this rule, many attorneys still efile affirmation of service.\u00a0This is pretty harmless, but this might create a docket entry that does not need to exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All told, efiling systems should only be used for bona fide filings that need to be provided to courts and served on stakeholders to a lawsuit.\u00a0Clogging dockets with unnecessary filings creates more efiling notifications and makes it harder to review dockets for important information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jordan Rothman is a partner of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Rothman Law Firm<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Student Debt Diaries<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>jordan@rothm<\/em><\/strong><\/a>an.law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Attorneys Often Clog eFiling Systems With Unnecessary Filings<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>

\"\"<\/figure>

I am old enough to remember when many courts did not have electronic systems to accept documents for filing.\u00a0During this time, filing motion papers, pleadings, and other documents was an arduous process that either involved going to court or using a service to file hardcopy documents with clerks located in various places.\u00a0Efiling systems offer a convenient way to file and serve papers with courts and adversaries, and the entire process can be completed from the comfort of an attorney\u2019s home or office.\u00a0However, some people use efiling systems to send unnecessary documents to stakeholders involved in litigation, which can lead to unnecessary filings and clogged dockets that make it more difficult to find relevant documents.\u00a0In many instances, there are certain documents that attorneys should try not to efile.<\/p>

Letters To Counsel<\/strong><\/p>

It usually makes sense to efile letters to a judge, although some judges prefer that letters be emailed so that they are seen faster, and individual practices should be consulted.\u00a0However, it almost never makes sense to efile letters to counsel.\u00a0There is no reason why courts need to be involved in letters to counsel, and before efiling systems, no one would ever think of filing letters between counsel with the court.<\/p>

However, I have had several adversaries over the years who efile letters to counsel.\u00a0In some instances, \u201cgood faith\u201d letters about discovery disputes are efiled, and in other cases, letters about scheduling and other matters are efiled.\u00a0In some instance, filers style these letters as \u201cletters to the court\u201d or something similar since there is usually no filing option for letters between counsel.\u00a0Of course, efiling a letter might be a good way to create a record about a dispute and show when a letter was indeed served on other stakeholders to a case.\u00a0However, letters between counsel should usually just be sent by email or other nonpublic means, and they can be attached as exhibits to motion papers as needed.<\/p>

Discovery Demands And Responses<\/strong><\/p>

Some attorneys efile discovery demands and responses, and in some instances, it makes sense to efile discovery demands.\u00a0For instance, in one jurisdiction in which I practice, attorneys can gain an advantage if they file a notice to take deposition with their answer. However, it often does not make sense to efile every single discovery demand that is sent in a case.<\/p>

It makes less sense to efile discovery responses.\u00a0In the days before efiling systems, people would never think of filing discovery responses with courts since discovery responses are not the type of legal papers that need to be filed. In addition, discovery responses often contain social security numbers and other confidential information that should not be included in the public domain.\u00a0Again, if discovery is relevant to a motion, it can be filed with motion papers, but it need not be filed in the first instance.<\/p>

Affirmations Of Service<\/strong><\/p>

This is a pet peeve of mine, but some court rules specifically provide that if an efiling system is used, a separate affirmation of service does not need to be filed.\u00a0The confirmation of efiling is sufficient to satisfy any type of affirmation of service requirement. Notwithstanding this rule, many attorneys still efile affirmation of service.\u00a0This is pretty harmless, but this might create a docket entry that does not need to exist.<\/p>

All told, efiling systems should only be used for bona fide filings that need to be provided to courts and served on stakeholders to a lawsuit.\u00a0Clogging dockets with unnecessary filings creates more efiling notifications and makes it harder to review dockets for important information.<\/p>

Jordan Rothman is a partner of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Rothman Law Firm<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Student Debt Diaries<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>jordan@rothm<\/em><\/strong><\/a>an.law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am old enough to remember when many courts did not have electronic systems to accept documents for filing.\u00a0During this time, filing motion papers, pleadings, and other documents was an arduous process that either involved going to court or using a service to file hardcopy documents with clerks located in various places.\u00a0Efiling systems offer a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":149564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/e-filing-efiling-electronic-filing-7XKfKW.jpg?fit=400%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}