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***IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM THE US DISTRICT COURT -- PLEASE READ***

Friday, August 11, 2006

The United States District Court wishes to inform you of the following:

1. *****ATTENTION******* AUGUST 28, 2006 FEDERAL PRACTICE SUMMER RETREAT PARTICIPANTS: The cost of the seminar has been changed. Instead of paying $15.00, you now only need to pay for the cost of your lunch. The lunch buffet is approximately $6.99. Payment for lunch will be made directly to Mahoney State Park and NOT to the Federal Practice Committee as previously advised. The Federal Practice Fund will pay for the costs of the room and light refreshments. The seminar is scheduled for August 28, 2006, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If you have not registered, there is still room. Please call Janet Bartels at (402) 661-7323 to register.

2. On August 15, 2006, attorneys may begin opening their own civil cases in CM/ECF. The new feature will also allow attorneys to pay filing fees online with a credit card, using pay.gov. A user manual explaining how to open cases is available on the court's CM/ECF Web site, http://www.ned.uscourts.gov/cmecf/index.html. Attorneys or their staff who wish to attend training at the courthouse on the new feature may sign up at http://www.ned.uscourts.gov/cmecf/training.html. Training will also be offered at the Best Practices Forums described in paragraph 5, below.

3. In conjunction with the new case opening feature, attorneys will also have the option of electronically filing a request to issue summons, effective August 15, 2006. General Order 2006-07 authorizes the clerk's office to sign, seal, and issue summonses electronically. Attorneys may not, however, serve summonses electronically. See http://www.ned.uscourts.gov/pom/orders/index. A new Summons Requested event has been created for civil cases and can be found under Service of Process. The Administrative Procedures will be updated in the near future to reflect this change. Questions about using the event can be directed to the court's CM/ECF toll free hotline,1-866-220-4381, option 0 (Omaha), or 1-866-220-4379, option 2 (Lincoln).

4. General Order 2006-08 permits the clerk's office to refund duplicate or erroneous filing fees paid electronically with a credit or debit card. Refund requests are made by application or motion. See http://www.ned.uscourts.gov/pom/orders/index.html. Note that this order does not otherwise amend the general prohibition on refunding filing fees.

5. Openings still remain for the CM/ECF Best Practices Forums in Omaha on August 16 and September 7 and 8. For additional information or to register to attend, go to the court's Web site, http://www.ned.uscourts.gov/cmecf/forum.html.

6. The court has revised its notice of appeal forms and request for transcript forms. The revised forms can be found on the court's Web site at http://www.ned.uscourts.gov/pom/forms/index.html. Note that a new request for transcript form has been created for use by non-parties.

7. The language in order events in CM/ECF has been modified from "Order grantng/denying/etc. (motion). Signed by Judge (name) on **/**/**," to "Order granting/denying/etc. (motion) by Judge (name)." The filing date of the order is found in the Notice of Electronic of Filing (NEF) and is the same date as the judge's signed date.

8. The court's Docket and Local Rules Committee has begun its annual review of the local rules. Suggestions for amendments or additions to the rules should be sent to Therese Bollerup no later than August 25, 2006.