CM/ECF vs Provana eFiling

CM/ECF is the U.S. federal courts' electronic case filing system, used by courts to maintain case files and accept documents filed over the Internet. Its coverage includes appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. Attorneys and the public can view and download case information, docket sheets, and filed documents through PACER, subject to court restrictions. A central sign-on account provides access to both PACER and electronic filing, but filing also requires a PACER account and access issued by an individual court. Where a court enables it, registered attorneys can file online at any time. Electronic submissions create docket entries and update docket sheets immediately; the system emails a filing notice with links to the document and docket sheet to the filer and registered case participants. Documents are accepted in PDF format, and filers must acknowledge their responsibility to redact personal identifier information each login. CM/ECF is free for filing over the Internet, though existing court filing fees still apply. Viewing additional records through PACER is charged at ten cents per page, with most documents capped at $3.00; transcripts and docket sheets are excluded from that cap.

Provana eFiling is a web-based service that Provana identifies as IPERFORM: Automated E-filing. It automates electronic filing work for legal workflows, sending documents after attorney approval and retrieving court-filed documents for attachment to an imaging platform. The service extracts court updates for each file so users can follow filing status. Customizable dashboards track status, compare actual spending with budget, show historical filings across states, and replace manual logs. The system is described as preventing duplicate filings while retaining a record of each file. Spend controls track monthly e-filing costs, set caps, and create alerts. Provana says the solution draws on experience filing more than 200,000 client documents and reports more than 80,000 documents filed per month in 30 states. It presents the service for firms handling legal workflows and says its managed services also serve small and medium-sized businesses in legal, financial, and healthcare sectors. Pricing is on request.