Representing Yourself in Federal Court - United States District Court ...

How Do I Review The Case File?
You may come to the Clerk’s Office during business hours to view and make copies from the case file,
but it is important to note that only manual filings (paper/hard copy documents filed at the Clerk's Office) are
placed in the physical court file. The court file will therefore contain only documents that were not e-filed. All
other documents are available only via the electronic docket.
1. Visit the Clerk’s Office during business hours in the courthouse where your case is being litigated.
For example, if the judge who is assigned to your case is in San Francisco, you must visit the Clerk’s
Office in the San Francisco courthouse to view your case file.
2. Request your case file. Any case file you request will be made available to you at the time you
request it, unless someone else is already using the file. You do not need to call ahead.
3. Bring your case number with you. The case number is stamped on the caption page (Ex: C-02-0001
MHP). If you do not have the case number, you can find it by looking up the names of the parties on
the PACER system.
4. Bring a valid government-issued picture identification card.
a. Acceptable identification cards include: state driver’s license, a California identification card,
a U.S. passport, or a federal/state/county/city employee card.
b. Not accepted: credit cards, car keys, or student identification cards.
5. You CANNOT take the case file outside the Clerk’s Office. You must look at the case file while you
are in the Clerk’s Office.
6. If you need to make a copy of a document from the case file:
a. Copy machines are available for your use in the Clerk’s Office at a small cost. Clerk’s Office
personnel will also copy small orders for you, for a slightly higher cost.
b. In San Francisco or San Jose, the Court’s designated copy service can do your copying for
you. It is an efficient option for lots of copying, but allow for additional time.
After a case is over, the case files are archived at the Federal Records Center in San Bruno, California.
To determine if a case has been archived, contact the Clerk’s Office in the location where the case was
litigated.
CHAPTER 8
WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR SERVING DOCUMENTS ON THE OTHER PARTIES TO THE LAWSUIT?
You must give the other parties to your lawsuit a copy of every document that you file with the Court. This
is referred to as “serving” or “service on” the other parties. It is critical that you serve your papers to the
other parties in exactly the way the law requires. The rules for serving the complaint are different from the
rules for serving other documents. If the complaint is not properly served on the defendant, the case will not
proceed and can be dismissed by the Court.
About service of the complaint
& summons . . .
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