These instructions are for filing an Ex Parte application on a case in the Los Angeles Civil Courts. The user must e-file these applications no later than 10:00 a.m. the day before the ex parte hearing.
Learn more about Ex Parte Filing Guidelines for Los Angeles Civil Courts
File on an Existing Case
From the Dashboard, click File on an Existing Case
1. Select Court & Case Type – Choose your case, or click add a case to retrieve your case from the court’s system.
If you do not see your case in the drop down, you may type some or all of the case number to filter your results. If you have not yet added the case to your account, you may click the Add a Case link to the right of the Case field.
Learn how to add a case to your account
2. Add Documents – Define, select, and upload the documents that make up your filing.
Select one of the Ex Parte document types from the drop down, and upload the document.
Proposed Orders
When submitting a Proposed Order for the judge to sign, that document must be included as a separate PDF in the same envelope as the ex parte application. Additionally, the attorney will bring a hard copy to court the morning of the ex parte hearing.
Note: Some LASC Civil cases do not have a Proposed Order document type. When that happens, look for the most generic order which is Order (name extension).
3. Additional Info – Enter any additional information that is required for this filing type.
- Choose the Filed By party for this Ex Parte and Order.
- Choose an As To party for the Ex Parte as well.
4. Service Contacts – Add or select service contacts to perform electronic service. Service contacts provided by the court are annotated with and may not be edited.
- eServe – Select (or deselect) any one listed to receive e-service. If no contacts are listed (or if a filer wishes to add additional service contacts), click the Add Service Contact link (Letter D). A filer may only edit or delete service contacts they originally added. Any service contacts annotated with is a contact directly from the court and may not be edited or deleted.
IF YOU DO NOT WANT THE OPPOSING PARTY (OR ANY PARTY) TO HAVE ACCESS TO A CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENT NEVER E-SERVE THEM. E-SERVING A PARTY MEANS THAT YOU, THE FILER, CONSENTS TO THEM HAVING ACCESS TO THE DOCUMENT. - Mail Service – Certified and First Class Mail – Starting in the fall of 2021, filers may choose to send the accepted documents to contacts via Certified and First Class Mail.
- Name – In this column, a filer may add or edit an address for Mail Service. However, only the contact’s name will show unless the filer selects a Mail Service type in the previous column.
- Add Service Contact – As always, filers may click the Add Service Contact link to add new contacts to a filing.
- Return Address – Filers will want to make sure the Return Address listed is correct for any returned Mail Service.
Learn More about Service Contacts and our new Mail Service via Certified and First Class Mail
5. Filing Fees – Select a payment method to pay estimated fees.
Click Confirm Fee Calculation to see the estimated fees. The filing fees auto-populate from the court based on the case type and document type(s) selected. If the fees seem incorrect, you may need to change one of these types above.
If you have a waiver of fees for your case, you will need to make sure to select Fee Waiver or Government Entity in the Fee Exemption drop down in the Additional Info section if the field is present to select.
Waivers on a Case
If (1) your party has an existing fee waiver on the case, (2) you are requesting a waiver of fees for your case, or (3) you are a government entity where the fees do not apply, CONFIRM THE FEES DISPLAY AS $0.00 BEFORE SUBMITTING THE FILING OR THE SYSTEM WILL CHARGE YOU THE GRAND TOTAL.
6. Review & Submit – Finalize your filing, review, and submit.
- If you are Filing for an Attorney select them from the menu or click the Add Attorney link.
- If your firm uses any sort of Client Matter No, enter it here. If you want an unofficial copy of the filing to go to anyone associated with the case, like a client, enter their email(s) here. Note: this is different from a service contact, and it, along with the client matter number, are for your internal purposes only.
- If your court has the option to leave the clerk a memo, enter any sort of note here in the Note to Clerk box.
- Review your entire filing for accuracy, Then check the box to acknowledge you have verified your filing information.
ONCE THE FILING IS SUBMITTED, NEITHER THE FILER NOR THE E-FILING VENDOR MAY CANCEL OR EDIT THE SUBMISSION.
Submit Your Filing
Click the Submit Filing button. Clicking this button, sends your filing directly to filing clerk’s queue at the Court for review. Once all documents are successfully sent to them, the Court will return an envelope number with the date and time they received the full submission. This will be the date and time for the file stamp in your accepted filing. Any filing the Court receives weekdays after 11:59PM, on the weekend, or Court Holiday receives an accepted file stamp of the next Court business day.
On the Filing Status Screen, you will now see your filing is listed as pending. You may return to this screen at any time to see the current status for it and any other filing. Depending on the Court, it can take as little as a minute to review the submission to a few hours to a full business day. If it takes longer than that, the Court may have a backlog they are working through. If you are ever concerned about the status of a submission, the best thing to do is contact the Court directly and provide them with the Envelope Number on your filing.
7. Pre-authorization of Fees
It is important to note that when you submit your filing, the court does a pre-authorization on your card for the filing fees. If the court rejects the filing, then they will not settle that pre-authorization, and it will eventually fall off your card within 3 to 10 business days from the date of the clerk’s rejection depending on your banking institution.
Learn more about the pre-authorization of fees