Electronic Filing
****The information on this page is specific to Superior Court E-Filing. District Court has their own E-Filing webpage, instructions and rules**
For District Court E-Filing information go to: www.clark.wa.gov/district-court/electronic-filing
To register for E-Filing in Superior Court please fill out and submit a registration form. Return the completed registration form to the Clerk's Office via e-mail to efilereg@clark.wa.gov. Please use the following naming convention (LastnameFirstname.pdf) when naming your form. You may also mail or deliver the completed registration form to the Clerk's Office. (Registration may take up to 4 weeks to process.)
Instructions for logging on to FTP User Account:
(Does NOT work in Internet Explorer or any Internet Browser ie. Chrome/Firefox etc.
Use File/Windows Explorer only)
Instructions from Windows 7 pc
Instructions from Windows 10 pc
E-Filing will not be mandatory in Superior Court.
Only Black & White Group 4 .TIF images scanned at 300 dpi will be accepted for E-Filing ( NO PDF’s).
**Color or gray scale documents will be rejected.
**New procedures E-Filing New Cases**
Opening a new case and paying the filing fee:
Prior to E-Filing a new case you will need to Email the following documents to newefiledcase@clark.wa.gov :
- Case Information Cover Sheet
- Copy of Petition or Complaint
- Confidential Information Form (required for all Family Law, Firearms or DV matters)
Once the E-file staff have added the case they will contact you to collect payment and provide a case number. You will then upload all of the pleadings, complete with case number, to the FTP site as you have always done. As a reminder, if you purchase a case number for e-filing, all initial pleadings must be submitted by e-file and not via mail or in person.
Paying other filing fees:
Prior to E-Filing a document that requires payment, you must call the E-Filing number at 564-397-2298 to pay all applicable fees. Your filing may be rejected if this is not done. Sending a check via mail or paying in person IS NOT an acceptable form of payment for E-Filed documents.
Common documents that require a fee:
- Jury Demand
- Notice of Appeal
- Modification
- Arbitration
- Counterclaim
- Third Party Complaint
- Etc. (for a full list of fees please go to our fee schedule page)
New Superior Court cases can be E-Filed after the filing fee has been paid and a case number has been issued. New cases may be E-Filed for case types 2, 3, 4 and 5. You may purchase a block of case numbers if you anticipate a large number of case filings. Please include a Case Information Cover Sheet (CICS) for all new cases and for civil cases also review the LR40.
Attorney Signature: For purposes of E-Filing, attorneys may sign their documents in the following manner
s/ John Attorney
State Bar Number 12345
ABC Law Firm
123 South Fifth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104
Telephone: (206) 123-4567
Fax: (206) 123-4567
E-mail: John.Attorney@lawfirm.com
Or you can sign and scan the document. See GR 30 Electronic Filing Rule.
PLEASE WRITE OR TYPE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES PER PLEADING IN UPPER LEFT CORNER OF DOCUMENT.
The electronic documents will be considered filed when it is received by the clerk's designated computer during the clerk's business hours; otherwise the document is considered filed at the beginning of the next business day. (Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, except scheduled holidays)
A confirmation e-mail will be sent to the filing party along with a conformed copy of the document. If you need to change an e-mail address please send and updated registration form to efilereg@clark.wa.gov. NOTE: If you do not receive a confirmation email, please call (360-397-2298) before resubmitting any documents.
Sealed Cover Sheets: Per GR 22 in Family Law and Guardianship cases, the appropriate cover sheet must be attached to the original document(s) for it to become sealed AND a separate copy of the cover sheet must be filed for the public file. This policy applies to E-Filing as well as documents filed at the Clerk's Office in person or by mail. Please use the correct cover sheet for the type of documents being filed. E-File the document with the cover sheet as the 1st page and also E-File the cover sheet separately as a 1 page only document for the public file. Below are the sealed covers sheets provided by Washington State Courts at www.courts.wa.gov/forms.
| Sealed Financial Source Document |
| Sealed Personal Health Care Records |
| Sealed Confidential Reports |
| Sealed Medical Health Information |
Declarations: If you are E-Filing a declaration follow instructions as described in GR17(2) for facsimile transmission and attach a GR17(2) declaration to the back of your document.
The following documents cannot be E-Filed and must be filed in paper form:
- Court orders signed by a judge - Original orders must be filed at the Clerk's Office
- Exparte orders to be signed by exparte judge
- Foreign judgments
- Original wills and codicils, including new probate cases that include original wills or codicils
- Certified records of proceedings for purposes of appeal
- Negotiable instruments
- Bail bonds
- Documents presented for filing during a court hearing or trial
- Documents of foreign governments under official seal
- Bench copies for the judicial office
- Bonds in probate and guardianship cases
- Documents for filing in an Aggravated Murder case
- Interpleader or Surplus Funds Petitions
- Documents submitted for in camera review
- Affidavits for Writs of Garnishment and Writs of Execution
- Writs (that have to be issued by the Clerk)
- Letters of Testamentary
- Letters of Guardianship
- Letters of Administration
Instructions and E-Filing videos
E-Filing Presentation and demonstration of the E-Filing process. ppsx format
Video Demonstration of how to E-File (wmv)
How to upload documents using FileZilla (PDF)
How to use site manager in FileZilla (PDF)
Creating TIF documents using PDF Creator
The instructions below are for a free software printer(PDF Creator) that will print any digital document to TIF. This software is available at http://www.pdfforge.org
Install instructions for PDF Creator(PDF) ***Note: Please follow install instructions carefully. Make sure to use expert settings when installing. DO NOT INSTALL PDF ARCHITECT
Instructions for proper settings PDF Creator 3.0 (PDF)