Northern District of Illinois

Electronic Filing Notification Option for Pro Se Litigants
If you are a pro se litigant, you may choose to receive notices of electronic filings via email. To enroll, visit www.ilnd.uscourts.gov, navigate to the “Forms” section, and download the Appearance Form for Pro Se Litigants.

This page is for submitting Pro Se PDF filings ONLY.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois will accept filings from pro se litigants that have not been granted access to file documents within CM/ECF through this page. This portal allows you to file into an existing case or initiate a new case. Prior to filing, you are reminded to review Local Rule 5.2 for document formatting requirements. Compliance with Local Rule 5.2 is mandatory. Click here to read the Local Rule. It is also encouraged that you review the guide created for Pro Se Litigants on filing a new Civil Case without an Attorney by clicking here.

The Pro Se Filer portal cannot be used for documents that contain personal identifiable information that should not be seen on the court’s public docket. (Examples: Social Security Numbers, Birth Dates, names of Minor Children, etc.). Please follow Local Rule 26.2, Sealed Documents, for filing sealed documents.

You may only submit documents in PDF format and that do not exceed 35 mb. If the PDF that you are submitting is too large, you’ll need to reduce its file size before uploading through the Pro Se Filer Submission Portal. A document submitted in any other format, such as Word or Excel, or if a multi-page document is uploaded page by page, or is more than 35 mb, will not be accepted.

If your PDF document(s) were successfully uploaded through the Pro Se Filer PDF Submission Portal, confirmation will appear on the screen. Once received by the Clerk’s Office, your document(s) will be processed.

If the document is not processed due to noncompliance of document formatting as stated above or if there is no case caption or case number on the document, you will receive an email notification, and the document will not be processed in CM/ECF.
If the document is in the correct format, the document will be stamped “Received” with the date you submitted through the portal and will be emailed back to you for your records.

The document will then be processed in CM/ECF. Documents submitted via this portal after business hours (8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday) will not be reviewed and/or processed until the next business day but will be filed with the actual submission date. Please note that the Clerk’s Office receives numerous filings and the documents will be processed in the order they are received.

Filing into an existing case?
Click here.

Filing a new case?
Click here.

Submitting summons?
Click here.

How-To Submit your Summons Video - Pro Se Litigant

Need copies? If you wish to attain a pdf copy of a document, you may set up a PACER account by clicking HERE. If you do not wish to set up a PACER account, please send your request to the Certified Copy Desk (CCD) inbox CCD_ILND@ilnd.uscourts.gov. You will be provided with a CCD invoice and charged according to the Fee Schedule.