Full Instructions for Filing a New Case Pro Se

All pro se submissions, including new complaints, documents filed in an open case, and notices of appeal and motions for reconsideration filed in closed cases, are accepted by mail, in-person, and by email.

Manhattan address: White Plains address: 

Pro Se Intake Unit
500 Pearl Street, Room 205
New York, NY 10007
 
Charles L. Brieant, Jr. Courthouse 
300 Quarropas Street
White Plains
 

For those submitting documents in-person after business hours, there are drop boxes located in the lobbies of both courthouses. 

Email:

Parties may email documents, either to open a new case or to submit in an existing case, to ProSe@nysd.uscourts.gov. 

Please note that documents must be attached to the email in PDF format, no larger than 15 megabytes.
Documents that do not conform to these requirements will not be docketed. Parties may call (212) 805-0175 to check on the status of their filing after 48 hours of submitting.

For more detailed filing instructions, please click on the red box above. For assistance with procedural questions, please call the Pro Se Intake Unit at (212) 805-0175.
 

Notice to

Pro Se Litigants

New ECF Rules 9.1 and 9.2 Regarding Service of Documents by Filing on the Electronic Case Filing (ECF) System

After you mail or deliver a document to the Pro Se Intake Unit for filing, the Clerk's Office staff will scan and docket it onto the court's ECF system. The ECF system will then email all other parties who have lawyers, notifying them that you have filed a document. Those parties will then be able to get a copy of the document. This process for docketing on ECF is deemed to be service under Rule 5(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Therefore, if your documents are docketed on ECF, you will not have to mail them to any other parties who have lawyers, and you will not have to attach an affirmation of service to those documents.

So that your documents can be properly docketed on ECF, make sure that they are in the right format—they should have original signatures, a caption, and a title. The court provides form documents, including a form motion, for you to complete.

When you are without an attorney, you are proceeding "pro se." If you represent yourself in Court, you are called a "pro se litigant" or a "self-represented litigant." "Pro se" is a Latin term, meaning "on one's own behalf"and a "litigant" is someone who is either suing someone or is being sued in court.

The right to appear pro se in a civil case in federal court is contained in a statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1654. Thus, anyone can appear pro se, and anyone who appears before the Court without an attorney is considered pro se. There are, however, certain limitations to self-representation, such as:

  • corporations and partnerships must be represented by an attorney.
  • a pro se litigant may not represent a class in a class action.
  • a non-attorney parent may not appear pro se on behalf of a child, except to appeal the denial of the child's social security benefits.