Navigating the complexities of electronic court filings can be challenging, but avoiding rejected court submissions is crucial for legal professionals. Foxit’s whitepaper on Best Practices for Avoiding Rejected Court Filings offers a comprehensive guide for creating error-free electronic court documents, ensuring compliance with court requirements, and reducing the risk of rejections.
One key component is the correct use of PDF tools. Foxit PDF Editor, Foxit PDF Compressor, and Foxit Rendition Server provide essential features to create, organize, and optimize PDFs according to court standards, including transitioning to PDF/A format for long-term preservation and archiving.
- 1. Saving and Converting to PDF: To maintain formatting, documents should be saved directly to PDF from a word processor like Microsoft Word. Avoid scanning text documents, as scanned PDFs may not meet the required standards.
- 2. Creating Bookmarks: Bookmarks allow easy navigation through complex legal documents and are required by many courts. Foxit PDF Editor automatically generates bookmarks using Word’s Styles feature, and users can manually add bookmarks to comply with court specifications.
- 3. Redaction: Confidential information, such as social security numbers and addresses, must be redacted according to court rules. Foxit’s redaction tools permanently remove sensitive information, preventing unauthorized access.
- 4. Bates Numbering: In litigation, Bates numbering is critical for organizing and referencing documents. Foxit PDF Editor provides an automated solution for applying Bates numbers across multiple files, saving time and improving accuracy.
- 5. Text-Searchable Documents: All electronic court documents must be text-searchable. Foxit PDF Editor and Foxit PDF Compressor ensure that scanned documents undergo Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to make them searchable and compliant with court filing requirements.
By following these best practices, legal professionals can avoid common mistakes leading to rejected filings, improve document management processes, and streamline their interactions with the courts.
Download the full whitepaper to explore these best practices and discover how Foxit’s PDF solutions can help you easily create compliant, court-ready documents.