Your law firm is busy juggling statutory deadlines, filings, and other casework, so there’s no time to deal with rejected court documents. The good news? If you’re an attorney or pro se litigant, you can avoid Texas court eFiling rejections by consulting the State’s simplified rejection code list starting on page 19. Even better, we’ve created this TL;DR guide for you to improve your firm’s electronic filing process, sidestep common mistakes, and keep your team’s eFilings on track. Here are seven tips to avoid common eFiling rejection reasons and increase your success with Texas courts.
1. Add Required Contact Details to Your Texas Court eFiling Documents
Before you upload your Texas court eFiling documents in your favorite EFSP’s portal, check them to ensure they contain all the required and correct contact information for your firm and other parties. These details are mandatory, and leaving out any of them can land your eFiling in the digital rejection pile. Double-check names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses for the attorney of record and case participants. Are they present, and correct? You’ll also want to ensure the documents are signed; an easy oversight. Verifying these details is a small step that makes a big difference in your eFiling success.
2. Remove Sensitive Data from Your Texas Court eFiling Documents
Sensitive information has no place in your documents. Texas courts are sticklers for protecting personal data, and they won’t hesitate to reject eFilings that don’t comply. Review your documents to check for sensitive data before you submit them. If you find any, redaction tools are your friend. This is one easy way to protect both your information and your clients’ information while also meeting Texas court eFiling rules. Examples of sensitive data are:
- Driver’s License Number
- Social Security Number
- Passport Number
- Tax ID Number
- Government-Issued ID Number
- Bank Account Number
- Credit Card Number
- Financial Number
- A minor’s name or home address
3. Double-Check Your Texas Court eFiling Details
Not only should your firm’s contact details and all parties’ information be correct, but the case’s filing details need to be accurate as well. Ensure your case’s details match the Texas court’s classifications and records. Some common culprits behind Texas court eFiling rejections due to missing or incorrect case details are:
- eFiling documents are addressed to the incorrect clerk
- Documents are eFiled in the wrong jurisdiction
- Cause number is incorrect
- Incorrect case type
- Incorrect filing code
- Wrong case category chosen
- Missing or incorrect party names
4. Don’t Combine Lead Documents in Your Texas Court eFiling Order
Although Texas courts will allow you to submit multiple pages in the same PDF if they’re related to a single lead document, they require each lead document to have its own file stamp. Therefore, do not combine all your case’s lead documents into a single PDF. Instead, pair each lead document with its corresponding exhibits, request for service, and any other relevant documentation that’s specific to it. When you’re ready to eFile, don’t forget to assign each PDF with its applicable filing code, which you should base off the PDF’s lead document. Separating and sorting your documents won’t only help with organization, but it’ll also help get them processed correctly by Texas courts.
5. Format Your Texas Court eFiling Documents Correctly
Formatting might seem like a minor detail, but it is a critical component and another common reason why Texas court eFilings are rejected. Filers must ensure all pages are rotated correctly, have standard 8.5 by 11-inch sizing, and have a resolution of at least 300 dots per inch (DPI). They must also not contain any embedded fonts or multimedia elements such as audio or video. Texas courts will also reject eFiling submissions that have security restrictions, so leave out password protection or encryption. Finally, each lead document and all its relevant attached pages must be a single, text-searchable PDF. Following these formatting guidelines will help increase your likelihood of filing acceptance.
6. Ensure All Texas Court eFiling Documents are Legible and Readable
If the courts can’t read it, they won’t accept it, so blurry scans and hard-to-see text aren’t just inconvenient, but they are deal-breakers when it comes to eFiling documents with Texas courts. To avoid having your submissions rejected by the court clerk, check that the text is clear, that your pages are aligned, and that the resolution is at least 300 DPI.
7. Successfully Pay the Correct Texas Court eFiling Fee
Paying the wrong Texas court eFiling fee can grind your submission to a halt. This usually happens when the incorrect case type or filing type are chosen. Because Texas courts can’t adjust the fee after you submit your order, they have to reject your eFiling instead. Verify that your case details are correct and that the fee you’re going to pay matches the applicable filing type. Check your payment method as well because successful, accurate payments will keep your eFiling on track and prevent unnecessary delays.
Improve Your Texas Court eFiling Acceptance Rate with a Trusted EFSP
The Texas court eFiling process doesn’t have to feel like a back-and-forth ping pong game of submissions and rejections. With Rapid Legal’s eFiling services, you can confidently file your documents in all 254 Texas counties including Harris County and Dallas County. Our portal has a streamlined workflow that makes it easy for you to input and check every case detail before you submit your order to increase your chances of eFiling success.
Ready to get started eFiling court documents in Texas? Book a demo or create an account today.