Rejection. After all the hard work you’ve put into preparing and submitting your eFiling document to Los Angeles Civil, the worst can still happen. If it isn’t completely and correctly prepared for filing within state and local guidelines, a court clerk will reject it.
If that occurs, you wouldn’t be alone. But as an eFiler in Los Angeles Civil, you have one advantage over eFilers in previous California courts. You can benefit from their collective experience, learn how to prevent common rejection reasons, and significantly lower your risk of rejection.
In this blog, we’ll look at six common reasons Los Angeles Superior Court’s Civil Division may reject your filing document and we’ll guide you through the tools One Legal provides that can help you avoid them.
#1 Incorrect case type is selected
As you know, there are numerous Civil case types and some, such as Unlawful Detainers, have specific sub-categories. Choosing your case type accurately is crucial to a successful eFiling.
One the benefits of working with an EFSP like One Legal is that we provide you with a list of case types appropriate for your selected case category. One Legal’s dropdown menu at the Case Information screen provides the full and correct names for each case type and allows you to pick one with a single click.
If your case type requires additional information, One Legal’s workflow will immediately prompt you to add it before proceeding.
#2 Incorrect court location is selected
eFilers in Los Angeles Probate only have two possible courthouse locations to hear their cases. Civil case types are heard in 16 different courthouses throughout the Greater Los Angeles area. Identifying the correct courthouse for each of your cases before you file will ensure that you avoid this mistake throughout your case activity.
On the One Legal case information screen, you’ll be prompted to provide the zip code of the location you’ve identified on the Civil case cover sheet addendum and statement of location form and the appropriate court location will be automatically provided.
#3 Incorrect Filing Document Name is selected
Just as there are many case types in Civil, each case type may require many different documents throughout the course of the case.
Learn more: What Documents Are Needed to Begin A Case?
Once you’ve selected your case category and case type, One Legal will provide you with a drop-down menu of appropriate document types. You’ll want to be sure to pick the correct one.
#4 Multiple filing documents submitted as a single Filing Document Name
Your eFiling transaction usually contains one lead document and any required supporting documents. They can all be submitted in the same transaction, but they should still be separate PDF documents and properly identified by the correct filing document name. (See #3 above)
For example, don’t combine your cover sheet and your lead document into a single PDF. They should be two separate PDF submissions in your transaction.
When you eFile through One Legal, our workflow has incorporated court-specific guidelines to help you comply with court rules.
#5 Incorrect payment account option is selected (e.g., fee waiver)
We learned earlier in the eFiling 101 blog series how to indicate your party is eligible for a fee waiver and how to upload the fee waiver application with your initiating document. Be sure to include the fee waiver application when prompted.
However, if the court clerk determines that the party is not eligible for a fee waiver, your filing will be rejected.
#6 Common reasons for rejection beyond the LA court
Your eFiling will also be rejected for any of the same reasons a paper filing is rejected. These reasons include (but are not limited to):
- Party’s name does not match the party’s name listed on the document for initial documents
- Party’s address does not match the party’s address listed on the document for initial documents
- Missing required documents, such as the addendum to the Civil Case Cover Sheet
- Missing required information
- Defective document
- Hard to read document, such as a document that has been scanned multiple times and made illegible
Your eFiling can also be rejected for reasons that are unique to the eFiling document preparation or process. Reasons include:
- Duplicate documents
- Document exhibits are missing electronic bookmarks
- Documents exempt from eFiling
- Documents are not text searchable
You might also be interested to read about the common rejection reasons eFilers faced in Los Angeles Probate when it mandated: LA reveals top eFiling rejection reasons for probate>>
Finally: The Court might not tell you why
Last year our analysts at One Legal took a representative sample of the total number of rejected documents in the 12 months from June 2017 to July 18 to analyze the most common reasons clerks gave for rejection. One thing they learned: 22% of all rejected filings in this period did not include a message from the court explaining why.
Additionally, our analysis showed that 12% of the rejected filings from this period had more than one reason listed to indicate why it was not accepted. Without a clear message from the clerk, you might think you’ve corrected your error when you resubmit only to have your filing rejected again.
Learn more in Top eFiling rejection reasons June 2017-July 2018.
Remember: on the One Legal platform, you can always include a message to the clerk if you have a unique filing situation that is not accommodated by the eFiling options available. Use this space to provide all needed detail.
In Los Angeles, court clerks are trained to read filers’ comments for any specific requests or notes outside the main eFiling workflow. If the clerk can fulfill your request, they will do so.
