Notice of electronic filing
service.jpg|thumb|Figure 1:traditional, paper Certificate of Service, by Clerk of the Court, US District Court, Northern District of California, 2010]
[Image:Nef-w-digital-sig-us-court-eastern-dist-cal.jpg|thumb|Figure 2: NEF including an "electronic document stamp" – an encrypted alphanumeric "checksum" string (in red rectangle), Eastern District of California, 2004]
[Image:10-02-23-fine-v-sheriff-nef-of-mandate.jpg|thumb|Figure 3:Invalid NEF, missing the "electronic document stamp", US District Court, Central District of California, 2010]
[Image:09-05-13 MAID OF THE MIST V WINDSOR 1-06-cv-00714docket notation Certificate of mailing with no docket number-GA Northern District Court-2.jpg|thumb|Figure 4:PACER docket notation, pertaining to Certificate of Mailing by the Clerk of the Court. US District Court, Northern District of Georgia, 2009]
[Image:11-06-20 CM-ECF 4-0 User Manual US Dist Court, ILND -verify document Page 1.jpg|thumb|Figure 5: Document Verification Utility: Compares the "Electronic Document Stamp", as it appears in the NEF, to the corresponding document in the PACER docket, US District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2010]
[Image:11-06-20 CM-ECF 4-0 User Manual US Dist Court, ILND -verify document Page 2.jpg|thumb|Figure 6: Document Verification Utility: Verifies that a given document in the PACER docket has not been altered relative to the document as entered with the corresponding NEF, Northern District of Illinois, 2010]
A notice of electronic filing is part of the system established by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts through the docketing and access systems of PACER & CM/ECF. PACER is a public-access system accessible by any person after registration and for a fee. CM/ECF is the Case Management/Electronic Court Filing system, available only to those admitted to a particular U.S. District or U.S. Court of Appeals. The NEF provides a record of service of an electronically filed document by parties, or of service of the electronically filed orders and judgments of the courts, upon attorneys in the case and the court. For such parties, the NEF has replaced the traditional service via US Mail or other "paper" methods.
Significance
As documented, above, in the texts from the US District Courts in California and Texas, the NEF today serves as the form of authentication by the Clerk and counsel of the entry of records, in same way as the traditional Certificate of Service.The CM/ECF system includes a Document Verification Utility, which permits the user to enter the case number and document number. The Utility, available to counsel on the case and the court, then compares the current version of the document with the NEF's Electronic Document Stamp and verifies that the document, as it appears on the docket, was not altered..