General Filing and Service Requirements

Signatures, Identifying Information, and Proof of Service prepared any documents which are submitted for filing by a self-represented litigant must be members of the Bar of this Court and must sign the document, state their name, address, telephone number, and their bar number assigned by this Court. Upon inquiry, all parties appearing without counsel must disclose the identity of any individual who has prepared, or assisted in preparing, any documents filed in this Court. Any attorney who prepares any document for filing in this Court by a person who is known by the attorney, or who is reasonably expected by the attorney, to be appearing without counsel shall be deemed thereby to have conferred disciplinary jurisdiction upon the Court for any alleged misconduct of that attorney. b) Identifying Information i) Required on All Court Documents. At the bottom of all court documents, counsel and self-represented litigants shall state their name, address, telephone number, email and fax number.

Counsel shall also state their bar number assigned by this Court. This is not a substitute for compliance with L.R. 101.1.b.ii and 701.3. ii) Duty of Counsel to Notify the Clerk of Any Change in Address. Counsel must promptly notify the Clerk of any change of address, including email address, irrespective of any changes noted on a pleading or other document. This obligation is continuing and if counsel fails to comply, the Court may enter an order dismissing any affirmative claims for relief and may enter a default judgment. iii) Duty of Self-Represented Litigants to Keep Current Address on File.

Self- represented litigants must file with the Clerk in every case which they have pending a statement of their current address where case-related papers may be served. This obligation is continuing, and if any self-represented litigant fails to comply, the Court may enter an order dismissing any affirmative claims for relief filed by that party and may enter a default judgment on any claims asserted against that party. c) Proof of Service Except as provided for in L.R. 112.1 and 112.2, all court documents other than the original complaint must bear a signed certificate signed by counsel stating that the service required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(a) has been made. If a document is filed electronically, the notice of electronic filing constitutes a certificate of service as to all parties to whom electronic notice is sent. d) Electronic Transmission Electronic filing of documents is only permitted in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the Court. Electronic filing includes submission by email or by portable electronic media (e.g., disk, flash drive).

U.S. District Court of Maryland Local Rules (December 1, 2025) 4