Please be advised that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan will begin its transition to the Next Generation of CM/ECF (NextGen) starting today at 5:00 p.m. Thursday, November 19, 2020 through 8:00 a.m. Monday, November 23, 2020.  During the upgrade, the CM/ECF system will be unavailable for filing and viewing documentation.  This is a longer outage window so please plan accordingly.  Last transactions must be submitted no later than 4:55 p.m. today, Thursday, November 19, 2020.

In the event an emergency requires a filing while the ECF system is unavailable, a court official can be reached at 616-260-5798.

To access NextGen successfully, please follow these steps:

Step 1:  Obtain your own individual PACER account if you do not already have one.  Visit PACER services to register for your own individual PACER account.  NOTE: shared PACER accounts may not be used for electronic filing. 

Step 2:  Make sure your individual PACER account has been upgraded.  If the account was created prior to August 2014, you must upgrade your PACER account.  Please review these instructions on how to upgrade your individual PACER account.

Step 3:  Note your current CM/ECF login and password, which you use to login into the courts CM/ECF system.  This information is necessary for the next step.  Note:  If your credentials are stored in a browser, your login information will be lost and not recoverable on November 23, 2020. 

Step 4:  Link your upgraded PACER account with your CM/ECF account.  This step can only be completed on or after Monday, November 23, 2020.  Instructions on linking your upgraded individual PACER account to your CM/ECF account are available on the court’s website.

Bankruptcy Software Users:  Prior to November 23, please contact your software vendor to ensure you have the most recent version compatible with NextGen.  Any updates for NextGen should be not be utilized prior to the upgrade.