Courtesy Copies After E-Filing: Which Courts Still Want Paper

There’s No Statewide Rule

No Rule of Court requires a paper courtesy copy of an e-filed document. The Judicial Council’s advisory committees looked at adding one to rule 2.252 in 2016 and decided to leave it where it was: with the individual courts, some of which had local rules requiring paper copies.

What the statewide rules do cover is the e-filed version. Electronic exhibits need bookmarks to the first page of each exhibit, with titles that give the exhibit number or letter and a short description, unless they come from a self-represented party (rule 3.1110(f)(4)). Paper exhibits are separated by tabs that extend below the page (rule 3.1110(f)(3)), which is also how most judges want a courtesy copy assembled.

One point that holds everywhere: a courtesy copy never takes the place of filing. Orange County’s trial notebook rule says so outright, and a judge who reads only the paper copy still rules on the filed record.

Los Angeles: Check the Courtroom

For years, Los Angeles Superior Court’s e-filing general order required printed courtesy copies of many e-filed papers, including anything 26 pages or longer, demurrers, summary judgment motions, anti-SLAPP motions, and motions to compel further responses. On March 20, 2026, the presiding judge rescinded that order (General Order 2019-GEN-014-00). The court’s April 10, 2026 notice says those courtesy copy requirements no longer apply and points attorneys to the courtroom information sheet for their assigned department for any limited requests for printed copies.

Two local rules still call for paper:

• Ex parte oppositions. Ex parte papers are e-filed by 10:00 a.m. the day before the hearing, and an opposition by 8:30 a.m. the day of the hearing. A printed courtesy copy of any opposition has to be provided to the court on the day of the hearing (LASC Local Rule 3.4(l)).
• Sealing. A courtesy copy of the e-filed motion to seal goes with the conditionally sealed records (Local Rule 3.4(b)(5)).

Some courtroom information sheets still cite the old general order. If the sheet for your department does, call the clerk before deciding a copy isn’t needed.

Orange County and San Diego

Orange County requires attorneys to e-file (rule 352) and has no general courtesy copy rule for motions. Its rule for trials is specific: by noon on the Wednesday before trial, the parties deliver a tabbed three-ring Joint Trial Notebook to the trial department’s clerk as a courtesy copy for the court’s use, plus two courtesy copies of the witness and exhibit lists (rule 317(B)).

San Diego requires courtesy copies of e-filed ex parte applications and all supporting documents, delivered to the assigned department by noon the court day before the ex parte appearance (rule 2.1.4, local rules effective January 1, 2026). Declarations for an informal discovery conference also go to the department as courtesy copies (rule 2.1.10). For regular motions, the local rules are silent, so check the department.

San Francisco and Alameda: Required

San Francisco has the most detailed rule (LRSF 2.7(B)). Courtesy copies are required for any filed document that needs court review, action, or signature:

• Papers filed fewer than 7 court days before the hearing are lodged on the day of filing. Papers e-filed 7 or more court days out are lodged no later than 2 court days after e-filing.
• They go to the department where the matter will be heard, in paper unless the judge allows otherwise, with the supporting documents and the pleading being challenged.
• Copies of e-filed papers have to include the e-filing transaction receipt.
• The judge can treat a missing copy as a missing paper: a motion without its courtesy copy can be denied, continued, or taken off calendar, a motion without an opposition copy can be granted, and reply papers may not be considered.

Alameda requires an identical courtesy copy of every paper filed in support of, in opposition to, or in connection with a motion or application, delivered to the courtroom clerk of the department hearing it (rule 3.30(c)), and says the requirement applies to all e-filings (rule 3.27(c)). The deadline is noon the court day after filing. For motions in limine, and for hearings two court days or fewer after filing, it’s the same day as filing. Administrative records in writ proceedings are excluded.

Santa Clara: When the Judge Asks, and Where to Take Them

Santa Clara requires paper courtesy copies when a judge requests them, and it has its own delivery point. In the Civil Division they go to Court Services, with the department number on the front page, rather than to the courtroom (General Rule 6(B)(4)). For trial, documents are filed with courtesy paper copies delivered to the trial judge’s department by noon on the Friday before the trial date (Civil Rule 9(C)).

Sacramento, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Other Courts

Sacramento answers the question in its civil e-filing FAQ: printed courtesy copies generally aren’t required, but specific departments or judges may require them, as set out in the local rules, public notices, or the court’s website, and when one does, the courtroom tells you how to deliver them. Writ petitions are assigned to departments that each post their own protocols, so read the assigned department’s page for the number of copies, the format, and the deadline.

Department 3B, one of the writ departments, shows how specific those protocols get. As of October 2026, its page asks for two hard copies of all motion briefing, merits and non-merits, delivered to the department on the day the briefs are filed, or the next court day for briefs e-filed on a weekend or court holiday. It also asks for a PDF courtesy copy sent to the department whenever any document is filed, and notes that emailing the courtesy copy isn’t filing. Papers filed within a day of the hearing need an endorsed copy delivered to the department (Sacramento Local Rule 2.26(c)).

Riverside’s civil local rules don’t require courtesy copies of e-filed papers; its e-filing instructions mention them only for conditionally sealed records. San Bernardino made e-filing mandatory for attorneys in civil cases on September 2, 2025, and its e-filing requirements page doesn’t mention courtesy copies. In both, individual departments can still ask.

For the smaller courts, read the court’s civil and law and motion local rules and the department’s posted procedures before you assume either way.

How to Check a Particular Department

• The local rules. Look in the civil or law and motion chapter, and search for “courtesy.” Rules usually change January 1 and July 1.
• The judge’s own rules. Los Angeles posts a courtroom information page for each department; San Francisco and other courts post department procedures. Standing orders often set format: tabs, binding, two-sided printing, a cover sheet with the hearing date.
• The clerk. When the posted sheet cites a rule that no longer exists, ask.

Keep the courtesy copy deadline separate from the filing deadline on your calendar. Moving papers are served and filed at least 16 court days before the hearing, plus two court days if served electronically; oppositions are due 9 court days before and replies 5 (CCP § 1005(b); CCP § 1010.6(a)(3)(B)). A courtesy copy due the next court day after filing is easy to miss when the filing itself went in at 11:50 p.m.

Courtesy Copy Checklist

• You checked the local rule and the department’s own rules for this hearing.
• The copy matches what was filed, with the file stamp or e-filing receipt (required in San Francisco).
• Exhibits are tabbed, and the document is bound or clipped the way the department wants.
• The cover shows the department, hearing date and time, and the papers are addressed to the right place (Court Services in Santa Clara civil cases).
• The delivery is scheduled to meet the court’s deadline, not just the filing deadline.

Direct Legal prints, tabs, binds, and delivers courtesy copies to the department in all 58 California counties, next day, same day, or on demand, and confirms the delivery date and time. See our courtesy copy delivery rates.

About This Article

Sources

• California Rules of Court, rule 3.1110
• California Rules of Court, rule 2.252
• Los Angeles Superior Court, notice of rescission of the e-filing general order and courtesy copy requirements (April 10, 2026)
• Los Angeles Superior Court Local Rules, Chapter 3 (rule 3.4)
• Orange County Superior Court Local Rules, Division 3 (rules 317 and 352)
• San Diego Superior Court Local Rules, Division II, Civil (2026)
• San Francisco Superior Court Local Rules (rule 2.7)
• Alameda Superior Court Local Rules, Title 3 (rules 3.27 and 3.30)
• Santa Clara Superior Court Local Rules, General Rule 6
• Santa Clara Superior Court Local Rules, Civil Rule 9
• Sacramento Superior Court, Civil E-Filing FAQs
• Sacramento Superior Court, Department 3B (writ department protocols)
• Code of Civil Procedure section 1005
• Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6

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