Federal Notice of Appearance of Counsel

NOTICE OF APPEARANCE OF COUNSEL

FILING INSTRUCTIONS

Requirements and Checklist:

• ☐ The entering attorney must be admitted to practice before the specific U.S. District Court (membership in the district bar is distinct from state bar membership).
• ☐ If the attorney is not a member of the district bar, a motion to appear pro hac vice must be filed and granted before or simultaneously with this Notice.
• ☐ File this Notice via CM/ECF using the correct docket event (typically "Notice of Appearance" or "Attorney Appearance").
• ☐ Once filed, all CM/ECF filings in the case will be sent to the entering attorney's registered email address.
• ☐ If entering as additional counsel (not replacing prior counsel), all prior counsel of record remain counsel unless a withdrawal is filed.
• ☐ If replacing prior counsel, file a substitution of attorney or motion to withdraw (depending on district local rules).
• ☐ Some districts require pro hac vice counsel to designate local counsel with a district bar membership.
• ☐ Pay any required pro hac vice fee via Pay.gov at time of CM/ECF filing (if applicable).

Pro Hac Vice Note: An attorney not admitted to the district bar may seek admission pro hac vice ("for this case only") by filing a separate motion with: (1) a certificate of good standing (not more than 1 year old) from each jurisdiction in which the attorney is admitted; (2) designation of local counsel who is a member of the district bar; and (3) payment of the applicable admission fee.

Withdrawal Note: An attorney who wishes to withdraw must comply with Local Rule [____] of the assigned district. In most districts, withdrawal requires a motion, client consent or court approval, and is not effective until the court grants it.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE [________________________________] DISTRICT OF [________________________________]
[________________________________ DIVISION (if applicable)]

[________________________________],
Plaintiff,

v. Civil Action No. [____________________]

[________________________________],
Defendant.

NOTICE OF APPEARANCE OF COUNSEL

TO THE COURT AND ALL PARTIES AND THEIR COUNSEL OF RECORD:

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the undersigned attorney, [________________________________], hereby enters an appearance as [counsel of record / additional counsel of record / lead counsel] for [Plaintiff / Defendant / Third-Party Defendant / Intervenor] [________________________________] in the above-captioned matter.

[If additional appearance:] The undersigned enters this appearance in addition to [________________________________], who also represents [Party Name] in this matter.

[If substitution:] The undersigned enters this appearance as substitute counsel, replacing [________________________________], who is withdrawing as counsel. A Motion to Withdraw/Substitution of Attorney is filed contemporaneously.

ENTERING COUNSEL INFORMATION

Attorney Name: [________________________________]
State Bar Number: [________________________________] ([State] Bar)
District Bar/Admission: Admitted to the [________________________________] District of [________________________________]
Date of District Admission: [__/__/____]

Law Firm / Organization: [________________________________]
Street Address: [________________________________]
City, State, Zip: [________________________________]
Telephone: ([____]) [____]-[________]
Facsimile: ([____]) [____]-[________]
Primary Email for ECF: [________________________________]
Secondary Email for ECF (if any): [________________________________]

PRO HAC VICE INFORMATION (IF APPLICABLE)

☐ Not Applicable. Entering counsel is a member in good standing of the Bar of the [________________________________] District of [________________________________].

☐ Pro Hac Vice Admission. Entering counsel is not admitted to this Court's bar but is admitted to practice law in the following jurisdiction(s):

A Motion for Admission Pro Hac Vice, along with the required Certificate(s) of Good Standing and applicable fee, [has been filed contemporaneously herewith / was granted on [__/__/____], Dkt. No. [____]].

Local Counsel (required for pro hac vice):
Name: [________________________________]
Bar No.: [____________________]
Firm: [________________________________]
Address: [________________________________]
Phone: ([____]) [____]-[________]
Email: [________________________________]

CONSENT TO ELECTRONIC SERVICE

Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(1) and the Court's CM/ECF procedures, counsel hereby consents to electronic service of all documents filed in this action through the CM/ECF system at the email address(es) listed above.

All Court notices and documents filed by any party in this action will be electronically served on entering counsel through the CM/ECF system.

PARTY REPRESENTED

Entering counsel represents the following party in this action:

Party Name: [________________________________]
Role: ☐ Plaintiff ☐ Defendant ☐ Cross-Defendant ☐ Third-Party Plaintiff ☐ Third-Party Defendant ☐ Intervenor ☐ Amicus Curiae ☐ Other: [________________________________]

ADDITIONAL APPEARANCES IN SAME CASE (MULTI-ATTORNEY FIRM)

☐ Additional attorneys from the same firm also entering appearances in this matter:

Respectfully submitted,

Dated: [__/__/____]

___________________________________________
[________________________________]
Bar No. [____________________] ([State] State Bar)
Admitted: [________________________________] District Court
[________________________________] (Law Firm Name)
[________________________________] (Street Address)
[________________________________] (City, State, Zip)
Telephone: ([____]) [____]-[________]
Facsimile: ([____]) [____]-[________]
Email: [________________________________]
Attorney for [Plaintiff / Defendant] [________________________________]

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on [__/__/____], I electronically filed the foregoing Notice of Appearance of Counsel with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system, which will send electronic notification of such filing to all counsel of record registered in this case.

The following parties or counsel, if any, are not registered with CM/ECF and were served by the following method:

___________________________________________
[________________________________]
Attorney for [Plaintiff / Defendant] [________________________________]

LOCAL RULE COMPLIANCE CHECKLIST

• ☐ Verified attorney is admitted to this specific district (not just state bar).
• ☐ Confirmed district's specific local rule on notices of appearance (check district website).
• ☐ Selected correct CM/ECF filing event in district's system (varies by district).
• ☐ If pro hac vice: motion filed, certificate of good standing attached, fee paid.
• ☐ If substitution: motion to withdraw or consent to substitution filed concurrently.
• ☐ Updated party's contact/service information in CM/ECF system.
• ☐ Confirmed secondary email address registered for ECF notifications.

COMMON DISTRICT BAR ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL TEMPLATE

(Use this section when substituting counsel — attach to Notice of Appearance or file separately per local rule)

CONSENT TO SUBSTITUTION OF ATTORNEY

I, [________________________________], [Plaintiff / Defendant / Other Party] in the above-captioned action, hereby consent to the following substitution of counsel:

Withdrawing Counsel:
[________________________________]
[________________________________] (Law Firm)
[________________________________] (Address)

Entering Counsel:
[________________________________]
[________________________________] (Law Firm)
[________________________________] (Address)

I understand that by substituting counsel, all future court filings and notices will be directed to entering counsel.

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________
[Party Name] Date: [__/__/____]

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________
Withdrawing Attorney Date: [__/__/____]

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________
Entering Attorney Date: [__/__/____]

SOURCES AND REFERENCES

• FRCP Rule 11 (signing of pleadings): https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_11
• 28 U.S.C. § 1654 (appearance personally or by counsel): https://uscode.house.gov
• Pro hac vice admission overview: https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/pro_hac_vice
• District court local rules: Visit the specific district court's website at https://www.uscourts.gov/federal-court-finder