Recognizing that many counsel are consenting to service of electronic documents, the Federal Court has issued a Notice to the Profession formalizing the requirements for the electronic legal service of a document.

The requirements are outlined in the Notice to the Profession and the Annex.

In addition to the FAQ’s below, more information about Secure Serve can be found here.

Federal Court Formally Adopts Electronic Service

NetLegal makes it simple, quick and secure.

Benefits

NetLegal is an electronic legal service provider and is the preferred supplier for electronic service and filing for the Canadian Bar Association. NetLegal offers a 30 day free trial of Secure Serve in addition to the other services with your free registration.

Recipients on NetLegal can be notified via BlackBerry as well as email. NetLegal email notices do not have large documents attached that can clog email inboxes or result in the email being filtered.

Advantages of using NetLegal to electronically serve documents:

  • Affordable — serve as many parties as you want for a low monthly subscription price (starting for just $25/month for CBA members)
  • Flexible — invite non-members to join the case for free or serve them by fax
  • Certainty — track the service history to see when each party received the document
  • Easy — NetLegal automatically generates the certificate of service with the details of service on all parties
  • Convenient — store all of the documents in one place

FAQ's

You can also invite a lawyer or judge to join NetLegal. NetLegal will email them at the address you specify, inviting them to join NetLegal (at no cost). Once they join they will be automatically joined to that case.

Can I effect personal service using NetLegal?

No. NetLegal is currently only for service between lawyers.

Can I serve a party only using the email address they have put in a Notice of Consent?

Not at this time but this functionality will be available in the near future.

Will NetLegal provide me with details on the service?

Yes. NetLegal keeps a full service history of each filing transaction showing who accepted or rejected what filing and when. NetLegal also generates a certificate of service showing these details.

What is the Electronic Legal Service Address?

The Electronic Legal Service Address is an account at an electronic legal service provider such as NetLegal or an email address that counsel agrees to use for electronic service by filing a Notice of Consent with the Federal Court.

Do I have to accept all documents served on me through NetLegal?

Just by joining NetLegal, recipients are not required to accept any documents served on them electronically. NetLegal users can still choose to accept or reject documents being served on them OR they can now elect to use NetLegal as their Electronic Legal Service Address by filing a Notice of Consent for that case with the Federal Court.

How do I serve a user not on NetLegal?

After uploading your document, you can serve non-registered counsel by fax, in accordance with existing fax service rules, by using NetLegal.

New from NetLegal.

Case Filing
Judges can now receive documents electronically using NetLegal's secure document repository. More...

Don’t miss key information.

NetDockets — search court dockets, subscribe to cases and set party alerts
Federal Court Case List — a weekly list of new cases at the FCC
P.E.I. Court Report — a weekly report of cases and judgments at the P.E.I. Supreme Court

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Secure Serve — electronic & fax service
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