ANSWER:Yes. All permanent members of the NDNY bar must complete the Biennial Registration pursuant to NDNY Local Rule 83.1(i). Attorneys who qualify for a waiver of the fee should complete the Biennial Fee Waiver event in CM/ECF. Attorneys who do not qualify for a waiver should complete the Biennial Fee Payment event in CM/ECF. Attorneys admitted Pro Hac Vice are not required to complete the biennial registration..
ANSWER: Yes. All permanent members of the NDNY bar must complete the Biennial Registration pursuant to NDNY Local Rule 83.1(i), but attorneys employed full-time by a federal, state or local government entity will qualify for a waiver of the biennial fee. Attorneys who qualify for a waiver should complete the Biennial Fee Waiver event in CM/ECF.
ANSWER:Yes. NDNY Local Rule 83.1(i) only allows for a waiver of the biennial registration fee for attorneys employed full-time with a federal, state or local government entity.
ANSWER:CM/ECF does not send an NEF. If an attorney paid the biennial fee, they will receive a receipt from Pay.gov for the payment. If the attorney wants to confirm that their biennial registration is complete, please wait 2 business days, and then check the Attorney Information Lookup at https://www.nynd.uscourts.gov/attorney-information-lookup. Under “Fee Status”, it should now show “Paid 2025” or “Waived 2025”. If more than 2 business days have passed since you completed the biennial registration and the “Fee status” has not been updated, please contact a clerk via Chat and ask for a live representative or call (315) 234-8500 to check on your registration.
ANSWER: No. All payments must be made using the Biennial Fee Payment event in CM/ECF thru Pay.gov. The Clerk’s Office does not accept payments in person, in the mail or over the phone.
ANSWER: No. Attorneys admitted to the bar in 2025 are not required to complete the biennial registration for 2025.
ANSWER:Yes. Attorneys admitted to the bar in 2024 are required to complete the biennial registration for 2025.Registration cycles align with specific calendar years not individual admission dates.
ANSWER:The deadline to complete the biennial registration for 2025 is December 31st, 2025.
ANSWER: If you think you did not complete the event properly in CM/ECF, please contact the clerk’s office via Chat and ask to speak to live agent or call (315) 234-8500. Attorneys who fail to complete the event properly may be required to complete and sign an Attorney Certification. Contact the Clerk’s office.
ANSWER: Please allow for 2 business days following the completion of the biennial registration, and then check the Attorney Information Lookup found on the court’s website at https://www.nynd.uscourts.gov/attorney-information-lookup. Under “Fee Status”, it should now state “Paid 2025” or “Waived 2025”. If more than 48 business hours have passed since you completed the biennial registration, please contact a clerk via Chat and ask for a live representative or call (315) 234-8500 to check on your registration.
ANSWER: The Fee status will be updated once per day on the next business day. If more than 2 business days have passed since you completed the biennial registration, please contact a clerk via Chat and ask for a live representative or call (315) 234-8500 to check on your registration.
ANSWER: Check your spam/junk folders. If no receipt was received, please contact a clerk via Chat and ask for a live representative or call (315) 234-8500 to check on your registration. If you did not complete the event properly, you may be required to complete an Attorney Certification.
ANSWER: Attorney must send an email of explanation addressed to Chief Judge Brenda K. Sannes to biennial@nynd.uscourts.gov. Failure to provide an email of explanation may result in the removal from the NDNY bar. Chief Judge Sannes will review the email and approve/deny the biennial registration application.
ANSWER: No. If you previously advised the Chief Judge of an attorney disciplinary matter or criminal conviction during the 2023 Biennial Registration, you do NOT have to report it again, even if the matter is still pending. You only must report new matters that occurred within the past 2 years.
ANSWER: Do not complete the event again. You will be required to complete and sign an attorney certification making any corrections to affirmed statements within the biennial registration event. Please contact a clerk via Chat and ask for a live representative or call (315) 234-8500 to obtain the attorney certification. Advise the clerk if you completed the Biennial Fee Payment or Biennial Fee Waiver event so you can obtain the correct Attorney Certification form.
ANSWER: Do not complete the event again. You will be required to complete and sign an attorney certification making any corrections to affirmed statements. Please contact a clerk via Chat and ask for a live representative or call (315) 234-8500 to obtain the attorney certification. Advise the clerk if you completed the Biennial Fee Payment or Biennial Fee Waiver event so you can obtain the correct Attorney Certification form.
ANSWER: If the attorney completed the Biennial Fee Payment or Biennial Fee Waiver event correctly, they do NOT have to complete an Attorney Certification. An Attorney Certification is only required when the event was not completed correctly in CM/ECF.
ANSWER: No. Attorneys removed from the NDNY bar for failure to complete the biennial registration in any year must re-apply for admission pursuant to Local Rule 83.1. Instructions/Forms for completing the Attorney Admission can be found on the Court’s website at https://www.nynd.uscourts.gov/attorney-admissions.
ANSWER: Unfortunately, the Clerk’s Office cannot assist you with your PACER login. You must contact PACER at https://pacer.uscourts.gov/my-account-billing/forgot-username-or-password or call PACER at 800-676-6856.
ANSWER:
1. Confirm your bar status is current by checking Attorney Information Lookup at https://www.nynd.uscourts.gov/attorney-information-lookup. If your Fee Status is “Paid 2023/2024” or “Waived 2023/2024”, your admission is current.
2. If your bar status is current, please contact the clerk’s office via Chat and ask to speak to live representative or call (315) 234-8500 for assistance.
ANSWER:
1. Confirm your bar status is current by checking Attorney Information Lookup at https://www.nynd.uscourts.gov/attorney-information-lookup. If your Fee Status is “Paid 2023/2024” or “Waived 2023/2024”, your admission is current.
2. Confirm your bar record is current. Log into PACER and confirm that your email address is accurate. If not, update your bar record via PACER. Instructions to update your bar record are found at https://www.nynd.uscourts.gov/update%20your%20bar%20record. This Court cannot update your bar record as it must be done via PACER.
3. If your bar status is current and your email address is accurate in PACER, check your spam mail filters and email security settings, and check your spam/junk folder. Your email security must allow emails to be accepted from uscourts@updates.uscourts.gov and biennial@nynd.uscourts.gov or you will not receive emails from the Court regarding important updates, events, and announcements.
ANSWER:
1. If you are receiving emails directing you to complete the biennial registration, something may be wrong with your bar status.
2. First, check your bar status using Attorney Information Lookup at https://www.nynd.uscourts.gov/attorney-information-lookup. If your Fee Status is “Paid 2025” or “Waived 2025”, your admission is current. You can disregard the emails.
3. If your Fee Status is “Paid 2023”, “Paid 2024”, “Waived 2023” or “Waived 2024”, your bar record is not showing that you completed the 2025 Biennial Registration. Please contact the clerk’s office via Chat and ask to speak to live representative or call (315) 234-8500 for assistance.
ANSWER: That depends. The Court will send multiple reminder emails to the attorneys reminding them to complete the Biennial Registration on time. If the deadline has expired, but the Chief Judge has not issued an Order of Removal yet, there may still be time to complete the biennial registration. If the Biennial Fee Payment or Biennial Fee Waiver events are deactivated in CM/ECF, then it is too late to complete the biennial registration for 2025. Attorneys who fail to timely complete the biennial registration will be removed from the NDNY bar. If the Chief Judge has already issued an Order of Removal, the attorney must then reapply for admission. Instructions/forms for admission can be found at https://www.nynd.uscourts.gov/attorney-admissions.
ANSWER: If you received this email, then your biennial registration is not complete. You most likely did not finish the event in CM/ECF so your answers to the attorney disciplinary/criminal history questions did not save. You must now complete an Amended/Corrected Attorney Declaration in CM/ECF using the event "Biennial Fee - Amended Attorney Declaration" found under the Civil tab. An email was sent to all attorneys who did not complete the registration properly. Please check your spam/junk email.
ANSWER: If you cannot log into your PACER account, you will need to contact PACER at 800-676-6856 directly to get your account reactivated. To ensure your PACER account remains active, we strongly recommend logging in every few months using MFA to avoid going into inactive status and being locked out.
ANSWER: PACER requires all active accounts set up MFA for security purposes. For assistance with setting up MFA, please see PACER's MFA Tips and Resources at https://pacer.uscourts.gov/announcements/2025/09/16/mfa-tips-and-resources
ANSWER: Attorneys employed full time by a federal, state or local public sector entity qualify for a Biennial Fee Waiver.
ANSWER: Notice of the biennial registration is sent by email to the attorney's email address contained within their bar record. Please check your spam or junk folder. The email blast will come from one of the following court email addresses: biennial@nynd.uscourts.gov or uscourts@updates.uscourts.gov. Attorneys are responsible for ensuring their spam mail filters and email security are set to permit delivery of a mass email from these email addresses.
ANSWER: This could be a couple of different things:
- Make sure you are using Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox. Avoid Google Chrome and Internet Explorer as they do not work well with CM/ECF.
- Try clearing your cache. Instructions to clear your cache can be found here.
- An old PACER account or email is linked to NDNY, and you are logged in with a different account. Contact the clerk's office to confirm you are using the correct username.
- If none of these work, contact the clerks office at 351-234-8500 or use the Court's "Let's Chat" feature by clicking on the icon below.
ANSWER: If you previously qualified for a waiver in 2023, but you no longer work for a government entity and are paying the biennial fee for the first time, your internet payment may be turned off. Contact the clerk's office to make arrangements for payment.
ANSWER: If you answer yes to any of these questions, you must send an email of explanation to biennial@nynd.uscourts.gov to be reviewed by the Chief Judge.
ANSWER: Pursuant to Local Rule 83.1(f), every attorney must update the contact information contained in their bar record within 14 days of a change via PACER. Instructions on how to update your bar record can be found at Update your Bar Record.
ANSWER: No, all attorneys must file in CM/ECF either a "Biennial Fee Payment" or "Biennial Fee Waiver". Pursuant to Local Rule 83.1, all attorneys must affirm under the penalties of perjury that they have no criminal history or disciplinary history in any other court within the last 2 years, or provide a letter of explanation. This affirmation must be made by filing one of the aforementioned events in CM/ECF.