Short answer. A prescribed format: the case number, the case title, and the title of the specific pleading, order, or document. The document's own title must also make clear who is filing or serving it, its nature, against whom relief is sought, and what relief is being asked for.
What the law says
The subject of the electronic mail and facsimile must follow the prescribed format: case number, case title and the pleading, order or document title. The title of each electronically-filed or served pleading or other document, and each submission served by facsimile shall contain sufficient information to enable the court to ascertain from the title: (a) the party or parties filing or serving the paper, (b) nature of the paper, (c) the party or parties against whom relief, if any, is sought, and (d) the nature of the relief sought.
Rule 13, Section 12 — Electronic mail and facsimile subject and title of pleadings and other documents. Read the full provision →
The subject line format
For electronic mail and facsimile, the rule does not leave the subject line to a filer's own discretion or personal style. It must follow a prescribed format consisting of three elements in order: the case number, the case title, and the title of the pleading, order, or document being transmitted. This gives the court and other parties an immediate, consistent way to identify what any given electronic transmission actually contains before even opening it.
What the document's own title must reveal
Beyond the subject line itself, the title of each electronically-filed or served pleading, and each facsimile submission, must contain enough information for the court to determine, just from reading that title alone: who is filing or serving the paper, what kind of paper it is, against whom any relief is sought, and what specific relief is being sought through it.
Why four specific pieces of information
These four elements — the filer, the nature of the document, the target of any relief, and the relief itself — mirror the essential facts a court needs to route and prioritize a submission without having to open and read the full document first. A title that omits one of these, for example naming the filer but leaving out the relief sought, would not fully satisfy what this rule asks a filer to provide.
Consistency across email and facsimile
The rule treats electronic mail and facsimile submissions the same way for this purpose: both the subject line convention and the informative-title requirement apply equally to each, so a party filing by fax cannot rely on a bare or generic title just because the transmission method differs from sending an ordinary email to the court or opposing counsel on the other side of the case.
Related provisions
- Rule 13, Section 12 — Electronic mail and facsimile subject and title of pleadings and other documents
- Rule 13, Section 11 — Change of electronic mail address or facsimile number
- Rule 13, Section 13 — Service of [j]udgments, [f]inal [o]rders or [r]esolutions