Print MeLR 3.1 Civil Cover Sheet
Every complaint or other document initiating a civil action shall be accompanied by a completed civil cover sheet, on a form available from the Clerk of Court. This requirement is solely for administrative purposes, and matters appearing only on the civil cover sheet have no legal effect in the action.
If the complaint or other document is filed without a completed civil cover sheet, the Clerk shall mark the document as to the date received and promptly give notice of the omission to the party filing the document. When the civil cover sheet has been completed, the Clerk shall file the complaint or other document nunc pro tunc as of the date of the original receipt.
[Adopted effective February 1, 1991]
1991 Advisory Committee's Note to LR 3.1
On the use of the civil cover sheet for notification of a claim of unconstitutionality, see LR 24.1.
The Committee considered the question whether the rule that "matters appearing only on the civil cover sheet have no legal effect" might be too harsh in a situation in which a pro se litigant claims jury trial only on the civil cover sheet. It decided that the discretion of the trial Judge to grant a jury trial under Fed. R. Civ. P. 39 was sufficient to protect against unfairness.