Create a Court Form

Once you’ve located the form you’d like to create, click on the line item. You will see the form on the right as well as the Prepare/Fill Form button above it. Click on the button to create and begin filling the form.

Alternatively, you can click on the Control Column (seen as three little dots) to the left of a form’s name on its line item then click Create Court Form in the drop-down menu.

Auto-fill Options

To utilize information stored in the case, use the Auto-fill Options box located near the top of the form. Certain case types may have additional options here, but either way, you can leave the Auto-fill selection as ‘None (Only auto-fill case and contact information)’ to automatically fill in information from contact cards and case details.

If you see a checkbox titled Override court restrictions, only check it if you are paper filing (i.e. not submitting online) and do not wish to be constrained by court-mandated character limits for fields on the form.

Right below, you may also see areas for parties in the case. To automatically populate the form with each party’s information, click on the drop-down menu by each party and select the correct contact, then finish by clicking the Auto-fill button. Go through the fields to enter any missing information.

Note

If you are on a Windows machine and wish to see a PDF of the form side-by-side with the interface for filling it out, you can open the form as a PDF (whether in Adobe, a new Chrome window, or whatever you prefer) then hit Windows key + left/right arrow to quickly make the window take up exactly half the screen. You can then do the same (with the opposite arrow) to make the form interface take up the other half of the screen, allowing you to see both at once with minimal effort and without even having to use a second monitor.

Saving a Form

Be sure to use the Save button often to ensure you don’t lose your work. By clicking Save, the created form will be available in Case Activities.

Saved forms have the activity tag of Form Created in Case Activities. This allows users to return to the form and continue making changes simply by clicking directly on the Activity Item.

Viewing/Printing a Form

Click View/Print to generate the PDF version of your form. This will download the PDF, and you’ll be able to open it using any PDF viewer. Chrome users might find that using Chrome’s built-in PDF viewer is a fast and easy way to peruse the document as it opens the PDF in a new tab.

Once you’ve generated the PDF, you may find that you still have edits you need to make. Simply go back to MerusCase to continue updating your document. If you make any changes, remember to click Save before clicking View/Print again!

Finalizing a Form

Clicking the Finalize button will lock your court form and convert it permanently to a PDF. Once a court form has been finalized, it cannot be edited again. The purpose of this feature is to allow you to lock editing once a form has been filed or sent out, as you would not want to make changes to it and lose track of what version you sent out. The finalized form will appear as a PDF in the activities list, which allows you to easily preview the form.

Additionally, when viewing a form that has been finalized, you also have the ability to Clone the existing form to create a duplicate copy which will not be finalized (i.e. it will be editable). In a pinch, this can allow you to continue editing a form which you mistakenly finalized by cloning it and then editing the cloned version. Look for the clone button (displayed as two sheets partially overlapping) next to the Download and Forward as an Email Attachment buttons in the top right.

Editing a Saved Form from Case Activities

You might need to close your court form and come back to it later without finalizing the form.

To edit a previously saved form, find the form in the Activity Tab for the case.

Clicking on the activity item will open the editing screen for your form so that you can make any additional changes you like. Editable court forms will automatically have the activity tag of Form Created.

Note

Clicking on Tags will display the option to add additional tags to this form.

Downloading a Finalized Form from Case Activities

To download a finalized form from the Activity tab, click on the activity associated with the form you wish to open. Click the Download button (displayed as an arrow pointing down at a document) at the top of the Preview Panel to download and open your court form.