(a) Party Portal
(1) Parties must use the Party Portal to file initial statements of claim and to file and serve pleadings and any other documents on the Director or any other party except as provided in paragraphs (a)(2) and (a)(3). The Director may exercise authority to permit the use of other means of filing or service in the case of an extended Party Portal outage or in other extraordinary circumstances.
(2) Pro Se customers are not required to use the Party Portal to file initial statements of claim or to file and serve pleadings and any other documents on the Director or any other party. However, if a pro se customer files a claim using the Party Portal, the pro se customer must use the Party Portal for the duration of the arbitration process. If a pro se customer opts out of using the Party Portal the following apply:
(A) the pro se customer may file an arbitration claim with the Director by any method described in Rule 12300(a)(2)(C);
(B) the pro se customer must comply with the requirements of Rules [12302](a) and (b) when filing the claim with the Director;
(C) filing and service methods available are first-class mail, overnight mail service, overnight delivery service, hand delivery, email or facsimile;
(D) filing and service by first-class mail or overnight mail service is accomplished on the date of mailing, and filing or service by any other means is accomplished on the date of delivery;
(E) except for the initial statement of claim, the pro se customer must provide proof of service for any documents served outside of the Party Portal; and
(F) the Director will serve the Claim Notification Letter or initial statement of claim on the respondents pursuant to [Rule 12302].
(3) Parties shall not file with FINRA or serve on any other party, through the Party Portal, documents produced during discovery pursuant to the [Rule 12500] Series. Available service methods for such documents are first-class mail, overnight mail service, overnight delivery service, hand delivery, email, or facsimile.
(b) Filing
(1) Except as noted in Rules 12300(a)(2) and 12300(a)(3), parties must file initial statements of claim and all pleadings and other documents with the Director through the Party Portal. Parties must file with the Director any written responses relating to discovery requests under Rules [12506] and [12507], but shall not file any of the documents produced in response to discovery requests as provided in Rule 12300(a)(3).
(2) Except as noted in Rule 12300(a)(2), parties must file arbitrator ranking lists pursuant to Rules [12402](d) and [12403](c) with the Director through the Party Portal.
(3) Filing under Rule 12300(b) is accomplished on the day of submission through the Party Portal. Filing by first-class mail or overnight mail service is accomplished on the date of mailing. Filing by any other means is accomplished on the date of delivery.
(c) Service
(1) The Director will serve the Claim Notification Letter or initial statement of claim on the respondent(s) pursuant to [Rule 12302].
(2) Except as noted in Rules 12300(a)(2) and 12300(a)(3), parties must serve all pleadings and other documents through the Party Portal.
(3) Parties must serve all pleadings and other documents on pro se customers who opt out of the Party Portal pursuant to Rule 12300(a)(2), by first-class mail, overnight mail service, overnight delivery service, hand delivery, email or facsimile.
(4) Service under Rule 12300(c) is accomplished on the day of submission through the Party Portal. Service by first-class mail or overnight mail service is accomplished on the date of mailing. Service by any other means is accomplished on the date of delivery.
(5) For documents not served through the Party Portal, parties must file proof of service with the Director through the Party Portal. Under Rule 12300(a)(2), if a pro se customer opts out of using the Party Portal, the pro se customer is not required to use the Party Portal to serve pleadings and any other documents.
(d) General Rules for Filing and Serving Documents
(1) Redaction of Personal Confidential Information
(A) In filings with the Director, a party must redact any document that contains an individual's Social Security number, taxpayer identification number or financial account number to include only the last four digits of any of these numbers. If the Director receives a claim, including supporting documents, with the full Social Security number, taxpayer identification number or financial account number, the Director will deem the filing deficient under [Rule 12307] and will request that the party refile the document in compliance with this paragraph. If a party files with the Director any document not covered by [Rule 12307] that contains full numbers as referenced above, the Director will deem the filing improper and will request that the party refile the document within 30 days from the time the party receives notice. If a party refiles the document, the corrected documents will be considered filed on the date the party initially filed the documents with the Director.
(B) The requirements of paragraph (d)(1)(A) above do not apply to documents that parties exchange with each other and do not file with the Director, or to documents parties submit to a panel at a hearing on the merits.
(C) The requirements of paragraphs (d)(1)(A) above do not apply to Simplified Arbitrations under [Rule 12800].
(2) Update Contact Information
A party must serve any change of email or mailing address during an arbitration on all other parties and file this information with the Director.
