The first step in filing a lawsuit is to prepare a complaint.  The Court has specialized forms available for filing complaints for employment discrimination and appealing a denial of Social Security benefits, as well as a general complaint form.  You are not required to use these forms, but you may find it helpful to look them over.

Here are tutorials on how to complete these forms.

The Instructions for Filing a Civil Action on Your Own Behalf provide additional information about the paper size, the document format, signature requirements, and the number of copies you must provide at the time of filing your complaint.