United States Bankruptcy Court

ABI's 8th Annual Detroit Consumer Bankruptcy Conference
This year's conference is scheduled for Monday, November 12, 2012, at the MGM Grand Detroit. This   day-long program is designed for Michigan consumer bankruptcy practitioners. Please see announcement for further information.

Rescheduling of Judge Hughes' October 3, 2012 Motion Day
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: All motions and matters scheduled for hearing before Judge Hughes in Traverse City on October 3, 2012 are being rescheduled to the court's next regularly scheduled motion day, October 26, 2012. We apologize for any inconvenience.

PUBLIC NOTICE: Please click here to view a notice regarding Centralized Processing of Returned BNC Mail.

FBA State of the Court Luncheon (Bankruptcy Section, Western District of Michigan)
The 2nd annual State of the Court Luncheon will be held at noon on Friday, October 12, 2012. The luncheon will be held at the JW Marriott International Ballroom, Grand Rapids, Michigan. RSVP is required by October 1, 2012. Please see announcement for further information.

Closing of Clerk's Office
The Clerk's Office of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan was closed on August 31, 2012, at approximately 10:00am. Please see Administrative Order 2012-02 for more information.

Bankruptcy Best Practices Seminar 2012
The United States Trustee for the Western District of Michigan and the Chapter 13 & 7 Panel Trustees are offering workshops for attorneys who practice bankruptcy. For more information regarding dates and registration, please review the attached announcement and registration form.

Letter from the Hon. Scott W. Dales
To Members of the Bankruptcy Bar (Western District of Michigan) Regarding Confidential Judicial Performance Survey. Click here to view the letter.

Save the Date - FBA Bankruptcy Section's State of the Court Luncheon
The Federal Bar Association Bankruptcy Section's State of the Court luncheon will be held at noon on Friday, October 12, 2012, at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Details and invitations will follow as the date approaches.

24th Annual FBA Bankruptcy Seminar
Seminar schedule and registration information is now available for the 24th Annual FBA bankruptcy section seminar to be held July 19-21, 2012, at the Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa located in Thompsonville, MI.

Judge Dales’s Procedures Governing Live Testimony During Motion Day Hearings (Fed.R.Bankr.P.9014(e)). Click here to view the procedure.

Proposed Changes to Sixth Circuit Rules: The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is proposing comprehensive amendments to the Sixth Circuit Rules and Internal Operating Procedures. Pursuant to 6 Cir. R. 47(a) all interested parties have the opportunity to register comments to the proposed changes. Click here to view the full rules. Comments should be addressed to Leonard Green, Clerk and sent no later than July 12, 2012 to: ca06-rules_comments@ca6.uscourts.gov

Bankruptcy Core Concepts Training: ICLE and the Consumer Bankruptcy Association are co-sponsoring the upcoming Bankruptcy Core Concepts Training, starting in December, 2011. This three-part program explores the fundamentals of Chapter 7, Chapter 13, and bankruptcy litigation and gives you the opportunity to get to know other Michigan practitioners, trustees, and bankruptcy judges. Get more information and register for the training here: www.icle.org/coreconcepts 

Save the Date -- 24th Annual FBA Bankruptcy Seminar
The 2012 Bankruptcy Seminar is scheduled for July 19 - 21, 2012 at Crystal Mountain Resort, Thompsonville, Michigan. Judge Dales would like ideas for seminar topics. Please see the flyer for information on submitting your ideas and/or offers to participate. 

Miscellaneous Fee Schedule Increases Effective November 1, 2011
The Judicial Conference, at its September, 2011 session, approved recommended changes to the miscellaneous fee schedules. These changes will become effective November 1, 2011. To view a notice detailing the various bankruptcy miscellaneous fee changes, please click here

PACER Fee Increase Effective April 1, 2012: In September, 2011, the Judicial Conference authorized an increase in the Judiciary's electronic public access fee in response to increasing costs for maintaining and enhancing the electronic public access system. The fee increase from $0.08 to $0.10 per page will take effect April 1, 2012. This increase is necessary to continue to support and improve the PACER system, and to develop and implement the next generation of the Judiciary's CM/ECF system. Please note that PACER users who do not accrue charges of more than $15 in a quarterly billing cycle would not be charged a fee (The current exemption is $10 per quarter) For more information, please visit: http://www.pacer.gov/

Amendments to Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure  Effective December 1st, 2011
On April 26, 2011, the Supreme Court approved the following amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. They are scheduled to take effect on December 1, 2011, and shall govern in all proceedings in bankruptcy cases thereafter commenced and, insofar as just and practicable, all proceedings then pending.

Summary & Amendments

Changes in Bankruptcy Forms

Survey for Judge Scott W. Dales
Judge Scott W. Dales has requested the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) to survey members of the Bar to assess his level of performance. During the week of October 3, 2011, the FJC will send an e:mail to each attorney who has practiced before Judge Dales within the last three years. Please see the attached if you have any questions regarding this process or if you did not receive an e:mail and wish to participate in the survey.

Pilot Program - Telephonic Appearances before Judge Hughes (Grand Rapids' Motion Days)
Judge Hughes will be implementing a pilot program to test the viability of telephonic court appearances through CourtCall (an independent conference call company). Attorneys interested in participating will be permitted to appear telephonically before Judge Hughes during any of his regularly scheduled Grand Rapids motions days beginning June 9, 2011. Please see the attached announcement and policy for more information.
Posted May 31, 2011

Bankruptcy Best Practices Seminar 2011
The United States Trustee for the Western District of Michigan and the Chapter 13 & 7 Panel Trustees are offering workshops for attorneys who practice bankruptcy. For more information regarding dates and registration, please review the attached announcement.
Posted May 12, 2011

Debtors' Attorneys Will No Longer Receive Mailed Paper Copies of the Section 341(a) Notice
Attorneys representing debtors should be aware of an important change that will occur when the bankruptcy court migrates to Version 4.2 of the Case Management/Electronic Case File [CM/ECF] System (this migration will occur on November 4-6, 2011). This change pertains to how debtors' attorneys receive the section 341(a) notice for their clients' cases. Currently, debtors' attorneys receive the section 341(a) notice by notice of electronic filing (NEF) with the debtor's redacted Social Security number (SSN) and by U.S. Mail through the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC) with the debtor's full SSN . After November 6, 2011, when the Bankruptcy Court upgrades to Version 4.2, debtors' attorneys will no longer receive the paper copy of the section 341(a) notice currently sent through the U.S. Mail. Instead, the BNC will send debtors' attorneys an email containing a secure hyperlink to the unredacted section 341(a) notice in lieu of the paper notice. The BNC will send one summary email per day containing hyperlinks to one or more notices (for example, an attorney filing five cases on the same day will receive one email containing hyperlinks to the notices in all five cases). Each hyperlink will provide one free look to the full section 341(a) notice for that case.

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