Court Implements Privacy Rules

The Judicial Conference at its September 2002 session, approved proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedures and the Official Bankruptcy Forms. These amendments will take effect December 1, 2003, barring congressional action.

The court has entered a Standing Order Regarding Privacy Related Rules and a Revised Administrative Procedures for Filing, Signing and Verifying Pleadings and Papers by Electronic Means. Both of these documents will take effect December 1, 2003.

You should also review the Public Notice regarding the amended rules and forms, the standing order and the revised administrative procedures. Here's a PDF copy of new Bankruptcy Form 21.

New Release of CM/ECF (Version 2.3)

Version 2.3 will become effective in our court on Monday, December 1st. The following fixes and enhancements will effect attorney users.

First Meeting Notices

Two versions of a First Meeting Notice are now produced: one with the debtor's full SSN (for parties and creditors) and one with a "masked" SSN (displays last four numbers, e.g., xxx-xx-0123). The latter version with the "masked" SSN is used in CM/ECF on the Docket Report, Queries, and for local printing.

Queries / Reports

When searching by name, you must now type at least 2 consecutive letters of the last name, neither can be an * asterisk nor a blank. This will prevent an asterisk wild card search which degrades system performance.

When searching by SSN, all 9 digits must be entered. No wild cards are allowed. Only the last 4 digits of the SSN display for non-court users and on public reports.

When searching by creditor name, the limitation of 40 characters has been increased to 50 characters.

The Claims Activity Report can now be produced over the Internet with restrictions for non-court users.

Bankruptcy Fee Changes

Effective November 1, 2003, the court implemented changes to miscellaneous fee schedule approved by the Judicial Conference. You can review the court's Public Notice to see the increases and changes.

Adobe Acrobat Recommendations

Here are two write-up's that may be able to answer some of your questions about creating and viewing PDF formatted documents. Creating PDF Documents is a fairly in-depth write-up of the alternatives for creating PDF documents using Adobe Acrobat. Adobe Acrobat Version 6.0 and File Sizes provides specific guidelines for WordPerfect users. If you are using Adobe Acrobat Writer version 5.0 or 6.0 to convert documents to PDF format, click here to find out how to you can make sure your documents can be viewed by others.

Electronic Bankruptcy Noticing

The U.S. Bankruptcy Courts are now offering a new way for the bankruptcy community to receive notices. Electronic Bankruptcy Noticing, or EBN, is a free service that allows court notices to be transmitted electronically, delivering them faster and more conveniently. You can receive notices via e-mail, FAX or electronic data transmission. If you want to learn more about this service, the EBN noting partner agreements and related forms are posted online at http://www.EBNuscourts.com.

Logins and Passwords

We have had a few instances where an attorney has used their CM/ECF login and password to file a document for another attorney. The court takes a dim view of this practice. The name of the person who made the electronic docket entry must be the person who is filing the document.

Attorneys can change their own passwords if they want to use the same password for different Districts. Here's a PDF formatted procedure that shows you how---Maintaining User Accounts

Common Docketing Problems

One of the major responsibilities of case managers at the court is to insure the accuracy of the court's electronic dockets. Problem docket entries delay the processing of pleading and other documents.

We look at every docket to determine if it meets the court's standards for quality and accuracy. If we find a problem with an entry made by an attorney filer, we will inform them of the problem so that they can take steps to correct the problem.

Here are some of the most frequent problems we have been encountering lately:

• Docket entries for documents that are related to another document that has already been filed are not "linked" .
• Docket entries for documents which contain negative notice language to not contain text showing the negative notice time limit.
• Using generic event codes (~Document, ~Application-Generic, ~ Motion-Generic) instead of using the specific event code for the document.

If you have any questions regarding ways to avoid these problems, please call the Deputy-in-Charge of your local clerk's office.

Docketing Tips

If you want to make a Certificate Of Service docket entry that references something that's not on the docket, such as a Proof of Claim or an order that hasn't been signed, you can use the ~Document (generic) event in the Other category. This allows you to by pass the screen to link.

If you want to file an Answer for a defendant that isn't on an adversary proceeding, you can use the response event.

Court's Web Site

Bookmark the Court's main web site www.txwb.uscourts.gov for up to date information on Court closings, local rules, general orders, CM/ECF News, etc. Review it often!!!!

CM/ECF User Training

You can learn to file electronically with CM/ECF by attending a free training class presented in one of the court's offices. Topics covered are the administrative procedures for electronic filing, bankruptcy and adversary case opening, motions and applications, objections and responses, and proofs of claims. The classes are presented in a PC Lab where the student learns "hands-on" using the court's CM/ECF Training Application. Although attending a class is the preferred way to learn about CM/ECF, the court also offers on-line tutorials for those who cannot attend class. These can be accessed at no cost through the court's Internet WEB site; The available tutorials are CM/ECF for Attorney Filers CM/ECF for Creditor Filers.

Whether you attend class or complete a tutorial, you will also need to complete a "connectivity confirmation" exercise using the court's CM/ECF Training Application. You can find out when classes are offered, obtain a login and password to the court's CM/ECF Training Application, and learn about the "connectivity confirmation" by contacting Tina Warren (Austin and Waco divisions) or David Williams (San Antonio, El Paso and Midland divisions.)

The court wants your feedback, positive or not so positive.

Click on a link below to send an e-mail to Coeditors Tina Warren in our Austin Division and/or Dave Williams in our San Antonio Divisions.

E-mail Tina or phone at 512-916-5237 extension 318

E-mail Dave or phone at 210-472-6720 extension 226