Detroit Bankruptcy Attorneys Receive Notice of Local Court Rule Amendments
This morning, attorneys registered for electronic filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (which has divisions in Detroit, Bay City, and Flint) received an e-mail containing a “Notice Regarding Adoption of Amended Local Bankruptcy Rules.” On November 2, 2009, the United States District Court approved amendments to the Local Bankruptcy Rules.
The amended Local Bankruptcy Rules are effective December 1, 2009. The local rules have been amended to conform to amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure adopted by the United States Supreme Court on March 26, 2009, effective December 1, 2009. The amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure clarify the way time is calculated in the federal courts by adopting a “days are days” approach to counting time versus the prior practice of excluding intervening weekends and holidays from periods of less than eight days. The amended Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure count intermediate weekends and holidays for all time periods. Further, the amended Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure state deadlines that are less than 30 days in multiples of seven days.
The Bankruptcy Court encourages each member of the bar to carefully review the amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and the amendments to the Local Bankruptcy Rules. The amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and a blacklined version of those amendments can be found here.
Detroit bankruptcy lawyers must be aware of this notice as well as other local rules and practices in the Eastern District, while bankruptcy attorneys in other jurisdictions should review their local court rules for similar changes. The Eastern District of Michigan’s recent notice emphasizes the procedural complexity of bankruptcy cases and the need for competent counsel.
