The procedure for the issuance of summons in adversary proceedings is as follows. Counsel shall complete Local Form 108 (Summons and Notice of Pretrial Conference in an Adversary Proceeding). This form should be downloaded from the Court's website. After the adversary proceeding has been opened, the completed Summons and Notice of Pretrial Conference should be e-filed. The certificate of service should be included in this docket entry, but as a separate attachment (the Summons and Certificate of Service must be two separate pdf files). The summons will be considered issued when the complaint is filed. By utilizing this procedure, counsel will be able to serve the summons the same day the complaint is filed. This procedure will expedite the issuance of summons and obviate the necessity for having to wait for the issued summons to be completed and returned to counsel in hard copy form.
Generally, a pre-trial conference date should be obtained from the Omnibus Hearing order filed in the main bankruptcy case. If no Omnibus Hearing order exists or no dates are available, contact chambers to obtain a pre-trial conference date. If the case is assigned to Judge Fitzgerald, check the Court's website for the judge's procedures. If the case is assigned to a District Court judge contact chambers for proper procedures for obtaining a hearing date. This date, along with the date issued (the e-filing date of the Summons and Notice of Pretrial Conference), are the only dates counsel will need to add to the summons.
Important! The Summons and Notice of Pretrial Conference must be filed as a separate docket entry from the complaint. Do not file the Summons and Notice of Pretrial Conference as an attachment to the complaint in the Adversary Case Opening process.
These instructions assume you have already accessed and logged into CM/ECF (see How to Access CM/ECF).
IN PREPARATION FOR E-FILING:
Prepare as separate PDF documents:
Summons & Notice of Pretrial Conference (Local Form 108)
Click [Adversary]
Select [Complaint & Summons]
Enter Case # and click [Next]
Verify case name & number is correct, then select [Summons and Notice of Pretrial Conference], and click [Next]
Click [Browse] to select the PDF of the Summons and Notice, then click the "Yes" button
Add any attachments, including the Certificate of Service:
Click [Browse] and select the file (i.e. the certificate of service). In the Description field type a description of the file (i.e. "Certificate of Service"). Click [Add to List].
After all attachments have been added, click [Next] to continue
Enter the Pretrial Conference date, time, and location, if known, and select the event to which this summons relates, which would be the entry for the Complaint (see instructions above for how to obtain a hearing date). Click [Next] to continue.
Select the party served, and click [Next]
The docket text appears:
If the pretrial date is to be determined, enter "date to be determined" in the Free Text box. If additional descriptive information is needed, it may be entered here.
Click [Next]
The Final Docket Text screen displays.
Proof this screen carefully! No further editing is allowed after this screen. If the docket text is correct, click [Next].
If any part of the docket text is incorrect, click the browser [Back] button to return to the screen you need to correct. Then process the screens again with the respective [Next] or [Submit] buttons.
NOTE: To abort or restart the transaction at any time up until the final docket text screen, click the [Adversary] hyperlink on the Menu Bar.
The Notice of Electronic Filing screen displays.
Print a copy of this notice by clicking the browser [Print] button.
NOTE: You must enter your PACER login and password to view any documents or reports or perform any queries.
Updated: February 10, 2004