Welcome to the Northern District of Florida Bankruptcy Bar Association's website. We hope you find this site informative and helpful, and we invite you to contact us with any questions you may have.
LATEST NDFL BANKRUPTCY NEWS:
The Pensacola Clerk's Office has moved! The Clerk’s Office in Pensacola has moved to the Winston E. Arnow Federal Building. For directions or other information regarding the move, contact the Clerk's office at 1-866-639-4615.
New Local Rule re: Surrendered Property! “If the plan filed by the debtor(s) provides for the surrender of collateral, that plan shall constitute the debtor(s) consent to the immediate termination of the automatic stay.” N.D. Fla. LBR 3002‐1 A. (5). Motions for relief from stay pertaining to property surrendered in the plan do not require trustee consent, are deemed to have debtor(s) consent due to surrender in the plan, and may be filed as “consented” motions. The consented motion does not require a filing fee. A proposed order should be
submitted in CM/ECF (Bankruptcy > Submit Proposed Order) at the time of the filing of the motion.
CM/ECF Version 4.1: The Clerk's Office anticipates upgrading to CM/ECF Version 4.1 in the Northern District of Florida over the holiday weekend of July 4, 2011. Please be prepared for the system to be unavailable during the upgrade. The tentative dates for Version 4.1 training are June 2nd (Gainesville), June 9th (Tallahassee), June 30th (Pensacola), and July 1st (Panama City). Each of these sessions is to be held after court in the normally scheduled court date in the division specified. If you have specific questions regarding the upgrade, please contact Kevin Davis at Kevin_Davis@flnb.uscourts.gov.
ABJA. The ABJA offers a Certified Bankruptcy Assistant Program, which is designed to provide a general background in bankruptcy law and offer writing skills to assist professionals in work skill enhancement. The CBA Program consists of four parts: Ethics, Legal Research, Bankruptcy Code and Rules, and Grammar Usage and Writing. The certification exam is optional and is given at the end of the second day. Registration is approximately $399 and includes the seminar, examination fee, study guide, lunch on Wednesday, and light break refreshments. An application for certification, which can be found on the ABJA's website (www.abja.org), must be filled out and approved prior to registration being accepted. The ABJA also provides training to judicial assistants, paralegals, legal assistants, and other non-lawyer support staff. If you are interested in more information, contact Martie Kantor at martie_kantor@flnb.uscourts.gov or 850-521-5031.
Standing Order 18: On March 4, 2011, Judge Lewis Killian entered Standing Order 18 implementing a new procedure for filing a Motion to Determine Secured Status and to Strip Junior Lien on Debtor’s Principal Residence in a Chapter 13 case. The Standing Order describes the requirements of the motion and provides that the motion can be filed on negative notice.
(For more information, check out the latest issue of the Advisor Newsletter)