California Creditor's Rights & Business Bankruptcy Lawyer & Attorney : Robert Eisenbach : Business Bankruptcy Blog

Bankruptcy professionals and the public rarely get a chance to read a judge's own research binder. Fortunately, however, Chief Judge Randall J. Newsome of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California has made his very helpful 348-page research binder available on the Court's website. Follow the links in this sentence to access the entire binder in pdf format and this HTML version organized by topic. I've found the binder to be an excellent way to identify leading cases on a particular topic quickly. The pdf version can also be searched using a key word or phrase. 

Updated as of February 8, 2008, and covering cases through Volume 378 of Bankruptcy Reports, the research binder collects a vast range of cases on business bankruptcy and other topics under the Bankruptcy Code and the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. Chief Judge Newsome presides in the Northern District of California so the primary focus of the research binder is on Ninth Circuit law, but some out-of-circuit law is listed as well.

Chief Judge Newsome's disclaimer puts this helpful tool's function in perspective:

The following list of cases and supplemental information is presented for informational and educational purposes only. Though it represents the aggregation of 19 years of research, the Court makes no claims as to its current level of accuracy. Some of the cases set forth may very well have been superseded, reversed, or otherwise may no longer be good law. The Court has posted it with the intention to educate and assist those who may find it helpful. Accordingly, users should consider it a first, but by no means final, research tool, and should cite check all cases listed herein for continued viability prior to relying on such cases in practice.

With those caveats in mind, it can be a great place to start when researching bankruptcy law issues in Ninth Circuit.

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As previously reported, in August 2007 the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California proposed amendments to the Bankruptcy Local Rules designed to implement the changes made by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (known as BAPCPA). After taking comments, the final amendments are scheduled to take effect on May 1, 2008.

• Follow the links for a clean set of the final amended Bankruptcy Local Rules and a redline version showing changes from the current local rules.

Business Bankruptcy Changes. Certain of the amended local rules will affect Chapter 11 corporate bankruptcy cases. These include changes to the rules governing the investment of estate funds, the replacement of a "responsible individual" for a Chapter 11 debtor or debtor in possession, entry of a final decree closing a case, the procedures for bankruptcy appeals, and the general electronic case filing (ECF) procedures. A number of the other revisions are aimed primarily at consumer bankruptcy cases.

Jury Trial Rule Amended. In addition, however, the Bankruptcy Court took this opportunity to modify Bankruptcy Local Rule 9015-2(b), governing jury trials, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down in its September 2007 decision in the In re HealthCentral.com case. An earlier post entitled "Ordinary Course Preference Case Takes Extraordinary Turn: Ninth Circuit Strikes Down Local Bankruptcy Rule On Jury Trials" gives more details on the decision and its impact.

Conclusion. The changes to the Northern District of California Bankruptcy Local Rules may not be as significant for Chapter 11 cases as those recently proposed in the Southern District of New York or adopted in Delaware, but attorneys practicing in the Northern District of California, and businesses with cases or adversary proceedings pending in that court, should be sure to follow them when they take effect on May 1, 2008.

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