Bankruptcy court goes paperless

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Electronic case filing will be a boon to the business community as the United States Bankruptcy Court goes online March 1, according to local bankruptcy trustee Dan Nelson.|ret||ret||tab|

Nelson, a Chapter 7 trustee and bankruptcy attorney, said he thinks the new system for the bankruptcy court will be even more popular than the federal civil court's public access system. |ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|Pilot program|bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

That court started electronic case filing (ECF) in 1997, going 100 percent paperless in October 1999. Missouri was one of four states chosen to participate in the pilot project, said Jane Kollmeyer, southern division manager of the U.S. Western District court in Springfield. |ret||ret||tab|

The conversion "has required total cooperation of the staff, judicial officers and members of the bar," said Patricia Brune, U.S. Western District court clerk in Kansas City. |ret||ret||tab|

Although part of the federal civil court system, bankruptcy cases are maintained separately from other civil cases, such as personal injury or civil rights cases. Docket information on 30,000 to 40,000 old bankruptcy cases had to be put on the system before electronic filing could begin, Brune said. |ret||ret||tab|

In the meantime, a massive training program for attorneys has been an ongoing project of her office. Since 1997, more than 6,000 Missouri attorneys have been trained face-to face "on the civil side of the shop," she said. About 300 bankruptcy attorneys have been schooled in the bankruptcy project in just the last six months, Brune added.|ret||ret||tab|

The bankruptcy judges and trustees wanted to see how ECF worked in the civil system before taking the plunge, Kollmeyer said. "We were so successful with it, it was voted to keep the prototype and use it for all the courts. Eventually all federal courts will be on. The old system (paper filing) is being phased out." Federal courts in New York, Ohio and Oregon also took part in the prototype trial. |ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|Cost savings|bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

With electronic filing, Nelson foresees cost savings for attorneys and clients. "Bankruptcy practice is extremely paper-intensive," he said. A standard petition without attachments is at least six pages. The attached schedules for a simple case are at least 22 pages, and then there are attachments in support of the schedules.|ret||ret||tab|

The Kansas-City based Chapter 13 and Chapter 11 trustees will no longer have to lug gigantic files with them, Brune said. "We're used to seeing (them) go out of here with two-wheelers and boxes of files" on their way to court in Springfield. She predicts it "could be as easy as walking out of here with a password and log-in."|ret||ret||tab|

With electronic filing, the paper is eliminated, as is the accompanying copying costs, Brune and Nelson agree. With electronic filing, postage can be reduced as well because creditors can be notified of the filing online, Nelson said. |ret||ret||tab|

He foresees a time when businesses that are repeatedly subject to bankruptcy notices, such as hospitals, will be logged-in as regular parties for notification. "Most service will be done electronically ," Nelson said. The attorney will receive confirmation of filing and notified which creditors weren't automatically served. That creditor then must be served by mail by the attorney. If a debtor has 100 creditors and 75 can be automatically served electronically all the notices they're entitled to receive, copy and postage costs are drastically reduced.|ret||ret||tab|

Brune said the driving force to go electronic came out of the massive maritime asbestos cases in the Northern District of Ohio. "They were having to take their garage from their courthouse" just to house the paperwork those cases generated. Eventually, the court systems will realize savings from rent because compact discs take up much less space.|ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|Improving access|bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

One of the benefits of ECF for attorneys will be 24-hour access to the court, and public access to the court system will be improved, too, considering the number of adults who are now online 56 percent according to a report Nelson read. |ret||ret||tab|

But those who wish to file cases without the aid of an attorney won't be subject to the electronic filing rule, Brune said. "There's an access to courts issue here. We are not ever going to turn someone away if the only way they can come to us is on paper." |ret||ret||tab|

However, she said, self-filers should remember that "just because the (filing) tools are easier (doesn't) make the law any more simple. The law will still be the law." |ret||ret||tab|

A set package of materials cleared by the judges in both civil and bankruptcy filings is available through the federal clerk's office, she said. "We try to make it as convenient as we can." The clerk will also upload a floppy disc for the public if it is saved in portable document format, PDF.|ret||ret||tab|

To use the bankruptcy system, attorneys in good standing in the Western District will register for a password and special log-in information. The system uses Netscape Navigator and Adobe Reader and Acrobat, Nelson said. |ret||ret||tab|

As in the federal civil system, filing fees may be charged to the attorney's credit card, Kollmeyer said. Otherwise, the attorney may still send his firm's trust account checks and the civil cover sheet. Once posted, the attorney will be notified that he may file the case electronically. |ret||ret||tab|

Access to the federal system can be found at |bold_on|www.mow.uscourts.gov, Kollmeyer said. |ret||ret||tab|

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