Changes to Judge May's negative notice procedure.
Judge May will no longer consider Motions to Modify Confirmed Chapter 13 Plan's on negative notice. The court will set all such motions for hearing.

Judge McEwen recipient of the 2008 Jimmy Kynes Pro Bono Service Award
View the press release

Changes to Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule
On March 11, 2008, the Judicial Conference approved changes to the Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule. The changes clarify and simplify the language of thefee items, delete one obsolete fee (and renumber the Schedule accordingly), and make stylistic changes to comport with current editorial standards. There has been no change to any fee amount. The changes to the Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule will be effective October 1, 2008.
View entire announcement

Notice of Fraudulent Scheme
The Administrative Office of the United States Courts has been notified by the bankruptcy clerk in Utah of a fraudulent scheme that might be affecting victims throughout the country.
View announcement

Proposed Rules amendments published for public comment
The Judicial Conference Advisory Committees on the Appellate, Bankruptcy, Civil,Criminal, and Evidence Rules have proposed amendments to their respective rules and requestedthat the proposals be circulated to the bench, bar, and public for comment.
View annoucnement

Notice to electronic filers regarding documents filed through CM/ECF after upgrade
Due to a problem after the conversion to CM/ECF version 3.3.1, the feature that links an attorney to a party when making a first appearance on a case was not adding the attorney to the case. Therefore a notice of electronic filing was not sent on some docket entries made between Sunday March 8 and noon on Wednesday March 11, 2009 . The attorneys have since been added to the cases and will receive all future notices of electronic filing on the respective cases.

We advise attorneys to check their cases and if you did not receive a notice of electronic filing from an entry you made as a first appearance on a case during this time, you may view the document through PACER, however you will be charged to do so.

Users of Cogent internet service - issues accessing court websites
Sprint and Cogent announce that they have reached a multi-year interconnection agreement for the purposes of exchanging Internet traffic. This agreement will benefit the customers of both Sprint and Cogent and resolves the earlier dispute to the satisfaction of both parties. The agreement is in accordance with both parties’ previous and long standing interconnection policies and agreements. The specifics of this agreement are confidential."

Between October 30 and November 2, 2008, the courts and the general public experienced a brief disruption in messaging and other services that are dependent on the exchange of Internet traffic between the two Internet Service Providers (ISPs). This ISP agreement ensures that customers will not experience these problems in the future.

Previously, customers lost the ability to access United States Courts websites including CM/ECF. At the time it was recommended that Cogent customers secure another Internet Service Provider to maintain CM/ECF access in the event that Sprint-Nextel severs lost internet connection to Cogent.

Postponement of CM/ECF v3.2 upgrade
The upgrade of CM/ECF to version 3.2, originally scheduled for October 10-13, 2008, was postponed. The postponement is attributed to recent system performance degradation observed in Courts that have already converted to the new version of CM/ECF. The Administrative Office of the United States Courts is working to identify and correct these problems.

A new announcement will be issued once a new conversion date has been set.

The Honorable Caryl E. Delano
The Honorable Caryl E. Delano was appointed as a bankruptcy judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, on June 25, 2008. She graduated from the University of South Florida, B.A., cum laude, in English in 1976. She attended Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis and Emory University School of Law, receiving her J.D. from Indiana University in 1979. Judge Delano practiced before the state and federal courts of California for fourteen years. In 1994, she returned to her hometown of Tampa, Florida, where she most recently practiced law with the firm of Addison & Delano, P.A. She concentrated her practice on bankruptcy and commercial litigation. Judge Delano has represented debtors and creditors in numerous Chapter 11 cases and related adversary proceedings. She is a member of The Florida Bar, The State Bar of California, the Business Law Section of The Florida Bar, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Federal Bar Association, the Hillsborough County Bar Association, and the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association.
View the press release

Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule Change
Pursuant to sections 1913, 1914, 1926, 1930, and 1932 of Title 28, United StatesCode, the Judicial Conference, at its March 11, 2008, session, amended the Electronic Public Access (EPA) Fee Schedule for the appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts, the United States Court of Federal Claims, and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The fee schedule was amended to eliminate any reference to dial-up access, because the current versions of CM/ECF and PACER no longer provide direct dial-up remote access. The fee schedule change is effective immediately.
View the new EPA Fee Schedule

Information for Electronic Filers with an Electronic Bankruptcy Noticing agreement (EBN)
With the implementation of the Reduced Paper Module (RPM), redundant paper notices stopped being mailed by the Bankruptcy Noticing Center. Many of our electronic filing users have signed up with the noticing center to receive electronic bankruptcy notices instead of paper notices. For more information on EBN, please go to the noticing center's website: https://www.noticingcenter.com. Implementation of RPM also reduced the redundant electronic notices being sent by the noticing center. Electronic filing users should continue to monitor their daily notices of electronic filing (NEF) sent from the court and retrieve hearing notices and orders attached to the NEF.

Attention ALL Electronic Filers: Elimination of redundant paper notices from the Court
Please be advised that as indicated in the Announcement dated February 4, 2008 and the second e-mail notification to electronic filers on February 20, 2008, the Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida has implemented the Reduced Paper Module (RPM). In most cases where an electronic filer is a party, only electronic notice will be sent. The court will no longer send redundant paper notices and orders with a few exceptions. The “Notice of the First Meeting of Creditors” will continue to be sent in paper by BNC as well as by electronic notice. In addition there are some docket entries that cause the termination of a party from the case. In order for the terminated party to receive notice, certain orders and notices will be tagged to be mailed in paper from BNC to the terminated party as well as any other electronic filing party on the case. Trustees will receive paper notice only if they are terminated on Notices/Orders of Conversion and Notices/Orders of Removal or Substitution. Attorneys will receive paper notice only if they are terminated on Notices/Orders of Substitution of Counsel and Orders Granting Withdrawal as Counsel.

IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO PROPERLY MAINTAIN YOUR E-MAIL ACCOUNTS IN ORDER TO RECEIVE ALL ELECTRONIC NOTICES TIMELY. ADDITIONALLY, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MONITOR CASE ACTIVITY.

Application to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts for Approval as a Notice Provider
Entities interested in entering into separate arrangements with creditors for delivery services comparable to those provided through the Bankruptcy Noticing Center program's National Creditor Registration Service (NCRS).
View application

Please fax the completed application to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, Bankruptcy Court Administration Division at (202) 502-1511. A list of approved notice providers will be posted on the Judiciary’s public website at www.uscourts.gov. If you have any questions regarding the status of your application, please contact the Bankruptcy Court Administration Division at (202) 502-1540.

Notice of revised Chapter 11 quarterly fee schedule

Amended "means test" forms (22A, 22B, and 22C) effective January 1, 2008

Bankruptcy rules amendments effective December 1, 2007

Appointment of Douglas W. Neway as Chapter 13 Standing Trustee in the Jacksonville Division
Notice is given by the United States Trustee of the appointment of Douglas W. Neway as Chapter 13 Standing Trustee in the Jacksonville Division of the Middle District of Florida, effective October 1, 2007, following the resignation of Mamie L. Davis.

Federal Rulemaking - Proposed amendments published for public comment
At its January and June 2006 and June 2007 meetings, the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure approved the recommendations of the Advisory Committees on Appellate, Bankruptcy, Civil, and Criminal Rules and approved for publication over 90 time-computation provisions found in the Appellate, Bankruptcy, Civil, and Criminal Rules, with a view to simplifying the provisions and eliminating inconsistencies among them. These proposed amendments, which are set forth below, comprise the majority of the rules being published for comment.

The proposed amendments to the rules and Official Forms may be accessed by clicking on the link, uscourts.gov/rules/newrules1.htm. The proposed amendments and new rules may also be accessed by clicking on the link titled "Proposed Rules Amendments Published for Comment" in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. The public comment period for the proposed amendments and new rules ends on February 15, 2008.

Attorneys that no longer have interest in a case and request to stop electronic notices
Attorneys who represent a party in a contested matter, either in the bankruptcy case or an adversary proceeding, may file a document stating they have no further interest in the case and request to stop electronic notices. Please note, however, that attorneys who represent the debtor(s), attorneys who have been employed in the case by court order, or attorneys who are representing a client in a pending contested matter are not permitted to withdraw from the case or request to stop electronic notice under this procedure.

To electronically file the notice, attorneys will use docket event "Notice of Withdrawal from Case and Request to Stop Electronic Notice," located under the Notices category in CM/ECF. The attorney must attach a pdf document stating why they no longer want to receive electronic notice in the case. Once the notice is docketed, the clerk's office will review the case docket and take appropriate action to stop electronic notice from being sent to the attorney's email address.

Order establishing presumptively reasonable debtor's attorney fee in Chapter 13 cases

Publication of certain personal data in documents filed with the court - transcript redaction
The judiciary’s privacy policy restricts the publication of certain personal data in documents filed with the court. The policy requires limiting Social Security and financial account numbers to the last four digits, using only initials for the names of minor children, and limiting dates of birth to the year. However, if such information is elicited during testimony or other court proceedings, it will become available to the public when the official transcript is filed at the courthouse unless, and until, it is redacted. The better practice is for you to avoid introducing this information into the record in the first place. Please take this into account when questioning witnesses or making other statements in court. If a restricted item is mentioned in court, you may ask to have it stricken from the record or partially redacted to conform to the privacy policy, or the court may do so on its own motion. Read the entire announcement.

Pay.gov security enhancement effective February 1, 2007
Beginning February 1, 2007, all CM/ECF users that pay fees through the Pay.gov system will be required to complete the security code field to complete the transaction.

Internet browsers required to meet higher security standards for access to Pay.gov
To insure the highest level of security when performing online transactions, the Treasury requires that you use an Internet browser that supports 128-bit encryption. Encryption protects your information between you and pay.gov by scrambling the information transmitted between two points (between you and Pay.gov).

Lee Ann Bennett appointed Clerk of Bankruptcy Court

Laptop Pilot Program
The Bankruptcy Court of the Middle District of Florida announces the launching of a pilot program to allow certain trustees and attorneys to routinely transport laptop computers into courtrooms. Read the entire announcement.

Important Notice Concerning Privacy Policy
The attached memorandum (OCPB75.PDF) from the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts provides information regarding the Privacy Policy. A good deal of the information contained in the enclosure to the Director's Memorandum is for court use, but you might find it useful to have the copies of the new forms attached. The other attached documents are an abbreviated version of the Director's memorandum, Statement of Social Security number form, Guidelines to Attorneys, and Guidelines to Claim filers.
Director's memorandum
Guidelines to Attorneys
Guidelines to Claim filers
Privacy Policy
Privacy FAQs
Statement of Social Security number form