Where to Go to Be in the Know Court Web Sites

<p>Practitioners often have a difficult time keeping up with changes in the local rules
and procedures of the court and clerk's office or sometimes just finding out what the
rules and procedures are. This situation is made more complex for those practitioners
practicing in more than one district. To remedy this situation and to better
communicate with the bar and the public, most bankruptcy courts now have their own
web sites. While these web sites differ in the amount of information provided and the
use of graphics, the practitioner should be able to obtain everything he or she needs
to know to practice before a particular court.

</p><p>The easiest way to access a court's web site if you do not know the address is
to first go to the Federal Judiciary's web site at <a href="http://www.uscourts.gov&quot; target="window2">http://www.uscourts.gov</a&gt;. Once there,
click on court links; a map of the United States will appear. Click on the number
of the circuit in which the court you are interested in is located. A list of all
the circuit, district and bankruptcy courts that have web sites in that circuit will
appear. Simply click on the court site you wish to visit, and its home page will
be displayed. Once you are there, you can bookmark it for future reference. A more
direct way to get to the site is to use the state abbreviation, followed by an "n,"
"s," "e" or "w" if there is more than one district in the state, followed by a
"b" for bankruptcy, followed by ".uscourts.gov." For instance, the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court for the District of Delaware can be reached at <a href="http://www.deb.uscourts.gov&quot; target="window2">http://www.deb.uscourts.gov</a&gt;, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of
New York can be visited at <a href="http://www.nysb.uscourts.gov&quot; target="window2">http://www.nysb.uscourts.gov</a&gt;.

</p><p>Once you have arrived at a court's home page, you can browse through a number of
topics by clicking on various buttons, boxes, icons or titles depending on how the
web site has been designed. The home page will provide basic information and sometimes
late-breaking information. The web sites will also provide a path to get to the local
rules by clicking as indicated. Some web sites will provide opinions of the court,
chambers' procedures, forms used in the court, clerk's office guidelines, a "what's
new" or "what's hot" section, general information about the court, direct telephone
numbers for certain key functions in the court, links to the district court and
related bankruptcy court sites and a link to the court's database for looking up case
specific information. Some courts have begun to post calendar information for the
court's judges to assist the bar in scheduling hearings. As was described in Larry
Bick's article on CM/ECF in March's issue of the <i>ABI Journal,</i> the court's web
site is the vehicle for electronic case filing as well as the source of training
modules on how to electronically file a document in a case. Some courts have also
posted e-mail addresses of certain staff to facilitate answering questions and resolving
problems that may occur. Some courts list e-mail addresses where proposed orders can
be sent as attachments that are reviewed, modified and entered as appropriate by the
court.

</p><blockquote><blockquote>
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<big><i><center>
I would encourage all practitioners or appropriate
members of their staff to become familiar with the
web site for the court in which they practice and
to check it often for changes that may occur.
</center></i></big>
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</blockquote></blockquote>

<p>In most cases, the documents posted on a court's web site can be downloaded and
printed or e-mailed to desired recipients. In the case of the forms that are posted
on the web site, in most instances they can be downloaded and modified with
appropriate case information, then e-filed with the courts that have implemented
electronic case filing.

</p><p>I would encourage all practitioners or appropriate members of their staff to become
familiar with the web site for the court in which they practice and to check it often
for changes that may occur. If you can't find what you need on the web site, call
the help line or similar number that is posted on the web site and ask for assistance
in locating it on the web site if it is there, or suggest that it should be
posted. Remember, this is an evolving and important communication tool that is there
to assist the bar and the public and better enable the court and the clerk's office
to provide useful information.

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