GENERAL INFO.

NOTE:  Only use this method of opening a case in the following situations:

ü      If you have used bankruptcy case preparation software to prepare the petition, but the debtor is paying the filing fee in installments, you will not be able to upload the case.  You will have to open the case following the steps below.

ü      If you do not own bankruptcy case preparation software and have used another method to create your petition, you will not be able to upload the case.  You will have to open the case following the steps below.

HELP SCREENS

Help is available for most screens by clicking on the  button.  The help box will display describing the fields and what entry is required for the window you are currently viewing.

Click on the  button at the upper right hand corner of the screen or the  button to close the help screen.

STEPS

PRIOR TO

FILING

Someone in your office will have entered the debtor(s)’ information into the petition preparation software program or the petition will have been prepared using some other method.

Your client will have reviewed the petition and any necessary changes will have been made to the petition.

A paper copy of the petition will be printed and the debtor(s) will have signed his/her “real signature” in all the requisite locations.

The petition will need to be converted to .pdf format.  If you do not have bankruptcy petition preparation software, the petition can be converted using Adobe Acrobat Writer (see the separate instructions for “Converting Documents to .pdf Format”) or using a scanner that allows one to save a document into .pdf format.

The creditor matrix will need to be created and converted to .txt format.  If you do not have bankruptcy petition preparation software, see the separate instructions for “Converting a Matrix to .txt Format for Attorneys Who Do Not Have Petition Preparation Software”.

STEP 1

Log in to the CM/ECF System using your ECF Login and Password.

NOTE:  After logging in, if you click on Netscape Navigator’s  (resize) button accidentally instead of clicking the minimize  button, or if you drag the sides to resize the Netscape window, there is a Netscape Navigator bug which will throw you out of your CM/ECF session and you will lose all the information that you have entered up to that point.  So, resize the window before you login!

STEP 2

Click on “Bankruptcy” in the blue menu bar at the top of the screen.

STEP 3

Click on “Open a BK Case” in the list of Bankruptcy Events.

STEPS

4 - 7

The “Open New Bankruptcy Case” screen will display next. 

Using the  arrows, complete any empty fields on this screen and change the defaults if necessary.  For training purposes, this bankruptcy case will be a Chapter 7, non-joint case, with no deficiencies.

NOTE:  The case number is generated automatically and will be displayed on the “Notice of Electronic Filing” at the end of case opening.

The default value for Case Type is “bk” for bankruptcy.  There are no other choices even though it appears to have a drop-down list.

The current date is displayed.  The time that you file the bankruptcy case will also be recorded and will appear on the “Notice of Bankruptcy Case Filing”.

The “Chapter” drop-down list displays all the available chapters of bankruptcy.  Select chapter 7 from the “Chapter” drop down list.

The default value for joint is “n” for no.  If the case had two debtors, you would change the “n” to a “y”.  For this training case, leave the “n”.

If there are any items missing from the Petition, change the Deficiencies box to “y” for yes.   For training purposes, leave the default at “n” for no.

STEP 8

Click the  button.

STEP 9

The “Search for a Party” screen displays.   To prevent duplicate “party records”, a search of the database for the debtor is required.  Refer to the “Debtor Search Tips” below and to the separate instructions on “Searching For and Selecting or Adding Your Client”.

Enter the debtor’s Social Security number and the debtor’s last name in the fields provided.  For purposes of training, enter 123-45-6789 in the Social Security field and “Onassis” in the last name field.

DEBTOR

SEARCH

TIPS

One can search for debtor(s) by social security number or tax identification number and/or last name or business name.

The “Last/Business name” field is large enough to hold up to 200 characters.  For business names, the first part of the name will probably be sufficient.

Format Social Security number and Tax ID with hyphens.

Searching is case sensitive.  So a debtor with the last name of “Smith” must be searched for as “Smith”, not as “smith”.

Partial names can be entered, but at least two characters should be entered.   For example, “Radio” would find “Radio Shack” and  “Radiology Associates”, but unlike the creditor records area, it would not find  “Northwest Radiology”.  This is one of the main area where searching for parties in the party records table differs from searching for creditors in the creditor records table.

A question mark (?) represents a wild card for one character only.

An asterisk (*) is a wild card for any number (or none) of characters.

Wild cards (*) (?) are not needed at the end of a search string.   Ex: Harve would find Harvey, Harver, Harvester, etc. 

Wild cards may be used before or within search strings  (*son) (Gr?y).  Ex:  Johns*n would find Johnston, Johnson, and Johnsen, but would not find Johns or Johannsen.   While  *Johns*  would also find “The Johnson Company”.   Ex:  Gr?y would find Gray and Grey, but Gr*y would find Gray, Grey, and Gregory, etc.

An asterisk (*) should not be used by itself.   Nor should you search without entering search criteria because, the system will searching for every party record in the entire “Party Records” table and will slow down the entire system.  This is the other main area where searching for parties/clients differs from searching for creditor records.

NOTE:  Since searching can be tricky, try several alternative searches before you decide that the debtor is not in the database and add them.

STEP 10

After entering your search criteria, click the  button.

STEP 11

If there are no matches, the system will return a “No person found” message.

Since we are in a training database, a list should appear instead of the above message because there should be a number of training debtor(s) that match the search clues entered.  However, your exact debtor won’t be found because you are going to add your own last name as a middle name so the debtor will be a “new” debtor.

NOTE:  When you are filing a real case, your debtor should not appear unless he/she has previously filed bankruptcy in our court.

Since your debtor was not found, click the  button.

PARTY

INFO

SCREEN

The “Party Information” screen displays containing the search information that was used.

NOTE:  If your search found your debtor and you selected them, this same screen would display with the debtor’s information from the previous filing.  It is okay to change the debtor’s address and county of residence if they have moved.  This change will only be effective in the current case.  It will not change the debtor’s information in the previous bankruptcy case.

NOTE:  It is not necessary to add e-mail or fax or phone information when adding a debtor.

STEPS

12 - 15

Finish completing the debtor’s name and address information in the fields provided.  For training purposes, the debtor’s first name will be Jacqueline and you will need to put your own last name in the “Middle Name” field.  Use 100 E Vine St, Lexington, KY  40507 as the debtor’s address for training.

Click on the drop down arrow  to select the county in which the debtor resides.  The county will be Fayette in this training case.

NOTE:  Type the first letter of the county to move through the list quickly.

Leave the pro se default at .  If you are attorneys who represent debtors, you should never have to change this default.  If you were the attorney for a creditor who is filing an “Involuntary” bankruptcy against a debtor, then you would have to change this to “yes”.

The party’s “Role” will default to .  Since you are adding party information about a debtor, change the role to “Debtor”.

You could enter further descriptive text such as “a Kentucky corporation”, or “a Limited Liability Corporation” in the “Party Text” box. 

There will be no further description in this training case.

STEP 16

Next, click the  button if the debtor has an alias.  For this training case, the debtor does have an alias. 

STEP 17

The “Alias” screen appears. 

Enter the alias information and click the  arrow to choose  as the role.   The debtor’s alias is Jackie Kennedy.  The screen will now appear as follows.

STEP 18

Click the  button after entering up to 5 aliases. 

NOTE:  If the party has more than 5 aliases, keep clicking the   button, until you have added all the aliases.

PARTY INFO. SCREEN CYCLE

The “Party Information” appears again.  This is a loop that occurs in CM/ECF.  The “Party Information” screen is the primary screen that is returned to each time one section of the subsidiary information (like adding aliases and reviewing information) is completed.

STEP 19

Now, click the  button to check the aliases when you have finished adding them.

STEP 20

The “Review” screen is displayed.  It will state that no attorneys have been added because you do not have to add yourself.  Based upon your login and password, the system will add you as the attorney for the debtor(s).

Click the  button after verifying the information.

NOTE:  The  button on this screen will reverse any changes you made to the screen.  It will not clear or delete the alias information previously added.

NOTE:  Just click on the check mark  to clear the box linking an alias to the party, if you actually want to remove an alias that you added.  Then, you would need to return to the party screen and click the alias button to enter correct alias information.

STEP 21

The “Party Information” screen will appear again. 

Click the  button to continue with case opening if you are finished adding information for the party.

NOTE:  If this were a joint filing, a “Joint Debtor Party Information” screen would appear next.

STEP 22

A message informing you which division the case is being assigned to will now display.

Click the  button.

STATIS- TICAL DATA SCREEN

The “Statistical Data” screen is displayed next.

STEP 23

Select the “Type of Debtor” by clicking in the appropriate box(es).

For the purposes of the training case, the debtor is an individual.

STEP 24

The default for fee status is . If the petition were accompanied by an Application to Pay Filing Fee in Installments, this would need to be changed to “Installment”.  In our training case, the fees are being paid in installments, so you will need to change the default to “Installment” as shown below.

STEP 25

The default for “Nature of Debt” is . The other choice would be “Business”.  Leave the default for the training case. 

STEP 26

The default for type of petition is .  This would need to be changed to “Involuntary” when appropriate.  The training case is a voluntary bankruptcy.

STEP 27

The default for “Origin” is .  Other choices available include “First Reopen”, “Second Reopen”, “Third Reopen”, “Split”, and “Inter-District Transfer”.  The training case is an “Original” filing.

NOTE:  If a selection other than “Original” is chosen, the user will be presented with another drop down list on the following screen.

STEP 28

Skip the  field.  This date is only necessary if a joint debtor splits from the original case, or if the case is transferred in from another district.

STEP 29

Leave the Asset default at  for the training case.  It would be necessary to change the answer to “Yes” for Chapter 13, Chapter 11, Chapter 12 (if re-enacted) and for Chapter 7 cases that have assets.

STEP 30

Click on the drop down arrow next to the  box to see the choices, but for the training case, leave the default.

STEP 31

Click on the drop down arrow next to the  box to see the choices, but for the training case, leave the default.

STEP 32

Click on the drop down arrow next to the  box to see the choices, but for the training case, leave the default.

STEP 33

Click the  button to continue with case opening.

STEP 34

The opportunity to search for and select the .pdf image of the “Petition” is now provided.

Follow the separate instructions for “Browsing For and Selecting the Correct .pdf Document” to find, open, review, and select the .pdf image of the “Onassis Bankruptcy Petition”.

For the training case, the .pdf documents will be on the local “c:/” drive.

NOTE:  At your law firm, the .pdf documents may be stored on a network drive or on the “c:/” drive of a staff member’s computer.

.PDF WARNING MESSAGE

If you click on the  button to advance without attaching a .pdf document, a “Warning Message” will be displayed.

Click the  button to close the message.

You will then, once again, have the opportunity to browse to select the .pdf image of the document.

ATTACH- MENTS

The legal mind thinks of an attachment as any supporting document(s) stapled or attached to the back of the main pleading.  These types of legal attachments will be referred to in this documentation as “supporting documentation”.

In the USBC EDKY, the “attachment” feature is used in only two situations:   (1) when the main pleading, plus any supporting documentation is more than 50 pages in length, and (2) for attaching proposed orders.

The “Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Case” in this training is less than 50 pages, so leave the attachment setting at “No”.

STEP 35

Click the  button to continue with case opening.

STEPS

36 - 37

The receipt screen is now displayed.

Change the fee amount to the correct installment increment being paid, but, leave the “Receipt #” field blank, if you will be paying the filing fee using a credit card via the internet.

Your screen should look similar to the one below.

Click the  button.

NOTE RE: PAYING FEES BY METHODS OTHER THAN THE INTERNET

Type “ck” in the receipt number box shown above, then, click the  button, if you are paying by check, money order or cash instead of credit card.

If you are paying by check, money order or cash, the payment needs to be received by the court within 24 hours of the filing.

FINAL DOCKET TEXT SCREEN

The “Docket Text: Final Text” screen now displays.

NOTE:  The “Attention!!” message shown above is to alert you to the fact that this is the point of no return!  This is the last opportunity to make any changes before the bankruptcy case is officially opened.  

NOTES RE: ERRORS MADE WHILE FILING

If the docket text is incorrect, click on the browser’s  button as many times as necessary to find the error and correct it.

NOTE:  You will not be able to use the  button to correct your errors if you are using Internet Explorer 5.5 because you will be thrown out of the system the 2^nd time you click it.  You will need to click on the “Bankruptcy “ hyperlink in the main menu bar.

Then, you will have to start opening the bankruptcy case all over again and you will have lost most of the bankruptcy case opening information that you have entered.

NOTE:  If using Netscape Version 4.7, you can usually go backwards and forwards through the various screens using the browser’s “Back” and “Forward” buttons without losing any data as long as you make no changes.  But, if you make a change, the information on the screens from the point of the error forward will have to be re-entered after you have corrected the error because the information from the error forward will have been lost.  Also, if you back up to a screen earlier than the screen where you search for the .pdf document, you will lose the .pdf document and you will have to search for the .pdf document and select it all over again.

STEP 38

Click the  button to send the bankruptcy case to the court.

STEP 39

When the “Summary of Current Fees” window displays, click the  button and follow the separate instructions for “Payment of Fees Via the Internet”, if you wish to go ahead and pay the filing fee immediately.

Click the  button, if you wish to pay all the filing fees for a particular day all at once near the end of the day.  Later, when you desire to pay all your accumulated filing fees for the day, follow the separate instructions for “Payment of Fees Via the Internet”.

NOTICE

OF

ELEC-

TRONIC

FILING

The “Notice of Electronic Filing” will be displayed next.   One of the most important pieces of information on this notice is the case number assigned to your case.

Further training regarding the “Notice of Electronic Filing” will be given next, so stay on this screen or see the separate instructions regarding “Notices of Electronic Filing”.

Case opening bugs you should be aware of:

MR #436

The default Chapter is 7.  When filing cases under other chapters, it can be easy to forget to change the chapter number.  This can cause the wrong trustee to be appointed and the notice of commencement of the case to be sent out as a chapter 7 instead of a 13, etc.  So, make sure that you have changed the chapter to the correct one.

MR #339

Middle name field is too short.  The 15 characters allowed are not enough to enter some debtor’s middle name(s).  Contact court personnel if you encounter this problem and we’ll try to come up with a solution.