Judge Philip Bentley

Staff Information

One Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004-1408
Chambers: (212) 668-2301
Courtroom: 601
Chamber’s email: pb.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov

Courtroom Deputy: Greg White
(212) 284-4029

Law Clerk: Tammi Hellwig
(212) 284-4032

Law Clerk: Graham Fisher
(212) 284-4036

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Chambers' Rules

Unless otherwise ordered, matters before Judge Bentley shall be conducted in accordance with any Case Management Order entered in the case and, to the extent not inconsistent, the following practices:

Scheduling

Pursuant to Local Rule 5070-1, a moving party or applicant must contact Chambers to obtain a hearing date prior to filing and serving a motion, cross-motion, application or any other request for relief requiring a hearing. All scheduling requests should be directed by telephone or email to Courtroom Deputy Greg White at pb.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov.
Requests for relief requiring a hearing that are filed without first obtaining a hearing date will not be scheduled for hearing on the Court's calendar absent leave of Court.
Parties may not grant extensions of time on briefing without prior consent from Chambers, except that parties may agree to modify deadlines without leave of Court so long as the reply deadline is not affected, no party in interest is prejudiced, and any existing orders are adhered to. Extensions requiring Court approval should be sought at least 24 hours before the affected deadline.
Adjournments require advance Chambers approval, which normally will be granted if agreed to by all parties seeking and opposing the relief in question. To seek an adjournment, the requesting party must email a request for adjournment to Chambers that, if the request is not on consent of all interested parties, must state the basis for the request. The email request must be copied to all interested parties known to the requesting party.
Requests for adjournment should be made no later than 12 noon on the business day before the scheduled hearing; requests made after that time will be granted only where good cause exists for the untimely request.
All adjournments that have been approved by Chambers prior to the original hearing date must be noticed on the docket with a “Notice of Adjournment” filed as promptly as possible, and prior to the original hearing date. The Notice of Adjournment must identify any deadlines that have been changed in conjunction with the adjournment. A hearing will not be officially adjourned until the Notice of Adjournment is filed on the Electronic Case Filing (ECF) System.

Orders to Show Cause

Parties must contact Chambers prior to filing an order to show cause. (See Local Rule 9077-1(a)). Counsel should be prepared to submit the following documents for the Court's review: a copy of the underlying motion, a proposed order to show cause (in Word format only), and a supporting affidavit.
If the request for an order to show cause is granted, the papers must be filed on the Electronic Case Filing (ECF) system. The Court will contact the movant regarding the disposition of the requested order to show cause.

Notices of Presentment

Parties wishing to move by notice of presentment should consult Local Rule 9074-1 to determine what matters may be handled on presentment. The rule also describes the notice and filing requirements when presenting a motion or application by presentment.
Motions for relief from stay will not be considered on presentment.
Parties do not need to contact Chambers to schedule a date and time for presentment but must contact the Courtroom Deputy for a hearing date if there is an objection.
After the applicable objection deadline has passed, the underlying motion, a certificate of service, and an electronic version of the proposed order in Word format should be submitted to Chambers prior to the scheduled date and time for presentment. The transmittal communication must represent that (i) the movant sought relief by notice of presentment and (ii) the objection period has passed and no objections were filed.

Submission of Orders

Proposed orders must be filed as an exhibit to moving papers. If practicable and if, prior to a hearing on a motion, the moving party anticipates seeking approval of a modified version of its original proposed order, it should file a redlined version to ensure that interested parties and the Court have notice of the modified proposed order that the movant wishes to have approved.
If no timely objection is filed, the movant must file a Certificate of No Objection as promptly as practicable consistent with Local Rule 9075-2, and when possible no later than 72 hours before the scheduled hearing. If such a certificate is filed, the Court will determine whether the hearing needs to go forward. If the Court determines that no hearing is required, it will enter an order resolving the motion and/or cancelling the scheduled hearing.
Unless otherwise provided by the Court, proposed orders must be submitted by email in Word format, with any exhibits or attachments in PDF format, to pb.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov after (i) any hearing on the matter, (ii) the passage of a presentment date with no objections filed, or (iii) any cancellation of a scheduled hearing as to a motion to which no objections were filed. When submitting a proposed order to Chambers for entry when there has not been a hearing, the underlying motion with all exhibits, a certificate of service and a certificate of no objection should be attached to the email in addition to the proposed order. In all cases, if the proposed order differs from the proposed order that was initially submitted with the motion, the submitting party must provide a separate redlined version showing differences between the originally proposed order and the final version.
Do not email any proposed order to individual members of Chambers or the Clerk's Office, unless you are instructed to do so.
All proposed orders submitted to the Court by email should be accompanied by a cover email that contains the following information:
1. The name, telephone number and email address of the person submitting the order;
2. The case name and docket number and the ECF document numbers of the relevant motion papers; and
3. If the relief was granted by the Court, a representation that the relief was granted and the date on which it was granted.

2004 Orders

Requests for 2004 orders may be submitted ex parte, although the Court prefers such applications to be made on notice to the affected parties, and the Court in its discretion may require notice and/or a hearing. An acceptable form of Rule 2004 order appears here.

Sealing Orders

Requests for filing and maintaining information under seal may be submitted ex parte and must indicate the grounds for sealing and (if applicable) for proceeding ex parte. The requesting party must provide to Chambers:
- a Word version of the motion to seal and the proposed order by email;
- a Word version of the relevant document in proposed redacted form for filing on the docket by email; and
- an unredacted physical copy (not to be emailed) of the same document labeled “confidential” and with each proposed redacted portion highlighted. Redactions should be kept to the minimum necessary to protect truly confidential information.
Every proposed order requesting sealing must provide (i) that the unredacted version of the sealed document shall not be made available to any party without the consent of the party that submitted the document; (ii) for the appropriate disposition of the sealed document at the conclusion of the matter; (iii) that it is without prejudice to the rights of any party in interest, or the United States Trustee, to seek to unseal the document or any part thereof; and (iv) that the movant shall submit an unredacted copy of each sealed document to the Clerk of this Court under seal in an envelope, marked to indicate that the same has been filed under seal by order of this Court, unless at the time of the motion the Court has adopted different procedures for the submission of sealed documents to the Clerk of this Court (in which case the proposed order should reference those procedures).
For submission of sealed documents to the Clerk of this Court, parties should follow the Court's Interim Under Seal Filing Procedures, available at https://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/general-orders-and-guidance-created-covid-19.

Conferences

Requests for conferences should ordinarily be made by letter emailed to pb.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov, together with a follow-up call to Greg White, Courtroom Deputy. The letter requesting the conference should ordinarily be filed on the Electronic Case Filing (ECF) System. The letter must be no longer than two pages in length and should explain (i) the reason for the conference request, (ii) whether a video or telephonic conference is sought, and (iii) whether the requesting party believes the conference should be on the record.
If a telephonic conference is granted and will be conducted without a formal record, the requesting party should submit a conference call-in number and passcode to Chambers. If the conference will be on the record, it will be conducted using either Zoom or Court Solutions.

Form and Content of Briefs

Unless ordered otherwise, briefs and motions with embedded argument and citations shall be submitted in text searchable format and include a table of contents, headings, and a table of authorities.
Except as otherwise permitted by the Court, moving and responsive briefs shall be no more than 25 pages in length and reply briefs shall be no more than 10 pages, in each case exclusive of the cover and tables of contents and authorities. All memoranda shall be double-spaced and in 12-point font. Memoranda of 10 pages or more shall contain a table of contents and a table of authorities.

Time for Service and Filing of Motion Papers

The times provided by Local Rule 9006-1 for the service and filing of motions and answering papers shall apply, except that when a hearing on the motion has been scheduled, reply papers are subject to the following deadlines (unless the Court orders otherwise or a case management order provides otherwise): Reply papers shall be filed and served so as to ensure actual receipt not later than 4:00 p.m. three calendar days before the hearing date, except that, for hearings scheduled on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, reply papers shall be filed and served so as to ensure actual receipt not later than 4:00 p.m. the Friday prior to the hearing. Untimely papers may be rejected.

Copies of Pleadings

Parties must provide an electronic copy of every pleading, with exhibits, to Chambers at the time of filing and service, by email to pb.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov. Pleadings that are not emailed to Chambers in timely fashion may be rejected. Hard copies of pleadings need not be provided to Chambers unless the documents are voluminous or the Court requests hard copies. In that instance, the moving party shall supply two binders with hard copies of the moving papers (including exhibits) and responses thereto — printed two-sided — to Chambers no later than three days before the hearing. Parties are encouraged to contact Chambers if they are unsure whether documents are sufficiently voluminous that hard copies should be provided.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, parties should not email an unredacted copy of a document that is the subject of a motion to seal. Parties should refer to the Sealing Orders section of these Chambers Rules for instructions on how to submit documents relating to a motion to seal.

"First Day" Motions

Parties wishing to schedule hearings on "first day" motions in Chapter 11 cases should contact Chambers on the date of filing to discuss scheduling of the hearing. Two copies of “first day” motions should be provided to Chambers in advance of the hearing.
It is expected that Debtor's counsel will have consulted with the United States Trustee in advance regarding all relief to be requested at the "first day" hearing.

Evidentiary Hearings and Trials

Parties in adversary proceedings should be prepared at the first pretrial conference to submit a joint scheduling order. Judge Bentley’s form of scheduling order can be found here.
In light of the COVID pandemic, the Court anticipates that it will conduct most evidentiary hearings and trials remotely via Zoom, although in-person or hybrid proceedings may be available upon agreement of the parties or upon request to or by the Court. No later than seven days before the proceeding, the parties to any such proceeding should confer and jointly propose an order, consistent with these Chambers Rules, setting forth applicable procedures. Those procedures necessarily will take into account the nature of the proceeding at issue. A sample remote hearing procedures order can be found at In re KB US Holdings, Inc., No. 20-22962 (SHL), Dkt. No. 176 (Sept. 18, 2020).
Sworn written direct examinations or proffers should be used for evidentiary hearings and trials unless the Court otherwise authorizes or directs. Where written direct examinations or proffers are used, the witness must be available for cross-examination and redirect. Such sworn written statements shall be exchanged by the parties and submitted to Chambers no later than three business days before the hearing or trial.
Unless otherwise provided by the Court, the parties shall exchange pre-marked exhibits (other than those intended to be used for rebuttal or impeachment) no less than ten days before a contested evidentiary hearing or trial of any matter, and shall provide two indexed sets of exhibits to Chambers at least five days before the evidentiary hearing or trial. Reasonable requests to modify the date for exchange of pre-marked exhibits generally will be granted if the parties agree or if the matter’s litigation schedule makes the ten-day requirement impracticable.
Parties in adversary proceedings must submit to the Court a joint pretrial order at least seven days before any scheduled trial date unless the Court orders otherwise. Judge Bentley’s form of joint pretrial order can be found here.
Parties are strongly encouraged to file motions in limine with respect to proposed evidence whose exclusion will materially affect the conduct of the trial. Such motions must be filed at least ten days before trial, with responses due at least five days before trial.

Discovery Disputes

Pursuant to Local Rule 7007-1(b), discovery motions may not be filed until the parties have (i) conferred to attempt to resolve the dispute and (ii) participated in a conference with the Court. Parties should contact Chambers to request a discovery conference, which may be telephonic.
Before any request for a conference on a discovery issue, the party requesting the conference is required to make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute with opposing counsel consistent with Local Rule 7007-1(a).
Parties may contact Chambers by telephone regarding disputes that arise during depositions or in other situations requiring immediate judicial attention. Parties should attempt to avoid the need for such applications and must make a good faith effort to resolve a dispute before contacting Chambers.

Remote Appearances

Judge Bentley is conducting most proceedings remotely using Zoom, even when audio only. Applicable Zoom hearing procedures are available here. Attorneys seeking to participate must be admitted to the Court or admitted pro hac vice. (See Local Rule 2090-1).
Judge Bentley may occasionally conduct a remote proceeding by telephone rather than Zoom, generally using the Court Solutions web platform. For any such proceeding, unless the Court provides otherwise, parties wishing to participate in or listen to a hearing telephonically must register online with Court Solutions at www.court-solutions.com. No advance Chambers permission is required. Further information on how to register with Court Solutions can be found in General Order M-543.
Pro se parties (i.e., parties without an attorney) are permitted to participate in telephonic hearings free of charge by following the Court’s Zoom procedures or, for telephonic proceedings, by signing up with Court Solutions online at www.court-solutions.com or by calling 917-746-7476.

Case Management Orders

Parties are expected to check the docket to ascertain whether a Case Management Order has been entered or amended, and to comply with the requirements of any such order. In the event of any conflict between these Chambers Rules and the requirements of any Case Management Order, the Case Management Order will control.

Miscellaneous

Judge Bentley aspires to promptly resolve all matters before him. Any party may alert Chambers of any motion or application the party is concerned the Court may be overlooking by emailing pb.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov, copying all counsel and pro se parties who have appeared in the case, and referencing the case name and docket number, the motion or application about which the party is inquiring, and the date of the last relevant submission or argument. Judge Bentley typically acts within three or fewer business days on conference requests and on orders submitted following presentment, a certificate of no objection, or an oral ruling. Parties also may notify Chambers if forty-five days have passed following the later of a hearing or the last date of supplemental briefing on a motion or contested matter on which Judge Bentley has reserved decision.

Questions for Chambers should be directed to Greg White, Courtroom Deputy, or if necessary, to the law clerk assigned to the case. However, counsel are urged to limit all communications with Chambers to matters that cannot be resolved without such direct communication.
Where relatively junior attorneys are familiar with a matter under consideration but have less in-court experience than a colleague, Judge Bentley welcomes the junior lawyer’s active participation and is amenable to allowing more than one attorney to speak during the proceeding. The ultimate decision of who speaks on behalf of a client rests with counsel, not the Court.

Electronic or other visual presentations (e.g., PowerPoint) that parties wish to use at oral argument must be emailed to Chambers and filed prior to the hearing. Absent alternative arrangements approved by the Court, all such presentations must be emailed to Chambers and filed (a) by 5:00 p.m. the day before a morning hearing and (b) by 10:00 a.m. the day of an afternoon hearing. Presentations that are not emailed to Chambers and filed in timely fashion may be rejected.

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Profile

Philip Bentley was sworn in as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York on September 7, 2022. He received his B.A. degree cum laude in 1981 from Yale College and his J.D. degree cum laude in 1984 from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar.

Prior to joining the Court, Judge Bentley was a partner in the bankruptcy and restructuring department of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP. His practice focused on complex litigation in bankruptcy courts, as well as other federal and state courts. In addition to occasionally representing debtors, trustees and examiners, he frequently litigated on behalf of official committees and creditor groups in large bankruptcies, including Purdue Pharma, Puerto Rico, Residential Capital, Madoff Investment Securities, General Motors, W.R. Grace, Adelphia Communications, WorldCom, Dow Corning and SGL Carbon.

Judge Bentley is a regular speaker on bankruptcy issues. He is a member of the Federal Bar Council’s Bankruptcy Litigation Committee and of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. Prior to his appointment, he was a member of the advisory board for the American Bankruptcy Institute’s annual New York City Bankruptcy Conference, as well as a longstanding member of the Policy Committee of Human Rights Watch.

United States Bankruptcy Court

Southern District of New York

Honorable Martin Glenn, Chief Judge • Vito Genna, Clerk of Court

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Judge Philip Bentley

Staff Information

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