FILING BY ELECTRONIC MEANS – Amended August 1, 2013           

            Unless the Court directs otherwise, all attorneys practicing in the Court, including attorneys admitted pro hac vice, are required to file all pleadings, motions, or other documents (except documents to be placed under seal) by electronic means, and all such documents required to be signed or verified shall be signed or verified by electronic means, in each case consistent with the Procedures for the Filing, Signing, and Verification of Documents by Electronic Means issued by the Court, which shall be available on the Court’s website (http://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/5005-2-procedures.pdf).  If electronic filing, signing, or verification is not feasible in a particular situation, the Court may provide reasonable accommodation or excuse the requirement that documents be filed, signed, or verified by electronic means under the particular circumstances.

Comment

            This rule, which implements the authority contained in Bankruptcy Rule 5005(a), was amended in 2013 to clarify that all attorneys practicing in the Court are required to file, sign, and verify pleadings, motions, and other documents by electronic means, unless the Court directs otherwise in a particular case or the document is filed under seal. 

            This rule was also amended in 2013 to specify the title of the procedures promulgated by General Order M-399 and to state in the rule the link to the Court’s website where practitioners may access the governing procedures governing filing, signing, and verifying papers by electronic means.  The procedures also may be obtained from the Clerk.  It is anticipated that these guidelines will be amended from time to time to account for changes in technology or the law.