FIRST SCHEDULED HEARING – Amended August 1, 2013
The first scheduled hearing in a contested matter will not be an evidentiary hearing at which witnesses may testify, unless:
(a) the Court gives prior notice to the parties that such hearing will be an evidentiary hearing;
(b) the motion requests emergency relief and is made at the commencement of the case;
(c) the motion requests interim or final relief under sections 363(b), 363(c)(2)(B) or 364 of the Bankruptcy Code;
(d) the motion requests the Court’s approval of rejection of an unexpired lease of real property under section 365(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, and a timely objection thereto is filed;
(e) the hearing is on confirmation of a plan in a case under chapter 9, chapter 11, chapter 12, or chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code; or
(f) Repealed.
Comment
Bankruptcy Rule 9014(e), added in 2002, requires that the Court provide procedures that enable parties to ascertain at a reasonable time before any scheduled hearing whether the hearing will be an evidentiary hearing at which witnesses may testify. Local Rule 9014-2 was added in 2004 to provide such a procedure. Nothing in Local Rule 9014-2 precludes a party from requesting an evidentiary hearing at the first scheduled hearing and asking the Court to provide for notice thereof under paragraph (a).
Subdivision (f) of this rule was abrogated in 2013. Since this rule was adopted in 2004, there had been no general orders issued under subdivision (f), which could have made this paragraph misleading to practitioners. If the Court wants to specify another kind of contested matter in which an evidentiary hearing will be held at the first scheduled hearing, the Court may do so by amending this rule. Therefore, subdivision (f) is not necessary to give the Court flexibility to expand the list set forth in subdivisions (a) through (e).