SHORT TITLE; APPLICABILITY; APPLICABILITY; ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
(a) Short Title. These rules shall be known and cited as the "Local Bankruptcy Rules."
(b) Applicability. The Local Bankruptcy Rules shall apply to all cases in this district governed by the Bankruptcy Code.
(c) Additional Resources. The court’s website, https://www.nysb.uscourts.gov, contains the following additional items that practitioners should consult:
(1) Procedural guidelines and policies referenced in these rules and general orders that supplement these Rules and that govern various procedural matters (https://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/content/procedural-guidelines-policies-and-general-orders);
(2) Official and Local Forms referenced in these rules (https://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/forms); and
(3) Judges’ individual rules of practice (https://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/chambers-rules-0).
Comment
This rule is derived from Former Local Bankruptcy Rule 1.
Pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 9029, "[e]ach district court may make and amend rules governing practice and procedure which are not inconsistent with" the Bankruptcy Rules and "[i]n all cases not provided for by rule, the court may regulate its practice in any manner not inconsistent with" the Bankruptcy Rules. The Judges of this district have been authorized to make and amend rules of practice and procedure pursuant to an order of the District Court (Griesa, C.J.), dated December 1, 1994.
Pursuant to the Memorandum of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, dated November 22, 1994, the appropriate citation form for a local bankruptcy rule, using the uniform numbers, is "LBR." For example, this rule would be cited as "LBR 1001-1." In a brief or other document in which the district prescribing the rule must be identified, this rule would be cited as "S.D.N.Y. LBR 1001-1."
From time to time, the Court may issue standing or general orders to supplement these Local Bankruptcy Rules. In prior years these were available on the Court’s website through a link that included a chronological list of all general orders. However, that list included not only procedural orders of general applicability but also many relatively routine matters, such as orders granting exemptions from the payment of electronic public access fees. In 2023, the website was reconfigured so that any procedural order of general applicability that has not already been incorporated into these Local Bankruptcy Rules will be available on the “Procedural Guidelines and Policies” page on the Court’s website. This change should make it easier for parties to identify the general orders that are still in force and the current versions of those orders.
Capitalized terms used in these Local Bankruptcy Rules are defined in Local Bankruptcy Rule 9001-1.
In 2017, a number of grammatical and conforming amendments were made generally to these rules. Among other items, consistency in the use of “must”, “shall” and “may” was employed, numbering conventions were employed consistently, references to amendments and repeal of rules was updated and made consistent, and certain other grammatical changes were implemented.
Subsection (b) was amended in 2024 to delete the reference to the former Bankruptcy Act, because there are no more open cases governed by the Bankruptcy Act in this Court.
Subsection (c) was added in 2024 to ensure that parties are aware of other procedural guidelines, orders and chambers rules that may be applicable, and to provide links to those additional resources.