Bankruptcy Bill: High Tech and Telecom Provisions
by Nancy A. Peterman and Robert W. Lannan
While most news reports have focused on the consumer provisions of the “Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection” legislation (the “Bankruptcy Bill”), which has now passed in the Senate and is expected to pass in the House soon, you should be aware of the following two provisions in the Bankruptcy Bill that may impact your practices:
ECF Filing: Some Things You May Not Have Considered
by Mark T. Domeyer Esquire; Miles, Bauer, Bergstrom & Winters LLP; Costa Mesa, Calif.
ECF Is Here to Stay
Case Management/Electronic Case Filing (CM/ECF), like many innovations, has its genesis out of necessity. The Northern District of Ohio faced an influx of many thousands of maritime cases and the clerk’s office had trouble coping in an era of budget tightening. Sound familiar? From these humble beginnings, the pilot project has spread to virtually every state and judicial district. CM/ECF systems are now in use in 68 district courts, 81 bankruptcy courts, the Court of International Trade and Court of Claims. The national roll out of the CM/ECF system for bankruptcy courts started in early 2001 and is scheduled to take 2–3 years with all bankruptcy courts to be online by 2005. In many districts electronic filing is mandatory, and there can be little doubt that CM/ECF filing will soon be the norm, not the exception.
Committee Meeting at 2005 Annual Spring Meeting
E-Discovery: The Pitfalls and Benefits
We use it every day, and it may come back to haunt us—e-mail! We all communicate by e-mail on our computers and blackberries every day, multiple times a day. But do we think about the content of our e-mails? E-discovery will be the topic of discussion at our next committee meeting to be held during the 2005 Annual Spring Meeting on Saturday, April 30, 2005. Our panelists will be two talented litigators—Kevin Finger, litigation shareholder at Greenberg Traurig LLP and Gary Mennitt, litigation partner at Dechert LLP. They will share their insights on the pitfalls and benefits of e-discovery—and, more importantly, how e-discovery has turned around their trials.
Volunteers Needed for Newsletter and Other Committee Functions
Our committee is looking for volunteers! We need assistance in preparing the quarterly e-news and planning upcoming educational sessions for the committee meetings. We are also interested in ideas for committee projects. Please e-mail Nancy Peterman or Joel Levitin to volunteer or share any ideas!