Local Rule RULE 9013-1: MOTIONS

RULE 9013-1. MOTIONS

(a) A request for an order shall be made by a motion. that complies with Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9013. In addition, unless it is made during the course of a hearing or trial, the motion must be in writing, setting forth each allegation in a numbered paragraph, and must be filed with the Clerk. Any request that is made by letterOffice of the Clerk. The motion shall state with particularity the grounds therefore, and shall set forth the relief or order sought, including arguments and citations to authorities unless stated in a separate supporting memorandum filed concurrently with the motion. Any request that is made by letter, email, facsimile, or any means other than a written motion that complies with this Rule need not be considered by the Court.

(b) Before the filing of any motion, except a motion for an emergency hearing under MLBR 9013 1(h) or a routine motion unlikely to be opposed by any party in interest, the movant shall make a reasonable and good faith effort to determine whether or not the motion is unopposed.

(c) The movant may file together with the motion a separate supporting memorandum, including argument and citations to authorities. (b) If the motion is based upon affidavits and documents evidencing facts on which the motion is based, the affidavits and documents must be filed with the motion, unless they are unavailable at the time that the motion is filed. Letters from counsel or parties will not be accepted as memoranda in support of a motion and may be disregarded by the Court.

(dc) The Court, in its discretion, may schedule a motion for hearing or establish a deadline for filing objections or responses to a motion. Any party opposing entry of the order requested by a motion must file a response to the motion no later than the response date set in the hearing notice, or if no response date is set in the hearing notice, within fourteen (14) days of service of the motion, inclusive of the three (3) day mailing period set forth in Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9006(f). The Clerk shall set all hearing dates and response deadlines. The Clerk shall notify the movant of the hearing date and/or response deadline and the manner of service. Unless otherwise specified in the Court's notice of hearing or otherwise provided in the Local Rules, the initial hearing on any motion shall be a preliminary, nonevidentiary hearing; however, any notice of a hearing on a proposed sale or confirmation of a plan of reorganization shall include the following language: "The Court may take evidence at any sale or plan confirmation hearing to resolve issues of fact.".

(ed) The Court may act upon a motion without a hearing under appropriate circumstances, including the following:

(1) if no objection is filed to the motion (A) within fourteen (14) days of the date of service of the motion, or (B) after any specific objection deadline established by the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, Local Rules, or the Court, whichever is later, or, if no objection deadline is set, then within 14 days of the date of service of the motion, or

(2) prior to the expiration of any applicable objection period, if the motion is:

(A) a non-adversarial motion of a routine nature;

(B) a motion to which all affected parties in interest have consented;

(C) a motion that is without merit in light of the law and the established facts of the case; and

(D) a motion that is opposed only by objections which are, given the law and the established facts of the case, without merit.

(f) The Court, in its discretion, may remove from the hearing list any motion that has been scheduled for hearing if no timely written response or objection has been filed. The Court may consider and act upon such matters without a hearing and may enter the proposed order submitted with the motion, request from the movant a modified order indicating the lack of timely opposition and the fact that no hearing was held, or enter an appropriate order of its own.

(g(e) If the Court acts on the motion without a hearing as described in subsection (d) of this Rule, the Court may enter an appropriate order which may be in the form of the proposed order filed by the movant.

(f) Emergency or Expedited Determination

(1) Single Motion for Both Relief and Determination

(A) If a movant seeks to havemoving party requests the Court to consider a motion requesting relief earlier than three (3) days after the motion for relief is filed, the title of the motion for relief shall also include also the language "Request for Emergency Determination."

(B) If a movant seeks to havemoving party requests the Court to consider a motion requesting relief earlier than seven (7) days after the motion for relief is filed, the title of the motion for relief shall also include also the language "Request for Expedited Determination."

(C) The motion for emergency or expedited determination shall include separately numbered paragraphs that set forth in detail all facts and circumstances that justify an emergency or expedited determination and may include or be accompanied by, documents, affidavits, or a memorandum that includes citations to pertinent authority. The movantmoving party shall make a reasonable, good faith effort to advise all affected parties of the substance of the motion for relief, and the request for an emergency or expedited determination, prior to filing the motion for emergency or expedited hearing, and,. Upon filing the motion, movantthe moving party shall file a certification attesting to the efforts so made, together with a certificate of service of the motion setting forth the manner of service. Promptly after obtaining the date and time of the hearing from the Court, movantthe moving party shall advise all affected parties provide notice of the date and time of the hearing and any objection deadline to all entities entitled to notice under the applicable Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and Local Rules and shall file a certificate of service setting forth the manner of service. Such reasonable, good faith efforts may include providing notice Prompt notice shall be by telephone, facsimile transmission or email in appropriate circumstances. Fed. , or other method designed to provide immediate notice. R. Bankr. P. 2002 and MLBR 2002 1 govern who is an "affected party." Notice, At a minimum, notice shall be provided to the debtor, the debtor's counselattorney, any trustee, the trustee's counselattorney, any elected or official committee, the United States trustee, any directly affected creditor, or lienholder and any party that has entered an appearance or hasall attorneys and parties who have appeared in the case or requested notices.notice.

(2) Limitation of Notice If the facts and circumstances leading to the request for an emergency or expedited determination or the nature of the relief requested justify limitation of notice, (A) the title of the motion for relief shall also include also the language "Request for Limitation of Notice"; and (B) the motion shall include separately numbered paragraphs that set forth in detail all facts and circumstances that justify limitation of notice, that designate the recipients to whom the notice should be limited, and that recommend a practical manner of notice reasonably calculated to inform affected parties of the pending motion. The movant shall make reasonable, good faith efforts to advise all affected parties of the request for limitation of notice. Such reasonable, good faith efforts may include providing notice by telephone or by facsimile in appropriate circumstances.

(3) Responses

(A) Notwithstanding any other provisions of thesethe Local Rules, where the Court has scheduled an emergency hearing on a motion, written responses to athe motion for emergency determination are not required. However, written responses are encouraged and may be filed up to the time that the hearing is convened.

(B) Where the Court has scheduled an expedited hearing on a motion, written responses to athe motion for expedited determination shall be filed within the time established by the Court. The content of responses to athe motion for expedited determination, to the extent possible under the existing circumstances, shall include the information required for responses to non-expedited motions. If no response time is established by the Court, responses to athe motion scheduled for expedited determinationhearing shall be filed no later than three (3) days precedingby noon the business day prior to the day of the hearing.

(C) If the Court has scheduled an emergency or expedited hearing on a motion and a response or opposition is filed, a reply may be filed up to the time that the hearing is convened.

(h) Ex Parte Motions A motion seeking ex parte relief may be filed only in circumstances in which immediate action is required to maintain the status quo until an appropriate hearing on notice can be conducted. A motion for ex parte relief shall be verified or supported by affidavit and shall set forth specific facts and circumstances necessitating ex parte relief. The motion shall include a statement as to why proceeding under this Rule's procedures for expedited or emergency hearing is not practical. All orders orThe moving party is responsible to ensure that any ex parte motion filed electronically is filed with appropriate procedures to ensure the document is not visible on the public docket. All proposed orders providing ex parte relief shall include the finding that the relief requested could not be delayed and that affected parties may request a hearing on the subject matter addressed by the ex parte motion by filing a motion for review of the ex parte action within fourteen (14) days of service of the order for ex parte relief. The Court shallmay schedule a hearing on such a post-order motion, if appropriate, as soon as is practicable.

(a) (i) (i) Oppositions In any opposition to a motion, the opposing party shall admit or deny each allegation of the motion, state any affirmative defense to the motion, and state specifically why the relief requested in the motion should not be granted.

(j) Replies and Additional Papers Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, any reply to an opposition shall be no longer than five (5) pages and filed no later than three (3) days prior to the hearing. Any other pleading may only be filed with leave of Court.