Local Rule Rule 9013-2: Motions – Service and Notice
Bankr. D. Minn. — General rule
Rule 9013-2. Motions – Service and Notice
(a) SERVICE OF MOTIONS. Motions must be served on:
(1) The debtor;
(2) The attorney for the debtor;
(3) The trustee or examiner;
(4) Each entity against whom relief is sought;
(5) Each entity claiming a lien or other interest in property if any property is involved;
(6) Any committee elected under 11 U.S.C. § 705 or appointed under 11 U.S.C. § 1102, or its authorized agent; or, if the case is a chapter 9 or chapter 11 and no committee has been appointed under 11 U.S.C. § 1102, the twenty largest unsecured creditors; and
(7) Any other entity required to be served by the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure or these Local Rules.
(b) NOTICE OF MOTIONS.
(1) Generally. Notice of a motion and any related hearing must be given to any entity required to receive notice under the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, including, but not limited to, Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 2002.
(2) Chapter 11 and 12 Cases. In a chapter 11 or 12 case, notice of a motion and any related hearing must be given to the Internal Revenue Service, the Collection Division of the Minnesota Department of Revenue, and the United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota.
(3) Health Care Business Case. Notice of a motion arising under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 2007.2 and any related hearing must be given to each entity that issues licenses to or regulates the debtor or the debtor's principal.
(c) MOTIONS AND RESPONSES SENT TO UNITED STATES TRUSTEE. All motions and responses must be sent to the United States trustee.
(d) SERVICE OF RESPONSES. Responses must be served on:
(1) The moving party;
(2) The attorney for the debtor;
(3) The trustee or examiner; and
(4) The attorneys for any elected or appointed committee.
[Effective April 15, 1997. Amended effective January 1, 2002; January 9, 2006; December 1, 2014; December 1, 2017; October 1, 2019; June 1, 2021; amended and renumbered as 9013-2 on July 17, 2023.]
2023 Advisory Committee Notes Former Local Rule 9013-3 was renumbered to Local Rule 9013-2. The language in former Local Rule 9013-3 was restyled and reorganized. As amended, Local Rule 9013-2 addresses service and notice requirements for all motions and responses filed under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9013 and 9014 and Local Rule 9013-1. Note that service requirements in adversary proceedings are addressed in Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7005 and Fed. R. Civ. P. 5. Service and notice are separated into different subsections in an effort to emphasize the fact that they are distinct concepts.
Subsection(a) – Service Compared to former Local Rule 9013-3, amended Local Rule 9013-2 requires service on fewer parties. The parties required to be served in the local rule are the parties generally required to be served under the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. See, e.g., Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1020(d), 1021(b), 2007.2(e), 4001, and 6004(g)(1). While there may be some duplication with the federal rules, this local rule remains in place, as amended, to fill in any gaps and ensure the proper parties are served. For example, Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2004 does not specify any parties to serve. Rule 9013, and many other federal rules, give the court significant discretion in determining who needs to be served. Importantly, "service" may mean something different depending on the type of motion at issue. If the motion does not commence a contested matter under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9014, "service" is more akin to mailing the motion to the address on the creditor matrix. See Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2002(g); see also In re Simpson, No. 21-11179-T7, 2022 WL 2181324, at *2 (Bankr. D.N.M. June 16, 2022). Electronic service through the court's Electronic Case Filing System is generally sufficient. See Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9036. Examples include motions under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007(a)(5), 1017(f)(2), 4001(d), and 4004(b).
In contrast, if the motion commences a contested matter under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9014, "service" must be completed in accordance with Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7004. Notably, Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9036, which permits electronic service through the court's Electronic Case Filing System, specifically states in subsection (e) that the rule "does not apply to any paper required to be served in accordance with Rule 7004." Read together with Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9014(b) which allows "[a]ny paper served after the motion" to be served in accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b), it appears the initial motion must be served by non-electronic means while any subsequent filings may be served electronically. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(2)(E) (permitting service by "sending it to a registered user by filing it with the court's electronic-filing system"). However, there may be exceptions for certain parties. For instance, Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7004(g) allows the debtor's attorney to be served electronically in accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b). Attorneys for other parties can expressly consent to electronic service of any paper required to be served in accordance with Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7004 through language in their notice of appearance. There is also an exception in Local Rule 9036-1(b) for trustees. Examples of contested matters include, but are not limited to, proceedings arising under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1017(f)(1), 1020(c), 1021(b), 2005(a), 2007.1(a), 2007.2(e), 2015.1(b), 2017, 2020, 3007, 3012, 3015(f), 3015(h), 3019(b), 3019(c), 3020(b)(1), 4001(a)(1), 4001(b)(1), 4001(c)(1), 4003(b), 4003(d), 4004(d), 5009(d), 5011(b), 6002, 6004(b), 6004(c), 6004(d), 6004(g)(1), 6006(a), 6006(b), 6007, 6008, 9011(c)(1)(A), 9020, and 9027(d).
Subsection(b) – Notice As compared to service, "notice" may entail a one-page notice of the motion and any related hearing with instructions on how to request a full copy of the motion. As to amended subsection (b)(3), for other health care business rules, see Local Rules 1007-2(b) and 2015.1-1.
Subsection(c) – United States Trustee The 2023 Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure generally use the word "transmit" in regard to the United States trustee. However, the proposed restyled Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure simply use the word "send." Thus, this subsection was updated to reflect the restyled rules. The United States trustee automatically receives filings in each case through the court's Electronic Case Filing System. See Fed. R. Bankr. P. 5005(b)(1).