Local Rule Rule 1073-1: Assignments of Cases

Rule 1073-1 Assignments of Cases

(a) Assignments to Judges.

(1) A petition from a county assigned or transferred to the Detroit location under Local Rule 1071-1 will be assigned to a judge by a blind draw system adopted by the court except that a companion case will be assigned to the judge to whom the first companion case was assigned or to the judge who is appointed to fill the vacancy of that judge.

(2) A petition from a county assigned or transferred to the Bay City or Flint locations under Local Rule 1071-1 will be assigned to the judge responsible for those court locations.

(3) All adversary proceedings arising in a case will be assigned to the judge to whom the case is assigned. If the case in which the adversary proceeding arose is pending in another district, the adversary proceeding will be assigned in accordance with the assignment practices of the court location where the adversary proceeding is filed.

(4) When a judge enters an order for recusal with respect to a case, a particular matter arising therein or an adversary proceeding, reassignment will be made by the clerk as follows: (A) recusals in Bay City will be reassigned to Flint; (B) recusals in Flint will be reassigned by blind draw to another judge in Detroit or Bay City; and (C) recusals in Detroit will be reassigned by blind draw to another judge in Detroit.

(5) If any matter requires urgent or immediate attention and the judge to whom the matter has been assigned is not or will not be available, then the clerk will assign the matter to another judge available at Detroit by blind draw.

(b) Companion Cases. Companion cases are cases involving: (1) identical individuals or entities; (2) a corporation and any majority shareholder thereof; (3) affiliated corporations; (4) a partnership and any of its general partners; (5) an individual and his or her general partner; (6) an individual and his or her spouse; or (7) any substantial identity of financial interest or assets.

(c) Reassignment of a Case or a Proceeding.

(1) Consolidated cases or jointly administered cases under F.R.Bankr.P. 1015 will normally be reassigned to the judge to whom the case with the lowest filing number is assigned.

(2) To facilitate the administration of the court's docket and for good cause shown, a case or proceeding may be reassigned by the chief judge from one judge to another judge with the consent of the judges involved.