Local Rule 9015-1: JURY TRIAL

Rule 9015-1 JURY TRIAL

(a) Voir Dire. The method of voir dire examination and exercise of challenges in selection of the jury shall be as specified by the Court. A list of the venire will be furnished to counsel only at the time the case is called for trial, and prior to commencement of voir dire examination (unless otherwise required by governing rule or statute), and must be returned to the Clerk when the jury is empaneled. No person shall copy from or reproduce, in whole or in part, a list of the venire.

(b) Instructions to the Jury. All requests for instructions to the jury shall be submitted in writing within the time specified by the Court. Such requests, and supplemental requests, if any, shall be marked with the name and number of the case, shall designate the party submitting the request, shall be numbered in sequence, and shall contain citation of supporting authorities, if any.

(c) Juror Interviews. No attorney or party shall undertake, directly or indirectly, to interview any juror after trial in any civil case except as permitted by this rule. If a party believes that grounds for legal challenge to a verdict exist, the party may move for an order permitting an interview of a juror or jurors to determine whether the verdict is subject to the challenge. The motion shall be served within 14 days after rendition of the verdict unless good cause is shown for the failure to make the motion within that time. The motion shall state the name and address of each juror to be interviewed and the grounds for the challenge that the moving party believes may exist. The presiding judge may conduct such hearings, if any, as necessary, and shall enter an order denying the motion or permitting the interview. If the interview is permitted, the Court may prescribe the place, manner, conditions, and scope of the interview.

________________________ Notes of Advisory Committee 2015 Amendment The revisions to this rule are primarily stylistic. This amendment to the rule is effective July 1, 2015.

1998 Amendment On December 1, 1997, amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure added new Rule 9015, entitled "Jury Trials." This new rule was made necessary by the addition of 28 U.S.C. § 157(e) contained in the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994, Pub. L. 103-394. The Court had adopted paragraphs (a) through (e) of Local Rule 9015-1 because their subject matter was not covered in the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. These paragraphs of the local rule are now abrogated as duplicative of the national rule.

The remaining parts of the local rule, paragraphs (f) through (h), are derived from the comparable District Court Local Rule 5.01. These paragraphs are redesignated paragraphs (a) through (c), respectively.

The District Court has specifically designated all of the bankruptcy judges of the Court to conduct jury trials pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(e). See District Court Order No. 94-127-MISC-J-16, entered on December 1, 1994. Although Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9015(b) contemplates that the Court by local rule might establish a time by which the parties must consent to a jury trial conducted by a bankruptcy judge, this amendment does not attempt to establish such a time. Instead, the Committee is of the view that the parties and the Court should have the flexibility to allow consent to be given at any time.

This amendment to the rule was effective on October 15, 1998.

1997 Amendment This amendment conforms the existing Local Rules to the uniform numbering system prescribed by the Judicial Conference of the United States and to the model system suggested and approved by the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules of the Judicial Conference's Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure. In renumbering the Local Rules to conform to the uniform numbering system, no change in substance is intended. This amendment to the rule was effective on April 15, 1997.

This rule was formerly Local Rule 2.18. The Advisory Committee Notes to the superseded rules may be helpful in interpreting and applying the current rules.