Local Rule 2081-1: Chapter 11 — General

2081-1 Chapter 11 — General First-Day Motions

(a) Definition. A first-day motion is any motion or application in a Chapter 11 case that requests a hearing or the entry of an order with less than 7 days' notice and that is filed prior to the earlier of the formation of the creditors' committee or the meeting of creditors, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) motion for joint administration;

(2) motion for use of cash collateral;

(3) motion for post-petition financing;

(4) motion to pay prepetition employee wage or benefit claims;

(5) motion to limit notice generally;

(6) motion to provide adequate assurance to utilities;

(7) motion to pay prepetition trust fund taxes;

(8) motion to honor prepetition obligations to customers;

(9) motion to extend deadline to file schedules and statements;

(10) motion to vary Office of the United States Trustee financial requirements, such as motion to authorize maintenance of existing bank accounts, existing business forms, cash management system, and investment procedures; and

(11) motion for authority to pay prepetition claims of "critical" vendors or suppliers.

(b) Consultation with and Special Notice to United States Trustee.

(1) The movant shall consult with the Office of the United States Trustee regarding suitable dates and times for hearing any first-day motion.

(2) In addition to the service required by the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure or these Local Rules, the movant shall provide the Office of the United States Trustee at least 24 hours' notice of the hearing date and time for a first-day motion—including a copy of the motion and proposed order.

(c) Notice of Hearing on First-Day Motions. The movant shall immediately serve notice of the hearing on any first-day motions on the Office of the United States Trustee, the 20 largest unsecured creditors, all secured creditors, any committees, known counsel and other affected parties—for example, utilities, unions, or governmental entities. Notice shall be given in a manner that ensures same day delivery, such as by hand delivery, telephone, facsimile, or email, to the extent practicable.

(d) Certificate of Service. LBR 9013-3 shall apply to first-day motions except that the responsible party shall file the certificate of service at or before the commencement of the hearing.

(e) Joint Administration. A motion for joint administration should be filed in all affiliated cases and the proposed order shall designate the case under which all debtors will be administered. Notice of the motion shall be served on all affected parties in all cases.

(f) Conspicuousness Requirements for First-Day Motions, Proposed Orders and Agreed Orders. In order to provide as much notice as possible to all parties, any motion, proposed order or agreed order for use of cash collateral pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 363 or any motion, proposed order or agreed order for post-petition financing pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 364, the first or second paragraph of the motion or the first page of the proposed order shall conspicuously state whether any of the following kinds of relief is sought or granted and shall identify by paragraph or page number where that relief appears:

(1) Granting a prepetition creditor a lien or security interest in post-petition assets in which the creditor does not have a security interest by virtue of its prepetition security agreement, other than replacement liens in the same kind of collateral the creditor had prepetition;

(2) Resolving a dispute concerning the validity, priority or extent of a prepetition lien or security interest or the amount of a prepetition claim;

(3) Findings, conclusions, or holdings as to the amount of a debt or the validity, priority or extent of a lien or security interest that purport to affect the rights of any entity other than the debtor in possession and the creditor;

(4) Release, waiver or abandonment of claims, setoff rights, surcharge rights, avoidance actions and subordination actions against a creditor, or findings or stipulations that no such rights exist, that purport to affect the rights of any entity other than the debtor in possession and the creditor;

(5) Granting of liens or security interests against rights or actions arising under 11 U.S.C. §§ 544, 545, 547, 548 or 549;

(6) The use of funds derived from post-petition financing to pay all, or part of a prepetition secured debt, or a provision that deems prepetition secured debt to be post-petition secured debt, other than as permitted by 11 U.S.C. § 552(b);

(7) Granting surcharge or "carve-out" rights to professionals or any restrictions (other than court approval) on the surcharge or carve-out rights granted to professionals—for example, a restriction on investigation or pursuit of causes of action against a lender or secured creditor;

(8) Payment of prepetition wages, salary or other compensation to any employee in excess of the Code's priority amount, payment of any severance or vacation pay earned prepetition or payment of any prepetition wages, salaries, commissions, benefits or consulting fees to an insider or equity holder; and

(9) Priming any secured creditor under 11 U.S.C. § 364(d) without that creditor's consent.

(g) Proposed Order. Every first-day motion shall include as an exhibit the proposed order the movant will submit in the event the motion is unopposed.

(h) Applicability of LBR 9075-1. Local Rule 9075-1 shall apply to first-day motions except the order and content of paragraphs specified by LBR 9075-1(b) may be altered to comply with this rule.