FIRST SCHEDULED HEARING

The first scheduled hearing in a contested matter will not be an evidentiary hearing at which witnesses may testify, unless: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) the Court gives prior notice to the parties that such hearing will be an evidentiary hearing; the motion requests emergency relief and is made at the commencement of the case; the motion requests interim or final relief under sections 363(b), 363(c)(2)(B) or 364 of the Bankruptcy Code; the motion requests the Court’s approval of rejection of an unexpired lease of real property under section 365(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, and a timely objection thereto is filed; or the hearing is on confirmation of a plan in a case under chapter 9, chapter 11, chapter 12, or chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. Comment Bankruptcy Rule 9014(e), added in 2002, requires that the Court provide procedures that enable parties to ascertain at a reasonable time before any scheduled hearing whether the hearing will be an evidentiary hearing at which witnesses may testify. Local Bankruptcy Rule 9014-2 was added in 2004 to provide such a procedure. Nothing in Local Bankruptcy Rule 9014-2 precludes a party from requesting an evidentiary hearing at the first scheduled hearing and asking the Court to provide for notice thereof under paragraph (a).

Subdivision (f) of this rule was abrogated in 2013. Since this rule was adopted in 2004, there had been no general orders issued under subdivision (f), which could have made this paragraph misleading to practitioners. If the Court wants to specify another kind of contested matter in which an evidentiary hearing will be held at the first scheduled hearing, the Court may do so by amending this rule. Therefore, subdivision (f) is not necessary to give the Court flexibility to expand the list set forth in subdivisions (a) through (e).

86 Rule 9015-1 JURY TRIALS A statement of consent to have a jury trial conducted by a Bankruptcy Judge under 28 U.S.C. § 157(e) must be filed not later than fourteen (14) days after the service of the last pleading directed to the issue for which the demand was made. Comment Section 157(e) of title 28 provides that a Bankruptcy Judge may conduct a jury trial on proper demand with the consent of the parties to the proceeding if the District Court has specifically designated the Bankruptcy Court to exercise such jurisdiction. The District Court, by order dated December 7, 1994, has specifically designated the Bankruptcy Court to conduct jury trials pursuant to section 157(e). Bankruptcy Rule 9015(b) provides that the time for filing a statement of consent to a jury trial shall be specified by local rule.

This rule provides a fourteen (14) day period for filing the statement of consent, which runs from the service of the last pleading, as specified in Bankruptcy Rule 7007. This rule was amended in 2009 to change the time period from ten (10) to fourteen (14) days. The purpose of the amendment was to conform the time period in this rule to the 2009 time-related amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. Throughout the Bankruptcy Rules, as well as the Local Bankruptcy Rules, most time periods that are shorter than thirty (30) days were changed so that the number of days is in multiples of seven (7), thereby reducing the likelihood that time periods will end on a Saturday or Sunday.