Judicial Settlement Conferences

Bankruptcy judges will be available to conduct judicial settlement conferences as their workload permits and upon conditions that they will set for the parties. All judicial settlement conference proceedings are confidential as provided by the Federal Rules of Evidence, law or contract. 27 UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF MAINE APPENDIX A ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES FOR ELECTRONIC FILING Electronic filing is the process of uploading documents to the court’s online Electronic Case Files (“ECF”) system. The ECF system only accepts electronically converted portable document format (“PDF”) documents.

I. Access to the Electronic Case Filing System PACER Login and ECF Access Attorneys and creditors seeking to file documents electronically must first register for a PACER account at http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov. Attorneys and creditors must also request access to the ECF filing system for this court through PACER. That request is transmitted to this court for verification and processing. For additional information contact the PACER Service Center at (800) 676-6856.

II. Electronic Filing of Documents A. Signatures The password required to electronically file documents also serves as the registered user’s original signature for all electronic documents filed with the Court. The password also serves as a signature for purposes of Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9011, other Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, the local rules of this Court, and any other purpose for which a signature is required in connection with proceedings before this Court. No attorney shall permit their password to be utilized by anyone other than themselves or an authorized employee.

Documents requiring original signatures such as petitions, lists, schedules, statements, amendments, pleadings, affidavits; or documents requiring verification under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1008; or an unsworn declaration as provided in 28 U.S.C. § 1746, may be filed with an APPENDIX A electronic signature (the party’s name typed in full, e.g., “/s/ Jane Doe”), however, the registered filer must maintain the original, executed documents containing the wet signature of a party until two (2) years following the closing of the case or until the expiration of all appeal periods, whichever is later. In addition to any other law or rule, an attorney required to maintain an original wet signature may comply by using an electronically converted PDF document with an image of the signature. Upon request of the Court or any interested party, the filer shall provide original documents for review. The Court reserves the right to revoke an attorney’s password and, therefore, their ability to electronically file documents, for failure to comply with any provision of these Administrative Procedures for Electronic Filing by Attorneys, failure to adequately protect their password, other misuse of the ECF system, or as a sanction ordered by the Court after notice and opportunity to be heard.

B. Fees Payable to the Clerk Any required filing fees must be paid by credit card at the time of filing. Unpaid filing fees, as of midnight on the date of filing, will result in deactivation of your ECF login until payment has been made. C. Sealed Documents A motion to file documents under seal shall be filed electronically. If granted, the documents to be filed under seal shall be emailed to the Clerk’s Office or hand delivered in paper to the Clerk’s Office.

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF MAINE APPENDIX B ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES FOR TELEPHONIC PARTICIPATION Telephonic appearances are permitted except by a person or entity who: • has been directed by the court to appear in the courtroom; • has been subpoenaed to appear and give testimony at a hearing or trial; • intends to introduce evidence during a hearing or trial; and/or • intends to participate in the examination of a witness during hearing or trial.

I. II.

Scheduling and Fees: Telephone appearances may be arranged for a fee by calling CourtCall at (866) 582-6878 or by visiting www.courtcall.com. Procedure for Telephonic Appearance: CourtCall will provide you with a number you must dial not later than 10 minutes prior to the scheduled hearing. CourtCall does not place a call to participants. If you do not timely call and connect with CourtCall, the hearing may proceed in your absence.

After placing the call, you will be in listening mode until your case is called, at which time your call will be connected to the courtroom. The judge will call the case, request appearances, and direct the manner in which the hearing proceeds. You should identify yourself each time you speak. You may disconnect after your hearing concludes.

If you have multiple hearings on the same calendar, stay on the line until your other matter(s) are called unless instructed otherwise by the court.

III.

Telephonic Appearance Privileges: The court views the opportunity to appear telephonically as a privilege offered for the convenience of the parties. That privilege may be revoked in the event poor call quality interferes with the audio recording of the hearing or otherwise frustrates the orderly conduct of proceedings. To ensure optimal call quality, you are discouraged from using cellular phones, speaker phones, and phones in public places for telephonic participation in court proceedings. 2 UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF MAINE APPENDIX C PROCEDURES FOR FILING, SERVICE AND MANAGEMENT OF HIGHLY SENSITIVE DOCUMENTS The filing of documents a party believes to be a highly sensitive documents1 (“HSD”) shall be subject to the procedures and requirements set forth below.

I. Filing of Motions to Treat a Document as an HSD A. Parties represented by an attorney 1. A party represented by an attorney shall file a motion to treat a document as an HSD and a proposed order electronically under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9018, except that the proposed HSD shall not be filed electronically. The motion shall explain why the proposed document should be subject to the heightened protection for HSDs. Not all documents that meet the criteria for filing under seal will qualify for treatment as an HSD.

2. As soon as practicable after the motion is filed, the filing party shall deliver the proposed HSD to the Clerk’s office along with a certificate of service. These documents must be submitted as specified in paragraph 2.b. 3. The filing party shall serve the proposed HSD on the other parties as specified in paragraph 2.c. 1 The Administrative Office of the United States Courts has provided certain guidance regarding HSDs indicating that the following types of documents would be deemed to be HSDs: documents relating to matters of national security, foreign sovereign interests, or cybersecurity; the extent of domestic or international interests; the involvement of public officials; intellectual property or trade secrets; or the reputational interests of the United States.

However, HSDs do not include documents to which public access is routinely restricted to protect privacy and prevent identity theft and include bank records, social security records, health records, unclaimed fund applications, and income tax returns. These documents and other sealed filings in many bankruptcy cases and adversary proceedings that are not sufficiently sensitive to require HSD treatment will continue to be sealed in CM/ECF as necessary.

2 APPENDIX C 4.

The Court will issue an order on the motion and, if granted, an informational entry will be made on the case docket indicating that the HSD has been filed with the Court. The Clerk’s office will maintain the HSD in a secure paper filing system.

B. Parties appearing without an attorney (“pro se parties”).

1. Pro se parties shall file the following with the Clerk’s office: a. a motion to treat a document as an HSD, b. a copy of the HSD, and c. a certificate of service indicating the date that the documents were filed at the Clerk’s office. These documents must be submitted as specified in paragraph 2.b. The motion shall explain why the proposed document should be subject to the heightened protection for HSDs. Not all documents that meet the criteria for filing under seal will qualify for treatment as an HSD.

2. The filing party shall serve the proposed HSD on the other parties as specified in paragraph 2.c. 3. The Court will issue an order on the motion and, if granted, an informational entry will be made on the case docket indicating that the HSD has been filed with the Court. The Clerk’s office will maintain the HSD in a secure paper filing system.

II. Filing of Authorized HSDs A. A party filing an HSD pursuant to a court order or applicable law shall submit to the Clerk’s office the HSD, the certificate of service, and, if applicable, a copy of the order authorizing the treatment of that document as highly sensitive. B. The required documents, unfolded, shall be submitted to the Clerk’s Office in a sealed envelope marked “HIGHLY SENSITIVE DOCUMENT.” The outside of the envelope shall be affixed with a copy of the HSD’s caption page (with any confidential information redacted). C. The filing party shall serve the HSD to other parties in accordance with Fed.R. Bankr. P. 2002, Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7004, D. Me.

LBR 2002-1. D. The Clerk’s Office will make an informational docket entry in the Court’s electronic filing system indicating that the HSD was filed with the Court and will maintain the HSD in a secure paper filing syste APPENDIX C III. Service of Highly Sensitive Court Orders If the Court determines that one of its orders contains highly sensitive information, the Clerk’s Office will file and maintain the order in a secure paper filing system and will serve paper copies of the order on the parties via U.S. mail. IV.

Removal of Existing HSDs or Highly Sensitive Cases from the Court’s Electronic Filing System A. Upon motion of a party or upon its own motion, the Court may determine that a document, case, or any portion of it, that has been filed electronically is highly sensitive and direct that the HSD or case be removed from the Court’s electronic filing system and maintained by the Clerk’s office in a secure paper filing system. B. A party’s motion to remove an HSD or highly sensitive case from the Court’s electronic filing system shall explain why such document should be subject to the heightened protection for HSDs.