"How to disseminate information without using limited court resources."

1. Meet with a representative of the Administrative Office of the US Courts and a clerk of court concerning the implementation and enhancements to national ECF.

2. Review the case based web sites.

3. Can the two be linked in any way

In an effort to keep up with an increasing caseload, more and more bankruptcy courts are instituting mediation/ arbitration procedures as part of their local rules. This alternative is being pursued as resources available to bankruptcy courts are becoming more limited by lack of Congressional action on new bankruptcy judges and annual bankruptcy budget reductions in the face of record bankruptcy filings.

It is the responsibility of the clerk’s office to see that the mediation/arbitration procedures are properly implemented, maintained, evaluated and revised, as the court deems appropriate. The mediation/arbitration rules and procedures adopted by various bankruptcy courts can be obtained from the court’s website (www.Xb.uscourts.gov), where X stands for the district and b stands for bankruptcy (i.e., the Southern District of New York would be NYSB, Delaware would be DEB and Oregon would be ORB, etc.) The respective courts will have a designated panel or registry of mediators/arbitrators, which should also be listed on the court’s web site along with the qualifications to serve in such a capacity and an application form for those interested in serving. The panel is usually maintained by the clerk of court or some other person designated by the court.
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