Court Administration & Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee

ABI Committee News

Amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Effective December 1, 2009

On December 1, 2009 certain amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure become effective.  These changes are meant to simplify the time-computation rules by adopting a “days-are-days” approach to computing all time periods.  The time-computation project, which also results in amendments to the Federal Rules of Appellate, Civil and Criminal Procedure, was launched in response to frequent complaints about the time, energy and anxiety expended in calculating time periods, the potential for error and the anomalous results of the current computation provisions.  Please click on the link below to read an excerpt from the Report of the Judicial Conference which explains theses changes in detail.  Please also see the feature article on these changes in the October issue of the ABI Journal entitled “Federal Rules Update:  The Times They Are a-Changin’,” by Leslie R. Masterson.

Excerpt from the Report of the Judicial Conference - Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure

Committee Session Materials at ABI's 21st Annual Winter Leadership Conference

ABI's 21st Annual Winter Leadership Conference will take place Dec. 3-5 at the gorgeous La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta, Calif. La Quinta is the classic Palm Springs resort, nestled at the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains. Enjoy the beautiful landscape, as well as renowned tennis, golf and the spa. This year's conference will offer insights from some of the top insolvency and restrucutring experts on issues confronting the profession in 2010.

The Court Administration and Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee will present a session entitled "The Future of Alternative Dispute Resolution: How ADR Can Expedite Efficiency for the Courts and Attorneys" on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 9:30 a.m. Panelists will discuss how alternative dispute resolution can help all parties reach an agreement more quickly and will explain local bankruptcy court rules by circuite and district. Panelists will include Kenneth A. Rosen of Lowenstein Sandler PC in Roseland, N.J., Paul S. Singerman of Berger Singerman, PA in Miami and Hon. Mary F. Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court (D. Del.) in Wilmington, Del. Jacob A. Esher of Mediation Works Incorporated in Boston provided the session materials. Please click the link below to view Mr. Esher's compendium.

Compendium of Bankruptcy Court Local Rules on ADR