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Dated: 3/7/2005

EIGHTH AMENDED ADMINISTRATIVE GENERAL ORDER
ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES FOR FILING, SIGNING, MAINTAINING,
AND VERIFYING PLEADINGS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS
IN THE ELECTRONIC CASE FILING (ECF) SYSTEM
AND FORMS A-E

Dated: 11/17/2004

SEVENTH AMENDED ADMINISTRATIVE GENERAL ORDER
ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES FOR FILING, SIGNING, MAINTAINING,
AND VERIFYING PLEADINGS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS
IN THE ELECTRONIC CASE FILING (ECF) SYSTEM

Dated: 11/3/2004

General Order Requiring Electronic Case Filing and Setting Deadline for Participation

Dated: 6/15/2004

SIXTH AMENDED ADMINISTRATIVE GENERAL ORDER
ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES FOR FILING, SIGNING, MAINTAINING,
AND VERIFYING PLEADINGS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS
IN THE ELECTRONIC CASE FILING (ECF) SYSTEM

NOTICE OF AMENDMENTS TO
BANKRUPTCY RULES AND FORMS TO IMPLEMENT THE
JUDICIAL CONFERENCE PRIVACY POLICY

December 1, 2003 Effective Date

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN of the following changes to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and the Official Bankruptcy Forms, effective December 1, 2003, which implement the Judicial Conference of the United States September 2001 policy on privacy and public access to electronic case files.


Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure 1005 and 1007 is being amended to restrict display of a debtor’s Social Security number to only the last four digits.


Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure 2002 is being amended to provide that the debtor, creditor, case trustee and United States trustee receive the debtor’s full Social Security number on their copy of the notice provided pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 341.


The following Official Bankruptcy Forms have been amended to require only the last four digits of the debtor’s Social Security and financial account numbers : 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 16A, 16C, and 19.


A new Official Form B21, entitled Statement of Social Security Number, has been created. See link below.


To access the full text of the rule and form amendments, except for the new Official Form 21, you may visit the Rules Committee website and click on “Pending Rules Amendments Awaiting Final Action” and then select “Amendments Submitted to the Judicial Conference (Sept. 2002).” Official Form 21 is available at the same web address by clicking “Amendments Submitted to the Judicial Conference (Sept. 2003).”

November 14, 2003

Susan Thurston
Clerk of Court

Form B21

Notice of Local Requirement for Compliance with the Judicial Conference Privacy Policy

Notice of Electronic Availability of Case

U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Rhode Island
PRESS RELEASE

Contact:
Susan M. Thurston, Clerk                       Phone: (401) 528-4477, ext. 30
U.S. Bankruptcy Court                            Fax: (401) 528-4470
380 Westminster Mall, 6th Floor             E-Mail: Susan_Thurston@rib.uscourts.gov
Providence, RI 02903

RHODE ISLAND BANKRUPTCY COURT
GOES LIVE ON ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROVIDENCE, RI [October 1, 2003] - On April 23, 2003, it was with mixed emotions that the Rhode Island Bankruptcy Court shut down its 15 year old BANCAP machine, and powered up its new case management system known as “Case Management/Electronic Case Files”, or CM/ECF for short, which system includes the ability to accept court filings electronically. Now, five months after going live internally, the Rhode Island Bankruptcy Court is pleased to announce the October 1, 2003 commencement of electronic filing for the bar. Across the country, the federal courts are leading the implementation of e-filing and, here in Rhode Island, we are proud to be the first court in the state to offer electronic filing to the legal community.

With continuous training under way, the first “wave” of attorneys have successfully completed the mandatory four hour training session required in order to use the electronic filing system. We heartily congratulate the following brave and venturous bar members: Peter Berman, John Boyajian, Mark Buckley, Leonard DePasquale, Stacy Ferrara, Lisa Geremia, Janet Goldman, Peter Iascone, Christopher Lefebvre, Charles Pisaturo, Russell Raskin, Andrew Richardson, Thomas Quinn, and Marc Wallick. A special kudos to attorneys Marc Wallick and Stacy Ferrara for being our first electronic filers. Marc wasted no time ushering in a new era of court accessibility by filing at 6:30 am!

In addition to the detailed training classes, which begin in November for all interested attorneys, the Court will also offer monthly electronic filing orientation sessions for inquiring attorneys and their staffs. This information packed hour will include an overview of the court’s ECF training policy and syllabus; a review of the court’s newly issued amended Administrative General Order setting forth electronic filing procedures; a brief demonstration of the electronic filing system; and a discussion of the court’s web resources, email management issues, and the hardware and software requirements for using the system. The first ECF orientation session will be held on Wednesday, October 15, 2003 at 2:00 pm in the courtroom, and thereafter every third Wednesday of the month. We hope the orientation sessions will serve to answer basic questions about using the system and will inspire attorneys to sign up for training so they can start filing electronically!

After each orientation, attorneys will have the opportunity to sign up for ECF training to become registered users in the system. Two different classes will be offered, one for debtors’ counsel, and another for creditors’ counsel. Frequency of the training classes will be scheduled based on demand. For more training information please visit our website, www.rib.uscourts.gov.

Once trained and registered on the CM/ECF system, attorneys will be able to file and view court documents from their office, home or anywhere with Internet capability -- 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Participating attorneys receive automatic email notification of case activity; will have the ability to download and print documents; and will be able to electronically access case files simultaneously with other users.

The CM/ECF system uses standard computer hardware, an Internet connection and a browser, and accepts documents in Portable Document Format (PDF). The system is user friendly - filers just prepare a document using a word processing software, then convert it to PDF. After logging onto the court’s web site with a court-issued password, the filer fills out several screens with information that serves as the basis for the docket entry, attaches the document and submits it to the court. A notice verifying court receipt is generated and sent by email to the filer automatically. Other parties in the case also receive email notification as soon as any action is taken in the case.

There are no added fees for filing documents over the Internet using CM/ECF; although existing document filing fees do apply.