Order Submission

Orders submitted for the court’s consideration should be uploaded in ECF and must be in compliance with the Proposed Order Specifications included in the ECF Manual.  Orders requiring immediate attention should be uploaded in ECF and counsel should alert the courtroom deputy by email. It is not necessary to notify the courtroom deputy when submitting routine orders that are not time sensitive.

Disagreements over the form of orders should be submitted in writing by email directed to the courtroom deputy with copy to opposing counsel. Proposed versions of the order in pdf and Microsoft Word should be attached to the email.

Orders concerning motions that can be considered without a hearing or notice of opportunity for hearing (such as motions to extend time to file schedules and statements, motions to extend deadline to object to discharge, and motions to dismiss case by debtor in Chapter 13 cases) should be uploaded in ECF when the motion is filed.

Orders concerning motions that include negative notice language should be uploaded after the objection period expires, provided no objections have been filed.

Orders concerning motions that require a hearing should be uploaded after the court has conducted the hearing and issued a ruling.

Please allow 7-10 business days for the entry of routine orders.  Inquiries regarding the status of an order should be directed to the courtroom deputy.

Courtesy Copies of Pleadings

• Motion for Summary Judgment and Response to Motion for Summary Judgment and any appendices of summary judgment evidence;
• Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7012 and Response to Motion to Dismiss;
• Chapter 9 or Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization;
• Disclosure Statement;
• Application for Compensation and/or Reimbursement of Expenses (only if over 25 pages, including invoices); and
• Any voluminous pleading (i.e. any document over 50 pages including exhibits).

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Scheduling Settings

Telephonic and Videoconference Hearing Policy
Counsel are permitted to attend and participate in hearings by telephone and videoconference (when applicable) without prior permission of the Court, subject to compliance with the following guidelines:

1. The Court has generally made telephonic attendance possible for all hearings. A hearing will only be conducted by videoconference if directed/approved by the Court in advance of the hearing (in which case the movant/plaintiff will be responsible for providing notice to parties in interest of the login/call-in instructions).

2. Counsel intending to participate in a hearing by telephone or videoconference must provide written notice at least 24 hours in advance of the hearing to the courtroom deputy:

Judge Morris – courtroom deputy at elm_settings@txnb.uscourts.gov

The notice should include counsel’s name, the party on whose behalf counsel will be appearing, the case name and number, the date and time of the hearing, and if attending by telephone the telephone number from which counsel will be calling. Persons who will not participate in the hearing and will, instead, be attending in a listen only mode are not required to provide such notice.

3. Witnesses may not be examined, nor evidence offered, by telephone except in extremely rare, emergency situations in which the Court determines that cause exists to waive the prohibition. For videoconferences, see paragraph 6 below. Unless counsel is instructed otherwise by the Court in advance of a particular hearing, counsel may present argument by telephone or videoconference; provided, however, that in doing so counsel acknowledges, individually and on behalf of counsel’s client, that counsel may not have access to materials that are presented in court and that the Court will not entertain a request for continuance based upon the lack of access to such materials.

4. The Court’s telephonic and videoconference lines are live. Therefore, counsel (a) should mute their phones/computer microphones at all times that they are not addressing the Court, (b) must not place their phones on hold at any time while connected to the call, and (c) must assure that no background noise is transmitted over the phone/computer, including music, typing, background conversations, etc. The Court reserves the right to disconnect or place on permanent mute any attendee that causes any disruption to the proceedings before the Court.

5. The following instructions apply to telephonically joining and participating in hearings (important: the following instructions do not apply to hearings conducted by videoconference; separate notice and dial-in instructions will be provided by the movant/plaintiff for any hearing conducted by videoconference):

• Dial-In Instructions. The applicable dial-in number and conference code is as follows:

Judge Morris – dial-in 817.918.4435 // conference code 118268

All telephonic attendees must dial in at least 5 minutes prior to the start of the
hearing. Telephonic attendees are responsible for any applicable long-distance charges
that they incur.

• Muting of the Line. Once the conference code is entered, counsel will
be connected live to the courtroom, at which time counsel will be able to hear
persons speaking in the courtroom and other persons on the call addressing the
Court. The Court will hear all sounds on the line. Therefore, it is important for
counsel to mute their lines at all times that they are not addressing the
Court.

• Hand-Raise Feature. Where multiple counsel are on a call, the
Court may elect to activate the “hand raise” feature, thereby placing all lines on
mute. The system will make an initial announcement upon the Court’s activation of
such feature. When the feature is active, counsel will not be able to address the
Court until the Court receives notice of counsel’s request to speak and then
activates counsel’s line. Where the hand-raise feature is active, to make a
request to speak counsel must press 5*. Within approximately 5 seconds, the
Court will then receive notice of the request. Once the Court grants the request
and calls on counsel, counsel will hear a recorded message indicating that the line
is live. Once counsel is done speaking, the Court will again mute the line.

6. If a hearing by videoconference has been directed/approved by the Court, then the
following additional procedures apply. Any party intending to seek the introduction of (or to
otherwise use) any exhibits at the hearing must, by no later than 48 hours in advance of
the hearing: (a) file a “[Party’s] Notice of Exhibits for [Date] Hearing” with each individual
exhibit (clearly labeled with the exhibit number or letter) filed as a separate attachment to
such notice, and (b) supply an exhibit binder with all such exhibits to the Court. Witnesses
may be examined by videoconference provided (a) the witness is attending the
videoconference by video (i.e. not in a telephonic only mode) and (b) the party calling the
witness has supplied the witness with (or has otherwise made readily accessible to the
witness) all designated exhibits for the hearing.

7. The Court cannot and does not guarantee that telephonic service and computer
connectivity will not be interrupted during the course of a hearing. Counsel choosing to
attend a hearing by telephone or videoconference do so at their own risk of a
technological failure.

Emergency/Expedited Requests

Motion to Lift/Annul/Modify or Relief From Stay

Motion to Reopen Case for Financial Management Course Certificate or Debtor(s) Certification and Motion for Entry of Chapter 12/13 Discharge

Motions to reopen case for financial management course certificate or for filing the Debtor(s) Certification and Motion for Entry of Chapter 12/13 Discharge may be considered without a hearing or notice of opportunity for hearing. An order may be uploaded at the time of filing.  Please use form BTXN196 located on our website. If the certificate or motion is not filed by the deadline, the case will be reclosed.

U. S. Trustee Docket

Chapter 13 Trustee Docket

Resets/Removals from the Docket (Non-lift stay motions)

Fee Applications

Trustee’s Final Report

Trial Docket Call/Adversaries

Motions for Default Judgment

Motions for Summary Judgment

Court Exhibits

FBA Young Lawyers in Court Initiative