DELAWARE COURTS MOVE TO A MODIFIED PHASE 3 OF REOPENING PLAN; 

CHIEF JUSTICE EXTENDS JUDICIAL EMERGENCY TO NOVEMBER 4TH

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE

Public Notice

PHASE 2 OPERATIONS IN EFFECT BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 15, 2020

Pursuant to the Standing Order RE: Criminal and Civil Jury Selections; Jury Trials; and

Transition to Phase 2, dated September 1, 2020, the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Delaware will begin to operate under Phase 2 of the Districts Re-Opening Guidelines effective Tuesday, September 15, 2020.

This transition has no direct impact on any particular proceeding in either the District or Bankruptcy Court. Instead, case-specific decisions will be made by the presiding Judge. The Court will continue to monitor conditions in Delaware and the surrounding region and consider the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal, state and local public health authorities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 14, 2020

Delaware Courts resume issuing “failure to appear” bench warrants.

Courts stopped issuing certain warrants at start of the pandemic.

As part of the Delaware Judiciary’s ongoing reopening efforts, the Delaware Courts will today resume issuing bench warrants for individuals who fail to appear for certain proceedings. The courts had stopped issuing these types of warrants at the beginning of the pandemic, when court facilities were closed to the public for several weeks as a safety precaution. Court facilities reopened to the public on June 15 and the Delaware Courts are now in Phase 2 of a four-phased reopening plan and are working on moving to Phase 3, and the return of jury trials, in October. Today’s announcement means if a person is scheduled to appear in one of Delaware’s Courts for a criminal or traffic matter, or any matter scheduled in Family Court, that individual must appear as instructed on their court notice or by court staff (either remotely or in person), or they face the possibility of arrest. If you received a notice from a Delaware Court, please review it carefully and follow the instructions provided. Many court matters are now being held virtually and, in those cases, individuals are expected to appear via phone or computer connection/video instead of in person. If an individual fails to appear as scheduled – and this includes a failure to appear for a virtual event – and does not contact the court, a capias (bench warrant) may be issued for that individual’s arrest. If you have any questions about appearing in court, please contact the court location where your case is scheduled.

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DELAWARE JUDICIARY UNVEILS PLAN TO RESUME JURY TRIALS IN OCTOBER; EXTENDS EMERGENCY TO OCTOBER 5TH, 2020

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A REMINDER THAT ALL DELAWARE STATE & FEDERAL COURTS WILL BE CLOSED ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH IN OBSERVANCE OF LABOR DAY.*

*JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURTS #11, #7, & #3 WILL REMAIN OPEN.  

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE IN RE: COURT OPERATIONS UNDER : THE EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES : CREATED BY COVID-19 : : STANDING ORDER RE: CRIMINAL AND CIVIL JURY SELECTIONS; JURY TRIALS; AND TRANSITION TO PHASE 2

AND NOW, this 1st day of September, 2020, pursuant to the Revised Standing Order dated May 27, 2020, and in order to further public health and safety, the health and safety of Court personnel, counsel, litigants, other case participants, jurors, security personnel and the general public and in order to reduce the number of gatherings necessarily attendant to trial jury selection in this Court, and in order to minimize travel by participants in Court proceedings, particularly travel by public conveyance, it is hereby ORDERED as follows:

1. Effective this date, all civil and criminal jury selections and jury trials in the District of Delaware scheduled to begin before September 15, 2020, are continued pending further Order of the Court. The Court may issue Orders concerning future general continuances of any matters as may be deemed necessary and appropriate. All jury selections and trials affected by this Order will be reset by further Order of the assigned judicial officer.

2. The Court will continue to operate under Phase 1 of the District’s ReOpening Guidelines through September 14, 2020.

3. Subject to the conditions set out in paragraph 4 below, the District will begin to operate under Phase 2 of the Re-Opening Guidelines on September 15, 2020. Phase 2 permits the Court to conduct jury trials, at the discretion of the presiding judge in each individual case, subject to constraints imposed by limited resources and building space.

4. The Court will continue to monitor conditions with respect to coronavirus in Delaware and the surrounding region. The Court will consider guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal, state, and local public health authorities. Provided that the trends remain at or around where they are as of the date of this Order – for example, a downward trend of COVID-19 case counts in Delaware over a sustained period (i.e., the most recent 30-day period and several months before), a positivity rate of around 5% or fewer of those tested, and/or no substantial expansion of new hospitalizations – the Court will enter Phase 2, as provided in paragraph 3. 5. At least in the initial stages of Phase 2, it is anticipated that the Court will conduct no more than one jury trial at a time and will give priority to criminal trials.

FOR THE COURT: /s/ Leonard P. Stark Chief District Judge

ORDER

AMENDED ORDER: EMERGENCY CLERK'S OFFICE PROCEDURES

NOTICE TO THE BAR AND PUBLIC CONCERNING REQUIREMENT OF MANDATORY LOCAL FORMS RE: ENACTMENT OF THE SMALL BUSINESS REORGANIZATION ACT OF 2019

ORDER REGARDING SERVICE PURSUANT TO DEL. BANKR. L.R. 5005-4 and 9036-1

WHEREAS, effective February 1, 2020, Rules 5005-4(c) and 9036-1(b) of the Local Rules of Bankruptcy Practice and Procedure (“Local Rules”) of this Court were amended to provide that service on registered CM/ECF users will be made through the CM/ECF system, and on any other person by electronic means as may be consented to in writing; and

WHEREAS, in chapter 11 and chapter 15 cases Local Rule 9036-1(b) requires that a courtesy copy of the document served through the CM/ECF system (or other electronic means as consented to in writing) must be delivered to certain parties by email, other electronic form or by hard copy via first class or other mail or delivery; and

WHEREAS, the Court, parties and counsel for parties continue to be subject to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including limited access to regular places of business; and

WHEREAS, parties and counsel for parties still may be receiving the courtesy copy of documents served through the CM/ECF system in hard copy via first class or other mail or delivery, notwithstanding that Local Rule 9036-1(b) allows for the courtesy copy to be delivered via email or other electronic form; and

WHEREAS, in light of current circumstances, the Court wants to encourage filing parties to deliver the courtesy copy provided for under Local Rule 9036-1(b) only via email or other electronic means, and not to deliver a courtesy hard copy via first class or other mail or delivery.

NOW, THEREFORE, it is hereby ORDERED as follows:

1. This Order is effective as of August 14, 2020.

2. Consistent with Local Rule 9036-1(b), the Court directs that filing parties cause the courtesy copy provided under Rule 9036-1(b) to be delivered via email or other electronic means, and not to deliver a courtesy hard copy via first class or other mail or other delivery.

3. For the avoidance of doubt (if any), delivery via email or other electronic means of the courtesy copy provided under Local Rule 9036-1(b) to co-counsel of a registered CM/ECF user service satisfies the requirements of Local Rule 9036-1(b), and, as with registered CM/ECF users, the Court directs that filing parties cause the courtesy copy only to be delivered to such co-counsel via email or other electronic means.

4. Parties that submit orders that list parties on whom objections should be served should not state in such order that service should be made by hard copy via first class or other mail or other delivery and, to avoid confusion, should not list a physical mailing address.

5. As provided in Local Rule 5005-4(c)(iv), all CM/ECF registered users are required to maintain an active email address and each user has a duty to update promptly his or her account information on the CM/ECF system whenever there is a change in the user’s primary or secondary email address.

6. For the benefit of filers, email address information is available within the CM/ECF system, including under either of the “Attorney” or “Party” queries within the list of queries displayed for a particular case, or by request to counsel of record for the debtor or the debtor’s appointed claims agent.

7. For the avoidance of doubt (if any), this Order does not apply to any pleading or other paper required to be served in accordance with Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7004 or as provided in Local Rule 5005-4(c)(iii).

8. This Order shall remain in effect until amended or vacated by the Court.

Dated: August 14, 2020

CHRISTOPHER S. SONTCHI

CHIEF UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE

http://www.deb.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/news/Standing%20Order%20(9036-1(b)).pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUGUST 12, 2020 Delaware Supreme Court adopts limited practice privilege for 2020 Bar Applicants Court’s order will allow many law school graduates who were unable to take the Bar Exam due to the pandemic to begin their legal careers in Delaware while waiting to sit for the 2021 Bar Exam The Delaware Supreme Court today adopted a limited practice privilege order that will allow many of the applicants for the 2020 Delaware Bar Exam to start their legal careers pending the administration of the 2021 Delaware Bar Exam. This extraordinary measure is designed to ameliorate the hardships that candidates for admission to the Delaware Bar face after the cancellation of the 2020 Bar Exam. Under the Order, eligible applicants may engage in a variety of legal activities, including court appearances, under the supervision of an experienced Delaware lawyer until the 2021 Delaware Bar Exam is administered. Eligible applicants may apply to the Board of Bar Examiners for a Certificate of Limited Practice. To qualify, applicants must not have failed the Delaware Bar Exam on two or more occasions and must pass a character and fitness investigation. Additional details on eligibility and the terms of the limited practice are included in the Order. “The Court expresses its appreciation to the Board of Bar Examiners for developing the interim practice privilege. It is our hope that many Delaware Bar applicants can take advantage of this opportunity and get started with their legal careers while we continue to deal with the COVID 19 pandemic,” said Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr.

Details of the limited practice rule have been provided directly to the 2020 Delaware Bar Applicants and the rule has been posted on the Delaware Courts website at https://courts.delaware.gov/rules/pdf/OrderCertifiedLimitedPracticePrivilege2020.pdf.