Application to Employ

General Information

• Applications to Employ are filed by the Trustee, Debtor-in-Possession or Creditor’s Committee.

• The Court cannot grant an Application to Employ in the first twenty-one days after filing except to the extent that the relief is necessary to avoid immediate and irreparable harm.

• Except for Chapter 11 cases, the Court will not issue an Objection Notice on an Application to Employ, but will not enter an order for 14 days (or longer if the 21 day period mentioned above has not passed) to allow for the filing of any objections.

Filing Requirements

• The Employment Application must describe the proposed terms of employment. If employment is to be at an hourly rate, the proposed hourly rates of all professionals who will work on the case must be provided. If employment is on a contingent fee basis, the percentages and triggering events must be disclosed.

• A certificate of service must be included.

• A verified statement of the person to be employed must be filed setting forth the person's connections with the debtor, creditors, any other party in interest, their respective attorneys and accountants, the U.S. Trustee or any person employed in the office of the United States Trustee. Note that any connections with any party on the case must be disclosed, even if no conflict of interest arises. A person might have a connection to a party on the case but still be disinterested. For instance, if the person being employed is the debtor's uncle, that connection must still be disclosed even if the uncle has no financial connections with the debtor.

• A proposed order must be uploaded.

Step-by-Step Procedures:

1. Log into CM/ECF

2. Select Bankruptcy > Motions, Applications &  Briefs

3. Enter the case number (e.g. xx-xxxxx). Click Next

4. Select Employ, Application to from the event list. Click Next

5. Select appropriate radio button to indicate whether or not the Motion you are filing is amended.

6. Check box if jointly filing with another attorney, click Next.

7. If you indicated that you are filing jointly with other attorney(s), select additional attorney(s) and click Next

NOTE: You cannot add attorneys. Only attorneys who have previously entered an appearance will be available for selection.

8. Select the party filer.  If the party is not listed, click on Add/Create New Party. Click Next

Note: The "Attorney/Party Association” screen may appear. If your party selection was correct, check the box to create an association and click Next.

9. Browse to select the Motion (pdf file).  Click Next

Note: The Motion and Verified Statement may be a single pdf file, or the Verified Statement may be added as an attachment by choosing the Yes radio button underneath the Browse button.

10. Enter name of person to be employed and their position. Choose the correct radio button to indicate whether you are also filing the Verified Statement, then click Next

11. If you indicated in step 5 that you are filing an amended motion, all pending motions on the docket are displayed. Select the motion that is being amended and click Next

12. Enter additional text, if desired, and/or select prefix text and click Next

Note: The prefix text option is not available if you indicated in Step 5 that the Motion you are filing is amended. The additional text option is not always available.

13. Verify the final docket text; If correct, click Next to submit your document(s).

Note: The Notice of Electronic Filing displays giving you the document number. Copies of this notice are immediately e-mailed to all participants who receive electronic notification in the case.

14. Upload proposed order. The Order must include name of who is being employed and purpose (ie: accountant, auctioneer)

Curing Deficiencies

If the Application to Employ is deficient, an amended Application must be filed prior to the deficiency deadline using the instructions above, or the Application may be stricken.

If the Verified Statement alone is deficient (or was not filed), it may be filed separately using Bankruptcy > Miscellaneous > Verified Statement re: Application to Employ.