Official Procedure Last Change August 20, 2021

Attorney surrogates

General Information

• If an attorney is no longer able to represent their clients for reasons such as the death of the attorney or their having been suspended from practicing law, an attorney surrogate may be appointed. The surrogate assumes certain responsibilities related to the clients, including finding replacement counsel if necessary.
• An attorney appointed as surrogate who wants to file pleadings in or obtain information about bankruptcy cases and proceedings must first become an authorized electronic filer, with attorney rights. View instructions on that process
• The surrogate attorney can use a CM/ECF account for surrogate and regular attorney work. A special surrogate account is not needed.

Step-by-step instructions for the surrogacy process

For the purposes of these instructions, the term “Lawyer” refers to the attorney as to whom a surrogate has been appointed in state court.  The term “Surrogate” refers to that appointed person. The term “Clerk” refers to the Bankruptcy Clerk or designees.

1. After appointment by a state court, the Surrogate files the Notice of Surrogate's Appointment, attaching a copy of the state court order appointing the Surrogate.These must be mailed or hand-delivered to the Clerk’s Office - they cannot be filed electronically.
2. The Clerk opens a miscellaneous proceeding which is assigned to the Chief Judge (who may in turn transfer the proceeding to any other Judge) and advises the Surrogate of the miscellaneous proceeding number. The Surrogate can then file electronically in that miscellaneous proceeding. (The Notice of Surrogate's Appointment and the state court order appointing the Surrogate are designated as Doc. No. 1 on the miscellaneous proceeding docket).
3. The Surrogate uploads the Order on Notice of Surrogate's Appointment ("Appointment Order") to the miscellaneous proceeding.
4. Once the Appointment Order has been entered, the Clerk provides the Surrogate with the list of open cases and proceedings in which the Lawyer had an appearance, appoints the Surrogate (with a docket entry on the case), and edits the attorney record to show the Lawyer as Inactive – Surrogate Appointed and to show the Surrogate as Surrogate. (If the notice filed by the Surrogate says that the Lawyer is deceased or if the Clerk has previously received information of the Lawyer’s death, the Lawyer’s record will be edited to show DECEASED rather than Inactive.) The list of open cases and proceedings will be provided in an Excel spreadsheet format unless the Surrogate requests a different format and the Clerk can comply with that request. 
5. The Surrogate then sends notice of his/her appointment to each party represented by the Lawyer from the provided list of cases.  The notice should provide guidance on retention of the Surrogate, selection of other counsel, or the need to continue without an attorney.
6. Within fourteen days of the entry of the Appointment Order, the Surrogate must file a certificate of service within the miscellaneous proceeding which lists all the persons to whom the notice was sent. A copy of the notice must be attached to the Certificate.
7. If the Surrogate seeks to represent the clients and has obtained their consent to do so, the Surrogate shall file an Appearance in the bankruptcy case or proceeding. When the Appearance is filed, if the Surrogate indicates that the surrogacy is to be terminated (and they will represent the client), the Surrogate and Inactive - Surrogate Appointed labels are removed from the attorney records on the docket. In response to the Appearance and termination of surrogacy, the Lawyer will be terminated (not deleted) by the Case Administrator assigned to the case.

If the Surrogate will not be representing the clients because:

• the Surrogate does not intend to represent the clients;

• the clients reject that representation;

• the clients hire replacement counsel;

• the Surrogate determines a conflict exists and cannot represent the clients, or

• the clients fail to respond to the Surrogate’s notice of the need to take affirmative action regarding counsel,

the Surrogate must file a notice of termination as to the Surrogate’s status in the particular case or proceeding using the Notice of Submission event. When that notice of termination is filed, if the Surrogate indicates they will not represent the client(s) and that the surrogacy is to be terminated, the Surrogate is removed from the case automatically and the Inactive - Surrogate Appointed label is removed from the Lawyer's record (thus returning the original attorney as counsel to the debtor(s)).

8. When the state court enters an order discharging the Surrogate, he/she must file notice of that discharge in the miscellaneous proceeding within 14 days of its entry.  However, if the Surrogate has not been discharged by the state court within six months of the entry of the Appointment Order, he/she must file a status report on or before six months after the date of the Appointment Order's entry, and every six months thereafter, until so discharged. However, if the Surrogate has yet to have been discharged by the state court but reports to this Court that all Bankruptcy Court matters have been concluded, this Court may enter an order excusing further reporting requirements and closing the miscellaneous proceeding. The notice of Surrogate's discharge and status reports are to be filed using the Notice of Submission event.
9. Upon the filing of a notice of discharge by the state court or the entry of an order closing the miscellaneous proceedings, the Clerk will terminate the Surrogate (with a separate docket entry), the Surrogate will be removed from the case or proceeding where they have not previously been removed, and the miscellaneous proceeding will be closed.

Official Procedure Last Change August 22, 2017

Bankruptcy Pro Bono panel

General information

The judges of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana have created a Bankruptcy Pro Bono Panel as a resource to assist parties involved in bankruptcy matters when 1) a pro se party is involved in a bankruptcy matter 2) the party cannot afford legal representation and 3) the judge determines that it is in the best interest of the bankruptcy system to involve a volunteer attorney to assist the party in addressing and resolving the matter.

The Bankruptcy Pro Bono Panel is only available by judicial referral or by the pro bono clerk. A party cannot seek out an application on their own. Applications are available only after a judge or the pro bono clerk offers one to the party.

Prospective debtors who have not as yet filed bankruptcy may use the court's online request for free or low cost legal help to see if such assistance may be available to them.

Volunteer attorneys

Attorneys who are admitted to practice in the Southern District of Indiana are eligible to volunteer to serve on the Bankruptcy Pro Bono Panel. Download volunteer registrations form

Official Procedure Last Change August 9, 2019

Change/Update Email Address

Access to CM/ECF is via a PACER account, therefore, changes to your e-mail address must be made on the pacer.uscourts.gov Modify your Account page. Changes are automatically sent to court staff, who will modify your data in CM/ECF.

Secondary email addresses must be added or deleted in CM/ECF by going to Utilities > Maintain Your ECF Account, then clicking Email Information.

Official Procedure Last Change June 4, 2018

Changing your ECF password

Access to CM/ECF is via a PACER account, therefore, password changes must be made on the pacer.uscourts.gov Modify your Account page.

Official Procedure Last Change June 4, 2018

Changing your address

Access to CM/ECF is via a PACER account, therefore, changes to your mailing address must be made on the pacer.uscourts.gov Modify your Account page. Changes are automatically sent to court staff, who will modify your data in CM/ECF.

Official Procedure Last Change December 15, 2016

Child Support Creditors

General Information

Attorneys or other representatives for child support creditors:

• do not have to pay filing fees;
• do not have to file electronically in the Southern District of Indiana;
• do not have to be admitted to the bar nor file a pro hac vice motion.

Requirements to appear as an attorney or other representative on behalf of a child support creditor

• If taking advantage of any of the three exemptions above, Form 2810 must also be filed, or information from that form be included in the regular appearance or first pleading filed.

Official Procedure Last Change November 4, 2020

Hardware/Software Requirements

Filers will need the following hardware and software to file documents in the CM/ECF electronic filing system:

• A personal computer running a standard platform such as Windows or Macintosh with minimum memory of 256MB (Windows 2000 requires a minimum of 512MB).
• A PDF-compatible word processor like Macintosh or Windows-based versions of WordPerfect or Word, or software to convert documents from a word processor format to portable document format (PDF), such as Adobe Acrobat (full version, not just Acrobat Reader).
• Internet Service.
• A web browser - the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer are recommended. Some users have had positive experiences with other web browsers, but those listed here have been tested and certified for compatibility with CM/ECF.
• PDF reader software, often available for free.
• A scanner will be necessary if you wish to include existing paper documents with the document you wish to file, for instance to attach a copy of a contract to a Proof of Claim. You will also need software to convert the scanned image to portable document format (PDF) such as Adobe Acrobat (full version, not just Acrobat Reader).

Official Procedure Last Change November 4, 2015

Linking your ECF account to your PACER account

General information

Linking your ECF account with your PACER account saves you from having to enter your PACER user name and password every time you view a docket or document.

Step by step instructions

• On the PACER log in screen, enter your user name and password.
• Before clicking the Login button, click the "Make this my default PACER login" check box:

Logging into CM/ECF

1. Go to pacer.gov > Login > court links > Indiana Southern - NextGen

2. Click the Southern District of Indiana - Document Filing System link

3. Enter your PACER login and password (and a personal client code if you wish to use one) and click Login. If you do not have a PACER login, you can get one here.

For instructions on obtaining an ECF login and password, visit the INSB INSB CM/ECF Registration Page.

Official Procedure Last Change June 30, 2014

Pro Bono Representation

General information

A pro bono attorney is one who is willing to represent a client at no charge.

Legal resources

Information on organizations that may be able to assist you in filing bankruptcy without an attorney can be found on the court's website.

Official Procedure Last Change March 2, 2022

Registration Procedures

Click to view Registration Instructions for ECF.