Omnibus Substitution and Withdraw of Appearance/Attorney Surrogacy

Official Procedure Last Change June 21, 2024

Omnibus Substitution and Withdrawal of Appearance/Attorney Surrogacy

How to file:

Consult with the Clerk's Office before attempting to file a miscellaneous proceeding as it cannot be filed electronically. The required opening document shall be mailed or hand delivered to the Clerk's office for opening of the miscellaneous proceeding.

General Information

  • An Omnibus Notice of Substitution and Withdrawal of Appearance is a notice which directs the Court to substitute one attorney with another in multiple cases (this applies to attorneys from different or the same law firm). 
  • The substituting attorney must be admitted to practice in the Southern District and must have a registered ECF account.
  • The Omnibus Notice may be filed by the new attorney or by the attorney being replaced.

Filing Requirements

  • The document must be titled, Omnibus Notice of Substitution and Withdrawal of Appearance.
  • A separate text (.txt) file listing all the cases where the substitution will occur.
  • Attorney for debtor or for a party in an adversary proceeding: The notice must include the original signature of both attorneys. If the attorney being replaced is unavailable to sign the notice, the new attorney must include an affidavit stating the reasons for the unavailability.
  • A Certificate of Service must be included.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. The filing attorney delivers to the Clerk’s Office the Omnibus Notice of Substitution and Withdrawal of Appearance, Affidavit (unless both attorneys have signed the notice), and Certificate of Service.

2. The Clerk’s Office will open a miscellaneous proceeding. Once this is done, a Notice of Electronic Filing is automatically sent to the filing party, which contains the case number (miscellaneous proceedings always begin with 56 after the hyphen, e.g., 24-56001).

3. If the filing fee is not paid upon the opening of the miscellaneous proceeding, the Clerk’s Office will docket an invoice within ECF for payment of the filing fee via Pay.gov.

4. The filing attorney will email a text (.txt) file to redaction@insb.uscourts.gov which includes a list of all affected case numbers. The subject line of the email must include the miscellaneous proceeding case number.

Case number format for text file:

21-07888
22-09987
22-12345
23-07655
23-11100
 
Note: Do not include a document title, judge's initials, chapter of filing, or other short title/description such as the case name(s).

5. The Clerk’s Office will complete processing of the miscellaneous proceeding, including making the substitutions of counsel and closing of the proceeding, only upon payment of the filing fee, the receipt of the text file (.txt), and the entry of all Court orders.