Standing committee on blanks and forms

Rule 16

Rule XVI. Standing committee on blanks and forms

There shall be a standing committee, consisting of two magistrates, to be appointed by the President, to be known as the Committee on Blanks and Forms, and who shall have charge of the preparation of such blanks and forms as may, from time to time, be necessary.

GENERAL ORDERS IN BANKRUPTCY

ADOPTED BY THE

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

AT THE OCTOBER TERM, 1898

PREAMBLE

In pursuance of the powers conferred by the Constitution and laws upon the Supreme Court of the United States, and particularly by the act of Congress approved July 1, 1898, entitled "An act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States, it is ordered, on this 28th day of November, 1898, that the following rules be adopted and established as general orders in bankruptcy, to take effect on the first Monday, being the second day, of January, 1899. And it is further ordered that all proceedings in bankruptcy had before that day, in accordance with the act last aforesaid, and being in substantial conformity either with the provisions of these general orders, or else with the general orders established by this court under the bankrupt act of 1867 and with any general rules or special orders of the courts in bankruptcy, stand good, subject, however, to such further regulations by rule or order of those courts as may be necessary or proper to carry into force and effect the bankrupt act of 1898 and the general orders of this court.

I. DOCKET

The clerk shall keep a docket, in which the cases shall be entered and numbered in the order in which they are commenced. It shall contain a memorandum of the filing

of the petition and of the action of the court thereon, of the reference of the case to the referee, and of the transmission by him to the clerk of his certified record of the proceedings, with the dates thereof, and a memorandum of all proceedings in the case except those duly entered on the referee's certified record aforesaid. The docket shall be arranged in a manner convenient for reference, and shall at all times be open to public inspection.

II. FILING OF PAPERS

The clerk or the referee shall indorse on each paper filed with him the day and hour of filing, and a brief statement of its character.

III. PROCESS

All process, summons and subpoenas shall issue out of the court, under the seal thereof, and be tested by the clerk; and blanks, with the signature of the clerk and seal of the court; may, upon application, be furnished to the referees.

IV. CONDUCT OF PROCEEDINGS

Proceedings in bankruptcy may be conducted by the bankrupt in person in his own behalf, or by a petitioning or opposing creditor; but a creditor will only be allowed to manage before the court his individual interest. Every party may appear and conduct the proceedings by attorney, who shall be an attorney or counselor authorized to practice in the circuit or district court. The name of the attorney or counselor, with his place of business, shall be entered upon the docket, with the date of the entry. All papers or proceedings offered by an attorney to be filed shall be indorsed as above required, and orders granted on motion shall contain the name of the party or attorney

Petitions Orders 5, 6

making the motion. Notices and orders which are not, by the act or by these general orders, required to be served on the party personally may be served upon his attorney.

V. FRAME OF PETITIONS

All petitions and the schedules filed therewith shall be printed or written out plainly, without abbreviation or interlineation, except where such abbreviation and interlineation may be for the purpose of reference.

VI. PETITIONS IN DIFFERENT DISTRICTS

In case two or more petitions shall be filed against the same individual in different districts, the first hearing shall be had in the district in which the debtor has his domicile, and the petition may be amended by inserting an allegation of an act of bankruptcy committed at an earlier date than that first alleged, if such earlier act is charged in either of the other petitions; and in case of two or more petitions against the same partnership in different courts, each having jurisdiction over the case, the petition first filed shall be first heard, and may be amended by the insertion of an allegation of an earlier act of bankruptcy than that first alleged, if such earlier act is charged in either of the other petitions; and, in either case, the proceedings upon the other petitions may be stayed until an adjudication is made upon the petition first heard; and the court which makes the first adjudication of bankruptcy shall retain jurisdiction over all proceedings therein until the same shall be closed. In case two or more petitions shall be filed in different districts by different members of the same partnership for an adjudication of the bankruptcy of said partnership, the court in which the petition is first filed, having jurisdiction, shall take and retain jurisdiction over all proceedings in such bankruptcy until the