You will not receive legal advice if you contact the Clerk's Office or a Judge's Chambers.

Fairness to all parties requires that the Clerk's Office and judges refrain from providing legal advice. Consequently, you will not receive legal advice if you contact the Clerk's Office or a judge. Note that questions about how to proceed or what to do are considered requests for legal advice.

If you would like to better understand your legal rights, you may wish to speak to an attorney who is familiar with the bankruptcy system. For a general overview of the bankruptcy process, you may wish to consult the US Courts' Website.

Clerk's Office staff are available in person or by phone to assist you with a variety of issues, including but not limited to:

• Questions related to bankruptcy and adversary proceedings
• Locating information on our website
• Navigating CM/ECF (electronic filers only)
• Accessing archived case information

What the Clerk's Office can do:

• Assist in locating forms and other information on the court's website and elsewhere
• Accept bankruptcy filings and fees
• Provide general information about bankruptcy forms and filing requirements
• Provide general information about an existing bankruptcy case or proceeding
• Provide regular and certified copies of documents from a bankruptcy file
• Retrieve a bankruptcy file from the national records archives, if available

What the Clerk's Office cannot do:

• Explain the meaning of a particular rule
• Give an interpretation of case law
• Explain the result of taking or not taking action in a case or proceeding
• Tell you whether jurisdiction is proper in a case or proceeding
• Tell you whether a complaint properly presents a claim
• Provide advice regarding the best procedure to accomplish a particular goal
• Apply a rule or statute
• Accept change or accept credit cards or personal checks from debtors
• Explain what is proper notice or service
• Assist you in completing forms

Judges will not consider ex parte contacts.

"Ex parte" is a Latin phrase meaning "on one side only; by or for one party." An ex parte communication occurs when a party to a case or a person affiliated with a party to a case communicates with a judge without the knowledge of other parties to the case. For example, a letter addressed to the judge is considered an ex parte communication because no other party has access to it. By contrast, formal court filings are not considered ex parte communications because all parties in the case have access to and the ability to contest them.

To ensure fairness to all parties, Cannon 3 of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges bars judges from considering ex parte communications. Similarly, Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9003 prohibits parties to a case and individuals associated with parties to a case from engaging in ex parte communications with judges.