The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin will add CM/ECF Release 5.0 and 5.1 to the live database and the new product will be ready for use on Monday, June 24, 2013.  The CM/ECF system will not be available between 6:00 AM CDT on Saturday June 22 and 6:00 AM CDT on Monday June 24, 2013.  For a detailed list of changes in CM/ECF Release 5.0 and 5.1 please read the release notes available on the Court’s Training page.   Additional information is available on the PACER Service Center webpage.

On April 1, 2013, automatic adjustments to the dollar amounts stated in various provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and one provision in Title 28 of the United States Code will become effective.  The amended dollar amounts will apply to cases filed on or after April 1, 2013.

In the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994, as amended by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, and Pub. L. No. 110-406 (2008), Congress provided for the automatic adjustment of these dollar amounts at three-year intervals.  The relevant provisions are codified in 11 U.S.C. §104(a).  

The Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule has been amended to add a $25 fee for filing a transfer of claim effective May 1, 2013.  Please click the following link for more information:  New Claims Transfer Fee

Effective Tuesday, January 22, the Bankruptcy Court no longer will issue refunds for overpayments of less than $10.00.  Substantial administrative time and cost, which greatly outweigh the actual refund, go into processing refunds, particularly refunds for minimal amounts.  This policy does not apply to Pay.gov refunds.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has announced the appointment of G. Michael Halfenger to the bankruptcy bench for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Judge Halfenger will succeed Judge James E Shapiro upon Judge Shapiro's retirement. Judge Halfenger will take office on January 11, 2013.  Judge Halfenger graduated summa cum laude from Lawrence University. He obtained his J.D. with honors from the University of Chicago, where he also was a member of the Order of the Coif. Judge Halfenger joined the law firm of Foley and Lardner in 1994, after clerking for Judge Frank Easterbrook on the Seventh Circuit and practicing at Sidley & Austin in Chicago. His recent focus has been on appellate work in both state and federal courts. He is a former president of the Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association and currently is the Second Vice President of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association.  Please welcome Judge Halfenger to the bench and to the bankruptcy community.

Effective January 1, 2012, the presumptively reasonable fee that a bankruptcy petition preparer in the Eastern District of Wisconsin is allowed to charge or collect will be capped at $75 per case.  The $75 fee includes all services provided by a non-attorney for assisting a debtor in preparing the petition, schedules, statements, applications and other required documents for a bankruptcy case.  

If a bankruptcy petition preparer believes that the value of his or her services in a particular case exceeds $75, that bankruptcy petition preparer will be required to file, along with the Disclosure of Compensation of Bankruptcy Petition Preparer (Form B280), an affidavit or declaration under penalty of perjury, explaining why the preparer believes that the services in that case were worth more than $75.  The court will review that affidavit or declaration, and determine whether to allow a fee in excess of $75.  

Any bankruptcy petition preparer who, without obtaining court approval, charges or collects a fee in excess of $75 will be required to refund the excess to the debtor.  If the petition preparer does not refund the excess fee to the debtor, the petition preparer will face additional sanctions.  

For more information and additional regulations concerning bankruptcy petition preparers, see Title 11 U.S.C. § 110.

Pursuant to Local Rule 5005, “Electronic filing is mandatory for all attorneys who file in this district except in limited emergency circumstances or where the attorney has received a waiver from the mandatory requirement from the Chief Judge of the Bankruptcy Court.  If an attorney encounters emergency circumstances that require the attorney to file documents in paper form, the paper filing shall be accompanied by a letter briefly discussing the emergency circumstances that prevented electronic filing.”  For additional information on how to become a registered electronic filer, please refer to the “Training” link under the above entitled section “Information for Attorneys.”

Milwaukee-Thursdays, 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., U.S. Courthouse, Room 153.

The Milwaukee location offers services for Spanish-speaking debtors on the LAST Thursday of every month.

Servicios de habla hispana

Abogados voluntarios proveen asistencia a los deudores de capítulo 7, o a las personas considerando llenar el capítulo 7 de bancarrota, que deseen continuar pro se (sin un abogado que los represente). El Centro de Ayuda está abierto los jueves, de 9:00 am a 10:30 am, en la Sala 153 del Palacio de Justicia de EE.UU., y ofrece servicios en español el último jueves de cada mes.

Green Bay - First Thursday of the following months: February, April, June, August, October, and December, 5:00-6:30 p.m., Harmony Café, 1660 W. Mason Street, in the Justice Room.

We need volunteer attorneys for the Pro Se Help Desk and attorneys who may be willing to accept referrals of Chapter 13 debtors. If you are an attorney, and you wish to volunteer or add your name to the referral list, please contact the Clerk's Office at (414) 297-3291.

The bankruptcy section of the Milwaukee Bar Association, with the assistance and support of the State Bar of Wisconsin, provides a Pro Se Bankruptcy Help Desk at the United States Bankruptcy Court in Milwaukee and at the Harmony Café in Green Bay.  The Pro Se Help Desk is funded by the State Bar of Wisconsin, the American College of Bankruptcy and the American  College of Bankruptcy Foundation.  The service is provided on a first come, first served basis.  Due to increased volume, it is possible that if you do not come early you may not be seen. There will be a sign-in form and each person will be called in turn.

The service is available to chapter 7 debtors (or people considering filing chapter 7 bankruptcy) who wish to proceed pro se (i.e., do not have a lawyer to represent them in a bankruptcy case).

The service provides assistance with completing the required bankruptcy paperwork.

To enhance the registration process for new electronic filers, the Bankruptcy Clerk's Office has added an online submission process.  To register for an electronic filing account on this Court’s Electronic Case Filing System (CM-ECF), please click here.