IN RE ASSIGNMENT REASSIGNMENT, RELATED CA. (Bankr.C.D.Cal. 1999)

GERALDINE MUND, Chief Judge.

To assist in the orderly conduct of the business of this Court, the Judges of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California hereby enter General Order 99-02, dated March 31, 1999, regarding assignment and reassignment of related cases and proceedings and cases and proceedings due to recusal.

The recently promulgated Local Bankruptcy Rules, which became effective on July 1, 1998, do not contain a provision similar to that of prior Local Bankruptcy Rule 104 (4) (c) or 104 (4) (d), as the Ninth Circuit Review of Local Rules determined that the procedures concerning assignment and reassignment of related cases were more appropriately implemented in a General Order. This General Order establishes procedures by which related cases and proceedings are assigned and reassigned and by which cases and proceedings are reassigned due to recusal.

Assignment of Related Cases

The following procedure shall be used for the assignment of related cases by the Clerk of the Court.

When a "Rule 1015-2 Statement" (as defined in Local Bankruptcy Rule 1015-2 (2) (b)) discloses a Related Case (as defined in Local Bankruptcy Rule 1015-2 (1)) which is or was pending in this District, the newly-filed case shall be assigned by the Clerk in the following manner:

(a) Except as provided in subsection (c), if the Judge to whom such Related Case was most recently assigned is still in office, then to such judge;

(b) If such Judge is no longer in office, then according to the administrative orders of this Court; and

(c) If the new petition was properly filed in a division of this District different from the division in which the Judge to whom the prior case was assigned now sits, the new case will be assigned to a Judge in the division in which it was filed and not to the Judge to whom the prior case was assigned.

The following procedure shall apply to the reassignment of cases and related proceedings by the Court:

(1) The Judge before whom a later-filed case or proceeding is pending may, with or without motion, notice or hearing, order the reassignment of such case or proceeding to the Judge before whom a prior Related Case or proceeding is pending.

(2) The Judge before whom a prior case or proceeding is pending or was pending may, with or without motion, notice or hearing, order the reassignment to his or her docket of a later-filed case or proceeding pending before another Judge. Any reassignment of a case or proceeding pursuant to this paragraph (2) shall require the concurrence of the Judges to whom and from whom such case or proceeding is to be reassigned.

(3) The Judges to whom a Related Case or proceeding have been assigned may, by mutual consent, order the reassignment of prior Related Case or proceeding to the Judge to whom a later-filed case or proceeding has been assigned for good cause based upon the convenience of the parties or where justice otherwise requires.

If a case or proceeding is assigned to a Judge and the assigned Judge discovers grounds to recuse himself or herself pursuant to Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 5004, the assigned Judge may not cause the case or proceeding to be reassigned unless the assigned Judge first signs an order that specifies the basis for recusal and, hence, reassignment. The form "Orders of Recusal" are attached as Exhibit "A" to this order.

The preceding paragraph applies no matter how the case or proceeding was assigned to the assigned Judge.