Edward A. Godoy
CHAPTER 13
JUDGE JOAN N. FEENEY
OPINION AND ORDER
The application for admission pro hac vice filed on January 3, 2014, at Docket No. 282, is hereby DENIED without prejudice. P.R. LBR 9010-1(a), on admission to practice and admission pro hac vice in the bankruptcy court, simply refers attorneys to P.R. LBR 2090-1. P.R. LBR 2090-1(c), which specifically covers pro hac vice admissions, provides that "[e]xcept as modified by LBR 9010-1(b), the provisions contained in L.Civ.R. 83A(f), apply to practice in this [bankruptcy] court." P.R. L.Civ.R. 83A(f) requires a pro hac vice applicant to designate a member of the district court as local counsel.
The exception for uncontested matters contained in P.R. LBR 9010-1(b) does not apply to adversary proceedings. Adversary proceedings are not matters in the main bankruptcy case which may be uncontested and, when they become contested, are governed by Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9014. Adversary proceedings, like civil actions in the district court, are commenced by the filing of a complaint. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7003; Fed. R. Civ. P. 3. And adversary proceedings are governed, for the most part, by the same Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which govern civil actions in the district court. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7002 - 7071. Thus, attorneys not admitted in the district court are subject to the same requirements for admission pro hac vice to appear in an adversary proceeding in the bankruptcy court as in a civil action in the district court.
In Ponce, Puerto Rico, this 13th day of January 2014.
Edward A. Godoy
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge