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Proposed Order Guidelines

Style Guide

Consult the Style Guide for a brief summary of commonly used Bluebook rules and the Court’s modifications to those rules. The Style Guide also contains more in-depth instructions for formatting proposed orders and provides visual examples. 
 

Required Local Form Orders

Pursuant to Administrative Order 26-001, parties are required to use certain Required Local Form Orders for specific motions, applications, or objections. A list of the Required Local Form Orders is posted on the Forms page. Highlighted areas in each document are required information.
 

Sample Orders

Sample Orders are provided for your convenience on the Forms page. If a Sample Order is available for the particular matter, it may be used but is not required. Highlighted areas in each document are required information and should be revised to fit the particular circumstances applicable to the motion for which it is being submitted and/or the relief being granted. Text in blue is to be included only if applicable to the specific motion for which it is being submitted.  
 

Case Style

The case style must include the chapter, complete and correct debtor or plaintiff and defendant name(s), and case number including the assigned judge’s initials once known.

 

Title

The title of the proposed order should contain the disposition of the motion, name of the movant, docket number of the motion, and the title of the related motion (ONLY ONE MOTION PER ORDER):

  • Order Granting ABC Bank’s Motion for Relief from Stay (Doc. 51)
  • Order Approving Trustee’s Application for Compensation (Doc. 123)
  • Orders “on” a motion/application/objection will not be accepted; they must include a disposition

Continuances. For all orders granting motions to continue: The title must include the exact title of the motion to continue and the docket number for the motion to continue (e.g., where the Motion to Continue Hearing on Trustee's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 20) was filed at Doc. 25, the title of the order should be: "ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO CONTINUE HEARING ON TRUSTEE'S MOTION TO DISMISS (DOC. 20) (Doc. 25)" ). Neither the title of the motion nor the title of the order should contain the docket number for the hearing notice. 

 

Disposition

The correct disposition terminology should be used:

  • Motions are granted or denied
  • Objections are sustained or overruled
  • Applications are approved or disapproved
  • Non‐dispositional language such as “Order on Motion” will not be accepted

 

Body

The opening paragraph of the proposed order should contain the document number of the motion or document to which the order is related

  • “THIS CASE is before the Court on Creditor ABC Bank’s Motion to Dismiss Case (Doc. 57)…”
  • “THIS CASE came before the Court for hearing on August 4, 2026, on Creditor ABC Bank’s Motion to Dismiss Case (Doc. 57)…”

 

Prepared By

The name of the attorney who prepared the proposed order is to be indicated at the end of the document in 11-point font.

 

Amended Orders

Amended orders must contain a footnote explaining why the original order is being amended.

 

Referenced Documents

Proposed orders which contain references to Proofs of Claim or items on the docket such as responses, amendments, etc., should contain the name(s) and docket or claim number(s) of those items as shown in the examples above. 

 

Objections to Claims

Orders sustaining objections to claims should clearly indicate the amount of the claim to be disallowed. Do not simply state “claim is disallowed in its entirety.” There is a Required Local Form Order Sustaining Objection to Claim that must be used when the Objection to Claim is unopposed. Consult the language in that order for drafting orders being submitted after a hearing or that are agreed to.

 

Service Language

Proposed orders will be required to include one of these service statements:

  • For an Attorney: “Attorney [Name of submitting attorney] is directed to serve a copy of this order on interested parties who did not receive service by CM/ECF and file proof of service within three (3) business days of entry of the order.”
  • For a Trustee: “Trustee [Name of submitting trustee] is directed to serve a copy of this order on interested parties who did not receive service by CM/ECF and file proof of service within three (3) business days of entry of the order.”

The statement should be located at the end of the document in 11-point font. Proposed orders that do not include this statement will be rejected, and the submitting party will be required to submit a new order with the appropriate language included. 

Failure to serve an order within the time allotted may result in the order being vacated.
 

Submission Rules

Effective 10/1/2026: Proposed orders must be submitted in  PDF format. Word format will not be accepted. The order, including any attached exhibits, must be formatted entirely on standard-sized paper (8 ½ x 11 inches) in portrait orientation and merged into a single PDF file. Use the electronic submission link through CM/ECF only to submit proposed orders.

 

Competing Orders

If there is a dispute between counsel about all or a portion of a proposed order that cannot be resolved by the time the proposed order is to be submitted, a letter must be included (as the first page of the proposed order) that states:

  • The order is not agreed to by opposing counsel;
  • Whether a competing order is expected; and
  • The issue that is in dispute.

The letter and the proposed order must be copied to opposing counsel. 

 

Plain Language

Utilize plain language as follows:

  • CORRECT: “IT IS ORDERED:”
  • INCORRECT: Accordingly; Hereby; Therefore; Adjudged and Decreed; Whereas
  • INCORRECT: “The Court is of the opinion…”
  • CORRECT: “No party filed an objection within the prescribed time period, so the Court considers the matter unopposed.”
  • INCORRECT: “No response having been filed, the court is of the opinion that the Motion is due to be granted.”

 

Format

  • Documents must be double spaced and contain only basic formatting.
  • Use the same font type and size throughout the document (14-pt font, except for the “prepared by” and service instructions at the bottom of the page, which should be 11-pt font).
  • Ensure that the correct judge’s initials appear after the case number within the header.
  • Ensure that the Chapter identification, e.g., Chapter 7, appears above or below the case number within the header.
  • When using properly spelled Latin terms (e.g. in rem), you must either underline the term or use Italic font.
  • The decree generally is presented in either multiple numbered paragraphs or in a single unnumbered paragraph, and the decretal paragraphs shall not begin or be the only text on a page.
  • At the end of the Court’s decree should be “End of Order” in bold 11-pt font.
  • The name of the attorney who prepared the order is to be indicated at the end of the document in 11-pt font.
     

Margins

Effective 10/1/2026: Due to the Court’s use of E-Orders, extra space must be added to the top of orders to allow room for the judge’s signature. All page margins (top, sides, and bottom) should be set to 1” (one inch), and then 2 more inches of blank space (in addition to the one-inch margin) are added to the first page (only) for a total of 3” from the top of the page.

How To Create the 3-inch Margins
To achieve a 3-inch total top margin (1-inch page margin + 2-inch paragraph spacing), follow these steps:

  1. Select the very first line of your document (i.e., “UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT”).
  2. Right click on that line and select Paragraph from the drop-down menu; or navigate to the Home tab and click the small Dialog Box Launcher arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Paragraph group.
  3. In the Indents and Spacing tab, locate the Spacing section. In the “Before” box, type “2"” (including the quotation marks for inches). Note: Word will likely convert this to points (144 pt) automatically when the Dialog Box is opened again.
  4. Click OK. This pushes only the first line down, creating a 2-inch gap above it while the page margin remains at 1 inch.

There are other ways to create the spaces. For example, when using 14-pt font, adding 9 single spaced empty lines (or 10 lines using 12-pt font) will create a large enough gap. Avoid revising the page margins themselves.