ADVERSARY PROCEEDINGS
An adversary proceeding governed by Part VII of the Bankruptcy Rules shall be commenced by the filing of a complaint. The filing shall include an adversary proceeding cover sheet, form available online, and the appropriate filing fee. The caption of the complaint shall conform substantially with the applicable Official Form for adversary proceeding captions, available online. Upon the filing of the complaint and adversary proceeding cover sheet, the Clerk's office shall issue the summons. If the plaintiff is represented by an attorney, the plaintiff's attorney shall receive the summons electronically and shall be responsible for printing and serving the summons along with a copy of the complaint upon the defendant(s) in accordance with Bankruptcy Rule 7004. If the plaintiff is self-represented, the Clerk’s office will mail the summons to the plaintiff, who will be responsible for serving a copy of the summons and complaint upon the defendant(s) in accordance with Bankruptcy Rule 7004.
Advisory Committee Notes
2023 Amendment
The amended rule includes stylistic changes to refer to applicable forms and the Local Rules Links page that provides links to various Official Forms and Local Forms. At the time of this amendment, the applicable forms were Official Form B 1040 (Adversary Proceeding Cover Sheet) and Official Form B 416D (Caption for Use in Adversary Proceeding Other Than for a Complaint Filed by a Debtor). The Committee is unaware of a specific official form for use by a debtor but notes that a debtor may use Official Form B 416D, provided that all other pertinent information otherwise required, such as the notice requirements of 11 U.S.C. § 342(c), are included in the complaint.
2020 Amendment
The amended rule includes only stylistic changes. The rule is amended to maintain a consistent style for references to the court’s website. The rule is also amended to remove references to specific official form numbers in light of the recent renumbering of forms (the rule previously referenced Form B 104, which was replaced by Form B 1040, and Form B 16D, which was replaced by Form B 416D).