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News & Announcements: 2016-08

Check this page, or the News and Announcements box on the homepage, for the latest official news and announcements released by the court. You can also access archived news and announcements from this page.

August 26, 2016
On August 23, 2016, the Honorable Helen Ginger Berrigan, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, notified President Barack Obama that effective on that date, having attained the requisite age and met the service requirements for assuming senior status, she retired from active service as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana under 28 U.S.C. § 371(b). Judge Berrigan was nominated to be a United States District Judge by President William J. Clinton on November 18, 1993, and received her commission on March 10, 1994. She served as Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Louisiana from 2001 until 2008, and was the chief judge during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
August 19, 2016
MISCELLANEOUS ORDER Counsel or Parties who believe that deadlines for filing of any motion in a pending case have been, or will be immediately affected by the recent flooding in Louisiana may be offered relief by the filing of a motion for extension, even if past the filing deadline. Any late-filed request for extension should set forth in detail the circumstances for such late filing.  Click here for the MISCELLANEOUS ORDER.
August 12, 2016
In 2016, the Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure approved publication of proposed amendments to the following rules and forms for a comment period from August 12, 2016 through February 15, 2017. Civil Rules 5, 23, 62, and 65.1 Criminal Rules 12.4, 45, and 49 Appellate Rules 8, 11, 25, 28.1, 29, 31, 39, 41, and Form 4 Bankruptcy Rules 3002.1, 5005, 8002, 8006, 8011, 8013, 8015, 8016, 8017, new Rule 8018.1, 8022, 8023, and new Part VIII Appendix; and Official Forms 309F, 417A, 417C, 425A, 425B, 425C, and 426 Read the text of the proposed amendments and supporting materials: Preliminary Draft of Proposed Amendments to the Federal Rules of Appellate, Bankruptcy, Civil, and Criminal Procedure
August 9, 2016
In an effort to better assist members of the bar, the maximum file size allowed by the Court’s Electronic Case Filing system has been increased from 10 MB to 35 MB per upload.  The increase in file size will save counsel of record and their staff members a great deal of effort by allowing larger yet fewer uploads per filing transaction. As a reminder, The Court prefers and recommends that all PDF documents filed in CM/ECF be converted as opposed to scanned. Scanners should be used only for documents (such as exhibits and attachments) that cannot be produced with a word-processing program. E-filing converted PDF documents allows judicial officers and their staff to access cited cases and statutes directly using an internal tool which converts them to a hyperlink. Not only are these documents text searchable and smaller in size, but they also allow the Court to easily adjust orders and other submissions as needed. All documents created in a word processing format can be easily converted to PDF as opposed to scanned. Instructions for converting documents to PDF can be found by following this link.