In 2020, we live in a digital age, and this includes most of our judicial system. Many courts, federal, state, and local, including the United States Bankruptcy Court, require lawyers practicing in their courts to solely file documents electronically. This creates a digital file for the document that is much easier to store than a paper file. It also saves lawyers time and money they would expend to employ staff or a third party to file a pleading or motion. More importantly, it allows a bankruptcy case to be filed instantaneously at the push of a button while allowing you or your attorney to monitor your case practically in real-time.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court, like most courts in the federal court system, utilizes the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) service that provides electronic public access to federal court records. A unique filing system and database, PACER provides the public, including bankruptcy attorneys, trustees, and filers, with instantaneous access to more than 1 billion documents filed in all federal courts.
PACER, itself, may not be indexed by internet search engines, and there is a cost to use it. Progress in a case may be monitored closely with PACER by anyone, including pro se debtors. However, most bankruptcy filers do not need their own PACER accounts. the Morrison Law Group efficiently and effectively uses PACER to closely follow the progress of our clients’ cases. We regularly mail clients each and every important notice, document, and court record that appears on the docket in their case via PACER.
There is no necessity to check PACER every day in most bankruptcy cases. Checking weekly is usually sufficient unless you are expecting something to happen in your case like an order approving the sale of property. For attorneys and bankruptcy filers, the real benefit of PACER is how it allows anything in your bankruptcy case, whether a motion, schedule, reply, or affidavit to be filed with the bankruptcy court instantaneously with a keystroke.
Many bankruptcy debtors have a choice between filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case and Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. There are many differences between the two chapters. An experienced Morrison Law Group attorney can help you determine which is best for your financial situation. Call 801.456.9933 today to schedule a FREE consultation and discuss your complete set of options. We have locations in Ogden, Logan, Sandy, and St. George to serve the residents of the counties of Weber, Cache, Salt Lake, Utah, Morgan, Davis, Washington, and surrounding areas.
