BOPS (Bankruptcy Orders Processing Solution) is a program through which proposed orders are processed 100% electronically by the Court. BOPS was developed by the Eastern District of Virginia Bankruptcy Court.
The Eastern District of Virginia administers its bankruptcy cases using the Case Management/Electronic Case Filing (CM/ECF) system. One of the goals of CM/ECF is to make the administration of bankruptcy cases as paperless as possible without compromising either the integrity of the docket or the quality of service to the public. BOPS enables us to achieve this goal. Attorneys have the convenience of being able to submit a proposed order to the court via e-mail. Orders are processed, signed and docketed to the CM/ECF system – and BOPS makes the entire process paperless.
As an attorney, your involvement in BOPS is to send your proposed orders via e-mail. This guide walks you through the process.
Registering for BOPS
Preparing an Order to Send to the Court
Naming & Saving the Order
Multiple Orders with the Same Case Number
Sending the Order to the Court
Receipt of Your E-mail
Sending Multiple Orders in a Single E-mail
Service
Template Order for Bankruptcy Cases
Template Order for Adversary Proceedings
BOPS Flow Chart
To register, contact the the divisional office in which you conduct most of your business. Names and phone numbers of the contacts, and their respective divisional offices, are listed below. Registration requires that you provide one or more valid e-mail addresses from which orders are to be submitted.
Alexandria
Michelle Sheridan, 703-258-1274
Richmond
Delores Jones, 804-916-2435
Candace Manley, 804-916-2437
Norfolk/Newport News
LaTanya Gibbs, 757-222-7513
Preparing an Order to Send to the Court
Prepare the order in PDF format. See the Template Order for Bankruptcy Cases or Template Order for Adversary Proceedings to format your order.
- Signatures are required of parties and/or attorneys, and are denoted by a “/s/ [Party/Attorney Name]” on the signature line. NOTE: If you are indicating the signature of another attorney or party, see the appropriate template order for the proper format.
- You must keep an original order with original signatures of parties and/or attorneys on file for three years after the bankruptcy case has been closed. This is a requirement set out in the ECF Standing Order.
The filename of the order must be the five-digit number of the bankruptcy case or the adversary proceeding in which the order is to be submitted:
- An order submitted in bankruptcy case 01-70643 is named 01-70643.pdf.
- An order submitted in adversary proceeding 01-8043 is named 01-08043.pdf (note the leading zero).
NOTE: Only PDF files are supported.
Multiple Orders with the Same Case Number
Multiple documents in the same folder/directory may not be saved with the exact same filename. Therefore, additional orders for the same case may be saved using one of the following options:
- Option 1: Name additional orders for the same case by using the case number and adding the extension “-2”, “-3”, etc. (i.e., three orders in case number 01-60824 are saved as 01-60824, 01-60824-2 and 01-60824-3).
- Option 2: You may save each order using the same case number to different folders/directories on your computer (or to separate diskettes). Many offices will not find this practical since they like to keep all documents for a particular case in the same folder/directory.
NOTE: Remember to sequentially number the case number extension throughout the history of the case.
Sending the Order to the Court
You will need:
- Internet connection
- An e-mail account that you have registered with the Clerk’s Office. Orders sent from unregistered e-mail accounts will not be received
- The order to be submitted (see Preparing an Order to Send to the Court)
Address your e-mail to:
- orders@vaeb.uscourts.gov
- Key a brief description of the order in the Subject line of your e-mail (ex.: Granting Relief from Stay, Confirming Plan, etc.)
- You must type text in the ‘message’ or ‘body’ of your e-mail when submitting an order to the Court. It can be name of the submitter, the firm name or simply a short series of characters. While the text will not be read, it is necessary to include such text to ensure that the message is formatted correctly.
Attach the Order:
- Use the appropriate ‘insert file’ feature of the e-mail provider
- The filename of the order must be the bankruptcy case number (ex.: 01-70046) or adversary proceeding number (ex.: 01-07103)
- Multiple orders must be numbered sequentially (ex.: 01-70046, 01-70046-2)
- Any order whose filename is not the case number will be rejected.
Sending the E-mail:
- Once the e-mail is addressed, the subject line is completed and the order is attached, press Send.
Upon receipt of your e-mail by the Court, you will receive one of the following e-mail responses:
- Order confirmation
- Details of the e-mail response include the filename and a statement that the order has been received.
- Order Returned **Error**
- Details of the e-mail response include the filename and a statement that the order has been received.
- When an order is not accepted, the error must be corrected and the order re-submitted.
If, upon submission of the e-mail, you receive NO e-mail response, please contact the court, as this may be an indication that you are not registered.
Sending Multiple Orders in a Single E-mail
Multiple Orders may be sent in a single e-mail:
-
- Prepare each order as an individual order:
- the file name for each order must be the bankruptcy case number or the adversary proceeding number in which you are submitting the order.
- Prepare your e-mail in the following manner:
- if all of the orders are of the same type (ex.: Order of Confirmation, Order for Relief from Stay, etc.), key the description on the Subject line.
- If all of the orders are of different types (ex.: one Order of Confirmation, one Order for Relief from Stay, etc.), leave the Subject line blank.
- After all orders have been attached, press Send.
- Prepare each order as an individual order:
Effective December 1, 2003, neither copies or proposed orders nor stamped addressed envelopes are required by the Clerk’s Office for service of orders.
The Clerk’s Office utilizes the Bankruptcy Noticing Center to effect service to any party who is not a registered participant in CM/ECF. Electronic notice continues to constitute service for registered participants in CM/ECF. However, the list of parties to receive notice must still be furnished to the Clerk’s Office. This requirement is met by including the names and addresses of parties in the order. See, as appropriate, Template Order for Bankruptcy Cases or Template Order for Adversary Proceedings.
Additional help is available during regular business hours by calling the divisional office in which you are attempting to submit the order(s).