Procedures for Hearings before Hon. Stephen C. St. John, Chief Judge

If the moving party includes an incorrect hearing date, time, or location in the notice of hearing, the Clerk’s Office will issue an Inquiry Checksheet notifying the moving party of the error, and the matter will not appear on the Court’s docket. It is the moving party’s responsibility to timely correct any deficiency and verify that the matter is properly placed on the Court’s docket. It is the responsibility of the moving party to view the Court’s website prior to filing the corrected notice of hearing to obtain an available hearing date. The failure to properly notice for hearing matters for which the Court supplies hearing dates may result in the entry of an order denying the motion or overruling the objection.

Only counsel for the moving party (the filing attorney or another member of the filing attorney’s firm) may remove a hearing from the docket. Hearing cancellations are docketed by the moving party through the ECF Central Hearing Cancellation Module, an application contained within CM/ECF. Please see the Hearing Cancellations: Norfolk and Newport News Divisions page.

Except for continuances requested in Court during a hearing, continuances must be requested by motion pursuant to Local Bankruptcy Rule 9013-1(J). The Court will not grant continuance requests made by telephone.The party requesting a continuance is encouraged to consult with opposing counsel, and the trustee if applicable, prior to filing a motion requesting a continuance and to state the position of opposing counsel and the trustee, if applicable, in the motion. Continuances should be requested only for good cause and with sufficient time to allow the Court to consider the motion prior to the hearing date. All continuance requests should propose a date and time for the continued hearing from the dates available, if dates for such matters are provided. The moving party should contact the respective Judge’s Courtroom Deputy immediately upon the filing of a motion requesting a continuance to ensure timely consideration.

If a hearing will be longer than 10 minutes, or if evidence or legal argument will be presented, the moving party must request a hearing date from the Judge’s Courtroom Deputy. After a matter has been scheduled for hearing, if it subsequently becomes apparent to the moving party that the hearing will be longer than 10 minutes or evidence or legal argument will be presented, the moving party should contact the Courtroom Deputy to determine whether the scheduled hearing date and time remains acceptable to the Court. The moving party should provide the Courtroom Deputy with the estimated time for the matter; any applicable time frame within which the parties desire the matter to be heard; and any avoid dates for the parties and their counsel, in the event the Court determines that the hearing should be rescheduled.

The moving party should contact the respective Judge’s Courtroom Deputy immediately upon the filing of a motion requesting an expedited hearing to ensure timely consideration.

Chief Judge St. John requires a motion to be filed for requests to appear telephonically, with sufficient time to allow the Court to consider the motion prior to the hearing date.Telephonic appearances should be requested only for good cause. Mere inconvenience does not constitute good cause.Telephonic appearances are discouraged if counsel intends to make substantive argument. Counsel and pro se parties are not permitted to participate telephonically for any hearings of an evidentiary nature, including the examination of witnesses or the submission of evidence. Counsel appearing telephonically must be admitted to practice before the Court pursuant to Local Bankruptcy Rule 2090-1.Parties appearing telephonically must provide a telephone number (preferably a landline), as well as an alternate telephone number if possible, at which they can be reached by Court staff at the hearing time and must remain available until the hearing is called on the docket. If other matters on the docket precede the matter in which a telephonic appearance will occur, the party appearing telephonically may not be contacted until the Court has completed the preceding docket items and is ready to commence the hearing.Parties should identify themselves and limit any background noise when speaking. Parties should put their phones on mute otherwise during the proceedings.If the quality of the call/connection is not sufficient (e.g., static, ambient noise, etc.), the Court may direct that the call be disconnected. Parties should be aware that there may difficulty hearing the proceedings at times due to the nature of the Court’s telephone system.If multiple parties will be appearing telephonically, the Court may request that a party establish a single call-in number for the hearing and provide the requisite information to the Court and all parties appearing telephonically. All parties appearing telephonically should be present when the Court connects to the call.

It is the Court’s expectation that debtors will be present for all hearings in their cases.  If debtor’s counsel learns that a debtor will be unable to attend a hearing, debtor’s counsel must request that the Court excuse the debtor’s appearance in writing no later than 3:00 p.m. two (2) business days prior to the hearing. In extenuating circumstances, the Court may waive the requirement to make such request in writing.

Standing Order 15-4 and Public Notice – Bar Date for Objecting to Proofs of Claims in Chapter 13 Cases
Norfolk and Newport News Standing Order 10-1 – Suspension of the Effective Date of Standing Order 10-2
Norfolk and Newport News Standing Order 10-2 – Adversary Proceedings in Which the Complaint is Not Properly Served or a Certificate of Service is Not Filed
Norfolk and Newport News Standing Order 16-1 (Amended 01-20-16) and Public Notice – Bankruptcy Cases in Which a Creditor Files a Response to Notice of Final Cure Payment Indicating Postpetition Amounts Are DueFor all Standing Orders entered by the Court, please see the Standing Orders page.

Motion to Vacate Order Dismissing Case. Effective May 1, 2014, after the conclusion of a hearing on a Motion to Vacate Order Dismissing Case, the Court will enter its own order granting or denying the motion. The prevailing party at the hearing should no longer submit an order for entry via BOPS for these motions. In Chapter 13 cases, the Chapter 13 Trustee may be directed to submit a supplemental order vacating the dismissal.

Impending Change in Chapter 13 Plan Confirmation Procedures in the Norfolk and Newport News Divisions. The Judges of the Norfolk and Newport News Divisions of the Court have determined that confirmation hearings will be held on all Chapter 13 original and amended plans filed beginning in mid-October 2018, in those divisions. The effective date regarding the affected filed original and amended plans will be set forth in a follow-up Court-issued Public Notice.

Hon. Stephen C. St. John, Chief Judge

Courtroom Deputy: Diana Morehead (757) 222-7573
Backup Courtroom Deputy: Jennifer Hinkle (757) 222-7515

Hon. Frank J. Santoro

Courtroom Deputy: LaTanya Gibbs (757) 222-7513
Backup Courtroom Deputy: Jennifer Hinkle (757) 222-7515