(a) Classes of Cases. All cases filed in this Court shall
be assigned to one of the following six classes of cases:
(1) adversary proceedings which include
any cases initiated by the filing of an adversary complaint in a
bankruptcy proceeding pursuant to the provisions of the Bankruptcy Act or
of the Bankruptcy Code;
(2) bankruptcy cases which include any
cases initiated by the filing of a petition pursuant to the provisions of
the Bankruptcy Code;
(3) criminal cases which include any
cases initiated (A) by the filing of a complaint, an information or an
indictment for the punishment of a crime against the United States,
including cases instituted under the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act,
removal cases and complaints for the apprehension of a material witness or
(B) by the issuing of a rule to show cause why a person should not be held
in contempt where criminal contempt is involved, including such
contempts arising from grand jury proceedings;
(4) disciplinary proceedings which
include any cases involving the discipline of members of the bar of this
Court pursuant to LR83.25, et seq.;
(5) magistrate judge cases which include
(A) any cases initiated before a magistrate judge by documents other than
a criminal complaint, including but not limited to search warrants,
orders appointing counsel where no complaint has been filed and
inspection of warrants, but not generally including petty offenses based
on violation notices, and (B) any petty offense proceeding based on
the issuance of a violation notice in which the defendant does not waive the
right to trial before a district judge and the case is referred to
the district court for trial; and
(6) civil cases which include (A) any
other case or matters initiated by the filing of an application, complaint
or petition, (B) any appeal from an order entered by a bankruptcy judge,
and (C) any certificates for contempt filed by a magistrate judge or by
a bankruptcy judges.
(b) Case Numbers. Each case, upon the filing of the
initial paper, shall be given a case number which shall indicate the year in
which it was filed, the class to which it belongs, and a sequence number, as
follows:
(1) the year of filing will be indicated
by the use of the last two digits of the calendar year in which the
initial paper is filed;
(2) the class to which the case belongs
will be indicated by use of the letter A, B, CR, D, M or C, to indicate,
respectively, the classes of adversary proceedings, bankruptcy cases,
criminal cases, disciplinary proceedings, magistrate judge cases, or civil
cases;
(3) the sequence number will be the next
available number taken from the appropriate case number series. In each of
the two Divisions of the Court there shall be eleven consecutive number
series, one for each class of cases other than disciplinary proceedings
and one for disciplinary proceedings. The number series in the Eastern
Division and the number series for disciplinary proceedings will start
each year with the number 1. The number series in the Western Division
will start with the number 50,001.
(c) Exceptions to
Numbering System in Criminal Cases.
An indictment or information that arises out of offenses charged in one or more
previously filed criminal complaints shall be designated by the same case
number as the earliest filed complaint. Any indictment or information that
supersedes an earlier filed indictment or information as defined by subsection
(4) of LCrR50.2 shall be designated by the same case number as
that of the superseded indictment or information.
In order to identify clearly
and uniquely each defendant named in a criminal complaint, indictment, or
information, each defendant listed in the caption of the original complaint,
indictment, or information shall be assigned a number such that the first listed
defendant shall be defendant 1, the second, defendant 2, etc. Where pursuant to
this section an indictment or information is designated by the same case number
as either an earlier filed criminal complaint or a superseded indictment or
information, each defendant included in the later filed indictment or
information who was included in the earlier filed complaint, indictment, or
information shall be assigned the same defendant number as was assigned at the
earlier filing. Where a defendant included in the earlier filed complaint,
indictment, or information is not included in the later filed indictment or
information, the number assigned to that defendant will be skipped. Where one
or more defendants are included in the later filed indictment or information
who were not included in the earlier filed complaint, indictment, or
information, defendant numbers shall be assigned starting with the lowest
number not assigned at the time of the filing of the initial complaint,
indictment, or information.