(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.