Recent and Proposed Amendments to Federal Rules – Annual Report 2024

New Federal Rules and Official Bankruptcy Form Amendments

On April 2, 2024, the Supreme Court adopted the following new rules and rule amendments and transmitted them to Congress. Congress took no action to modify or reject the rules and amendments, and they took effect on December 1, 2024. Official Bankruptcy Form 410 was approved by the Judicial Conference of the United States at its September 2024 session; it also took effect on December 1, 2024:

• Appellate Rules 32, 35, 40, and the Appendix on Length Limits. The amendments transfer the content of Rule 35 to Rule 40, bringing together the relevant provisions dealing with rehearing and clarifying the distinct criteria for rehearing en banc and panel rehearing. The amendments also include conforming changes to Rule 32 and the Appendix of Length Limits.
• Restyling of Bankruptcy Rules. The Bankruptcy Rules are the fifth and final set of federal rules to be comprehensively amended to update the style, culminating a restyling project that began nearly 30 years ago. The style amendments do not change the substance of the bankruptcy rules but use language that is more consistent and easier to understand. In addition to language and phrasing changes, the restyling effort also included changes that broke down longer blocks of rule text into subsections and updated or added rule and rule-subsection titles. 
• Bankruptcy Rules 1007, 4004, 5009, and 9006. The amendment to Rule 1007(b) eliminates the official form “statement” that a debtor must make attesting to completion of a post-petition course in personal financial management; instead, the course certificate itself demonstrates course completion. References to statement in Rules 1007, 4004, 5009, and 9006 have been changed to certificate.
• Bankruptcy Rule 7001(a). The amendment creates an exception from the definition of adversary proceedings for certain turnover proceedings under Section 542(a) of the Code. An individual debtor may need an order requiring prompt turnover of tangible personal property from a third party — such as an automobile or tools of the trade — in order to produce income to fund a plan or to regain the use of exempt property. The more formal procedures used in adversary proceedings can be time-consuming in such a situation, so the amendment allows the debtor to instead seek turnover by motion.
• New Bankruptcy Rule 8023.1. The new rule is modeled on Appellate Rule 43, governing substitution of parties during an appeal. Neither Appellate Rule 43 nor Civil Rule 25 applies to parties in bankruptcy appeals to the district court or bankruptcy appellate panel. This new rule is intended to fill that gap.
• Official Bankruptcy Form 410. The amendment permits use of a uniform claim identifier, used by some creditors, for all payments in cases filed under all chapters of the Bankruptcy Code, not merely electronic payments in Chapter 13 cases.
• Civil Rule 12. The amendment clarifies that a federal statute that specifies another time for responsive pleadings supersedes the deadlines in Civil Rule 12.
• Evidence Rule 613. The amendment provides that extrinsic evidence of a prior inconsistent statement is not admissible until the witness is given an opportunity to explain or deny the statement. 
• Evidence Rule 801. The amendment to Rule 801(d)(2) provides that hearsay statements by the predecessor-in-interest would be admissible against the declarant’s successor-in-interest when offered by a party-opponent.
• Evidence Rule 804. The amendment to Rule 804(b)(3) requires that, in assessing whether a statement against interest in a criminal case is supported by corroborating circumstances, the court must consider not only the totality of the circumstances under which the statement was made, but also any evidence supporting or undermining it.
• Evidence Rule 1006. The amendment clarifies that a Rule 1006 summary of voluminous materials is admissible whether or not the underlying evidence has been admitted. 
• New Evidence Rule 107. This new rule, originally published for public comment as a new subsection of Rule 611, provides standards for illustrative aids, allowing them to be used at trial after the court balances the utility of the aid against the risk of unfair prejudice, confusion, and delay.

Pending Rules and Forms Amendments

At its September 17, 2024, session, the Judicial Conference approved several proposed rules that will take effect on December 1, 2025, if approved by the Supreme Court and if Congress takes no action to the contrary. Those rules and forms are

• Appellate Rules 6 and 39
• Bankruptcy Rules 3002.1, 8006, and Official Bankruptcy Forms 410C13-M1, 410C13-M1R, 410C13-N, 410C13-NR, 410C13-M2, and 410C13-M2R
• Civil Rules 16, 26, and new Rule 16.1

The proposed rules and forms would, among other changes, clarify the procedure for certain bankruptcy appeals; codify the holding in City of San Antonio v. Hotels.com, 141 S. Ct. 1628 (2021) regarding costs on appeal; establish a procedure in Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases for review by the debtor or case trustee of a mortgage claim’s status; provide for early development of a method for the parties to comply with the Civil Rule 26(b)(5)(A) requirement that producing parties describe discovery materials withheld on grounds of privilege or as trial-preparation materials; and establish a framework for the initial management of multidistrict litigation proceedings by the transferee judge.

Proposed Amendments for Public Comment

In August 2024, proposed new and amended rules and forms were published, along with a request for comments from the bench, bar, and public.

• Appellate Rules 29 and 32, Appendix on Length Limits, and Form 4
• Bankruptcy Rules 1007, 3018, 5009, 9006, 9014, 9017, new Rule 7043, and Official Form 410S1
• Evidence Rule 801

The proposed rules and forms would, among other changes, amend the disclosure rules related to filing an amicus brief; simplify the form for requesting in forma pauperis status; change the standard for allowing remote testimony in a bankruptcy contested matter by removing the “compelling circumstances” standard borrowed from Civil Rule 43(a) (though the amended rule would still require a finding of cause and appropriate safeguards before allowing remote testimony); and provide that all prior inconsistent statements admissible for impeachment are also admissible as substantive evidence.