Day to day happenings in bankruptcy court? Forum

[sidgey]

Hi there,

I just secured an externship in bankruptcy court; does anyone have any insight into the day to day workings of bankruptcy court? Has anyone ever externed in bankruptcy court and would like to give some tips?

Thanks!!!

[Anonymous User]

Hi there,

I just secured an externship in bankruptcy court; does anyone have any insight into the day to day workings of bankruptcy court? Has anyone ever externed in bankruptcy court and would like to give some tips?

Thanks!!!

You will sit in on lots of hearings. Unlike district court, barely anything is done via writing in bankruptcy court. Most arguments are made via hearings. You will be given orders to write. You will also write bench memos. You also might attend 341 meetings at the trustee's office or attend mediation. I did a lot of observation during mine. Probably 60% observation, 40% research & writing. My judge was really big on interns attending as many hearings as possible and would seem sort of upset if the interns would go a whole day sitting in the office, not attending anything. Make sure to meet deadlines, of course, and bluebook and grammar check like crazy. Also, if anything seems over your head, ask your clerk(s) for tips, secondary sources, cases, etc. If you haven't taken bankruptcy or will not have a chance to take it pre-internship, read up on it to at least understand the differences between 7, 11, 13, maybe 12 if you're in a region that has farmers/fishermen.

[IAFG]

Observation v. writing depends on the judge. I only observed maybe 10% of the time. And perfect bluebook form didn't matter. Especially not for our many minute orders and oral rulings. I was in a district that didn't handle a ton of 11s; mostly personal stuff. I also learned a lot about tax, property and family law in the process.

[DallasCowboy]

It's the wild west of the law. Where are you interning?