Once upon a time Local Rule 9014.1 required a movant whose motion was uncontested after the notice period expired to file an affidavit stating that no objections had been filed. Things change. When the current version of the Local Rules for the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin went into effect on November 1, 2017, Local Rule 9014.1 was revised to remove this requirement. Affidavits of no objection are not required—their former function, to let court personnel know that the matter was ripe for adjudication—is now served by the movant’s filing of a proposed order after the expiration of the objection period, as required by Local Rule 9014(a)(5).

Customs die hard. Many practitioners continue to file unnecessary affidavits of no objection. Indeed, between January 1, 2021, and March 8, 2021, parties filed 402 affidavits of no objection. Occasionally these affidavits contain statements intended to supplement the record, which the court is likely to overlook, since “affidavits of no objection” were intended simply to report the fact that no objection was filed or received by the movant.

In an effort to conform local practice to the rules and eliminate unnecessary (and sometimes confusing) affidavits of no objection, the court intends to direct the Clerk of the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District to remove the “Affidavit of No Objection” event from CM/ECF, so that practitioners do not have the option to file an affidavit of no objection and to correspond to the 2017 removal of this requirement. 

The court is soliciting comments regarding this proposal. Please forward any comments or concerns you may have by March 29, 2021, to Mike Keepman at Michael_J_Keepman@wieb.uscourts.gov.