Bankruptcy Dispute Resolution Program

As an alternative to the formal litigation of disputes in bankruptcy cases and adversary proceedings, the judges of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California have adopted the Bankruptcy Dispute Resolution Program (BDRP). The BDRP, established by General Order 95-1, allows participants to take advantage of and utilize a wide variety of alternative dispute resolution methods including, but not limited to, mediation, negotiation, early neutral evaluation and settlement facilitation.

Unless otherwise ordered by the judge handling the particular matter, all adversary proceedings, contested matters, and other disputes in Eastern District of California bankruptcy cases are eligible for referral to the BDRP except matters involving:

Parties have the primary responsibility for initiating employment of the BDRP and elect to do so by submitting a proposed form order (EDC 6-610) to the Court. In the proposed order, the parties specify the name of the Resolution Advocate they have selected to mediate the matter in dispute.

Questions concerning BDRP procedures should be directed to the BDRP staff assistant in your area.