All hearings in Department 2 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California will be held in person unless otherwise designated as a Zoom hearing or if the court has given prior approval for Zoom attendance. The court will not allow telephonic appearances, including those using Zoom’s telephone option, except under compelling circumstances.
The court recognizes that attending some hearings by Zoom can benefit parties. According to the updated procedures, parties who want to attend a hearing by Zoom must contact Courtroom Deputy Russell Paluso at (619) 557-5157 no later than 10:00 a.m., two business days before the scheduled hearing. Requests for listen-only access via Zoom will only be considered if Zoom is already being used on that day.
The order in which matters are called depends on how participants are appearing. Cases where all parties are present in person will be heard first, followed by cases with mixed attendance (some in person and some on Zoom), and finally cases where all participants appear via Zoom.
Zoom appearances are routinely approved for reaffirmation hearings, general status discussions (except final pre-trial status conferences in adversary proceedings), matters continued by consent, settled matters needing court assistance, and other issues expected to require less than ten minutes of argument. The court may also approve remote attendance for reasons such as childcare or health concerns, travel difficulties, or other justified situations. Emergency requests after the standard deadline will be considered only if an emergency arises after that time or if a matter settles unexpectedly.
Parties expecting to appear frequently via Zoom should ensure they have technology capable of providing clear audio and video. Those without suitable equipment should plan to attend in person.
Certain proceedings must take place in person unless specific exceptions apply. These include final pre-trial status conferences in adversary proceedings, contested plan confirmation hearings, long arguments expected to last more than ten minutes, complex arguments, any potentially case-dispositive contested matter regardless of argument length, and trials—though discrete witnesses may sometimes participate via Zoom due to geographic constraints at the court’s discretion.
