UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
21041 BURBANK BLVD
WOODLAND HILLS, CALIFORNIA 91367

Telephonic Guidelines for
Honorable Alan M. Ahart

Policy Governing Telephonic Appearances

I.      Standard Procedure

At least 48 hours prior to the hearing, counsel must contact the clerk’s office for approval to appear telephonically.  Upon receipt of verbal approval by the court, counsel must contact court call to schedule an appearance.

II.     Procedure for Telephonic Appearance

It is the responsibility of counsel to contact court call to make arrangements for telephonic appearance.  To ensure the quality of the record, the use of car phones, cellular phones, speaker phones, public telephone booths, or phones in other public places is prohibited except in the most extreme emergencies.  Participants should be able to hear all parties without difficulty or echo. 

Before the hearing party(ies) should check Judge Ahart’s Calendar on the website, www.cacb.uscourts.gov, and review any Tentative Ruling concerning the matter on calendar. If the court has issued a Tentative Ruling prior to the hearing, each individual who appears telephonically should have reviewed the Tentative Ruling prior to the hearing.

If an individual schedules a telephonic appearance and then fails to respond to the call of a matter on calendar, the court may pass the matter or treat the failure to respond as a failure to appear.  Furthermore, in deciding to appear telephonically, counsel is agreeing to waive any prejudice attributable to quality or irregularities of the record that may result.

(Revised April 2013) 

Printable version of Judge Ahart's Telephonic Appearance Procedures