Who may appear in a bankruptcy case, the Notice of Appearance, and the local-rule pathway for withdrawal.
(a) Authority to act personally or by attorney. A debtor, creditor, equity security holder, indenture trustee, committee or other party may (1) appear in a case under the Code and act either in the entity's own behalf or by an attorney authorized to practice in the court, and (2) perform any act not constituting the practice of law, by an authorized agent, attorney in fact, or proxy.
(b) Notice of appearance. An attorney appearing for a party in a case under the Code shall file a notice of appearance with the attorney's name, office address and telephone number, unless the attorney's appearance is otherwise noted in the record. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9010(a)-(b).
Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9010 establishes who may appear in a bankruptcy case and how appearances are noted in the court's record. The rule operates in two coordinated parts: subdivision (a) authorizes appearances by parties themselves or through counsel admitted to practice in the bankruptcy court, and subdivision (b) requires attorneys appearing for a party to file a notice of appearance unless the appearance is otherwise noted of record.
The phrase "otherwise noted in the record" is significant. An attorney whose appearance is reflected on the docket through the act of filing a petition, schedules, or other initiating documents is generally treated as having entered an appearance for that party without needing to file a separate notice. Subsequent counsel joining a case, or counsel for a creditor or other party in interest appearing for the first time, files a Notice of Appearance.
Individuals may appear pro se on their own behalf. The Bankruptcy Code and Rules permit an individual debtor, creditor, or party in interest to file documents, attend hearings, and prosecute or defend matters without counsel. The right is qualified by the requirement that legal services for any other person constitute the unauthorized practice of law if performed by a non-attorney.
Corporate debtors, partnerships, and other artificial entities cannot appear pro se. A long line of federal authority - including binding Supreme Court precedent in Rowland v. California Men's Colony, 506 U.S. 194 (1993) - holds that artificial entities must appear in federal court through counsel admitted to practice. A corporate Chapter 11 petition signed by an officer who is not an attorney is procedurally defective and may be subject to dismissal.
A Notice of Appearance under Rule 9010(b) identifies counsel of record for a particular party and provides the attorney's office address and telephone number. The Notice typically also requests notice under Rule 2002 on behalf of the represented party. Most districts have integrated the Notice of Appearance with the ECF docket-entry system; the act of filing a Notice through ECF adds the attorney to the case's electronic notice list automatically.
An attorney who files a Notice of Appearance becomes counsel of record. Counsel of record receive electronic notice of filings, are responsible for receipt and acknowledgment of court orders, and remain counsel of record until either substituted out or formally withdrawn under the local rule governing withdrawal. The mere fact that a representation has practically ended - because a discrete matter is resolved, because the attorney-client relationship has ruptured, or because the client has retained substitute counsel - does not by itself remove counsel from the court's record.
Rule 9010(c) governs the filing of evidence of authority for appearances and acts taken through agents, attorneys in fact, or proxies. The requirements differ across contexts: a proxy used to vote a claim at a Section 341 meeting is governed by specific provisions of Rule 2006; an agent acting on behalf of a creditor in filing a proof of claim is generally permitted under Rule 9010(c) on filing of evidence of the agent's authority, which can be a written authorization signed by the principal.
Rule 9010 itself does not prescribe a uniform withdrawal procedure. Withdrawal of counsel of record in a bankruptcy case is governed by the local rules of each bankruptcy court, typically a local rule numbered in the 9010 series or in the 2090 series of attorney-admission rules. The substantive standards generally track the rules of professional conduct adopted by the bankruptcy court (the state-court rules of the forum state, sometimes supplemented by the ABA Model Rules).
Most districts require counsel seeking to withdraw to file a written application or motion identifying the case, the client, the basis for withdrawal, and successor counsel if any. Some districts permit an unopposed substitution by stipulation signed by withdrawing counsel, successor counsel, and the client; absent stipulation, a motion with notice is the standard pathway.
The withdrawal motion is typically served on the client at the client's last known address and on all parties entitled to notice in the case. Many local rules require the motion to certify that the client has been advised of pending deadlines and hearings, and to identify any matters that are then pending and time-sensitive.
A withdrawal motion does not by itself remove counsel from the record. Counsel remains counsel of record - and therefore continues to receive notice and bears the obligations attached to that status - until the court enters an order granting withdrawal. Some districts permit ex parte orders on uncontested motions; others require notice and the opportunity for hearing. The form of relief (order versus stipulation) and the timing differ by local rule.
A second consequence flows from the same principle: counsel of record for a party in interest who claims to have withdrawn but has not obtained a court order remains, as a matter of the court's record, counsel of record. The substantive question whether a fee-paying engagement has ended is distinct from the procedural question whether the docket reflects that termination.
Rule 9010 is the procedural foundation for the entire architecture of representation in a bankruptcy case. Three practical pressure points recur:
Two records, two endpoints. Termination of an attorney-client representation has both a substantive endpoint (governed by state rules of professional conduct) and a procedural endpoint (governed by Rule 9010 and the local rule for withdrawal). The substantive engagement can end before the procedural appearance is terminated; until both endpoints are reached, counsel of record remains accountable on the docket.
This page provides general information about Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9010. It does not constitute legal advice. The specific local rule governing withdrawal differs by judicial district and should be consulted by qualified counsel.