An "Order" is a separate document that a judge signs which sets forth the judge's ruling on a motion. A "Judgment" is a separate document that a judge signs and sets forth the judge's ruling at the end of an adversary proceeding. The order or judgment may be prepared by the court, be lodged by the moving party, or be lodged by a responding party. After the judge signs an Order or Judgment, it is entered on the court docket and served on required parties. The Order or Judgment begins a timeline for filing appeals or filing motions to change the ruling. In some situations the court will enter an Order or Judgment and also enter a document titled "Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law." But usually an Order or Judgment is very short and simply states that legal conclusions and factual findings were made on the record at the hearing.
An Order or Judgment must be prepared separately from other documents, i.e. it shall not be a part of a motion, response, application, stipulation, etc.
* See Local Bankruptcy Rule 9021-1 for the format of preparing and lodging a proposed Order or Judgment.
* See LOU Procedures for preparing and electronically lodging proposed Orders or Judgments PDF.
* Only CM/ECF-registered users are able to lodge an order electronically via LOU.
* See Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9022 and applicable Local Bankruptcy Rules to identify to whom the court must deliver an entered order.
If the Order or Judgment relates to a court hearing, a record may be obtained of the oral arguments and court findings and conclusions made at the hearing.