Nebraska becomes the first bankruptcy court in the nation to allow debtors to sign bankruptcy petitions digitally.

An amendment to Nebraska Rule of Bankruptcy Procedulre 9011-1 became effective February 5 allowing attorney to use services like DocuSign and SignEasy to obtain client signatures on official court pleadings.

The immediate reaction? One central Nebraska attorney emailed

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A bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District of California sanctioned attorney Pauldeep Bains for filing a bankruptcy petition signed with digital signatures.  (See In re Mayfield, Case #16-22134).

The attorney sent completed bankruptcy documents to the debtor to sign via a digital signature service called  DocuSign.  Bankruptcy judge Robert Bardwil imposed sanctions for