ecf 4.01 specification comment

[David_Milstein@ao.uscourts.gov]

I am seeking to implement a portion
of the specification for use in an application for Pro Se debtors to submit
fast-track petitions for bankruptcy.

However, the set of data that is required
to be captured is large: the entire set of data from 22 bankruptcy official
forms
(see http://www.uscourts.gov/FormsAndFees/Forms/BankruptcyForms.aspx
).

Therefore, I was having trouble figuring
out where to fit these thousand or so new fields in the existing schema.
The Case-Type schema for Bankruptcy
is woefully incomplete for my purposes (not just meta-data but all
data elements of the financial forms
filers must complete to file: the petition, schedules A-J, B22A and C,
B21, B8, B7, B6 Summary
and Declaration, B3A and B, B1, B1C,
and B1D).

I would like to re-purpose the schema
here for Bankruptcy Case information

http://docs.oasis-open.org/legalxml-courtfiling/specs/ecf/v4.01/ecf-v4.01-spec/csprd01/xsd/casetype/ECF-4.0-BankruptcyCase.xsd

to contain all of this data.  As
it is, it has just a handful of the elements we need.

I propose to implement  this as
a series of Document and ConnectedDocument objects, one per form, with
their own schema definitions defining the data sets of each.

Instead of this in the ECF-4.0-BankruptcyCase.xsd:

<xsd:complexType name="BankruptcyCaseType">

        <xsd:annotation>

         
      <xsd:documentation>
         
              Additional
information specific to bankruptcy cases.
         
      </xsd:documentation>
        </xsd:annotation>

        <xsd:complexContent>

        <xsd:extension
base="nc:CaseType">

        <xsd:sequence>
         
      <xsd:element ref="j:CaseAugmentation"/>
         
      <xsd:element ref="ecf:CaseAugmentation"/>
         
      <xsd:element ref="AssetNoticeIndicator"/>
         
      <xsd:element ref="NumberOfCreditorsValueLevelCode"/>
         
      <xsd:element ref="EstimatedAssetsValueLevelCode"/>
         
      <xsd:element ref="EstimatedDebtsValueLevelCode"/>
         
      <xsd:element ref="SmallBusinessIndicator"/>
         
      <xsd:element ref="Section1121eIndicator"/>
         
      <xsd:element ref="DebtorTypeCode"/>
         
      <xsd:element ref="JointPetitionIndicator"/>
         
      <xsd:element ref="NatureOfDebtCode"/>
         
      <xsd:element ref="VoluntaryIndicator"/>
         
      <xsd:element ref="BankruptcyStatute"/>
         
      <xsd:element ref="Debtor" maxOccurs="2"/>
        </xsd:sequence>

        </xsd:extension>

        </xsd:complexContent>

</xsd:complexType>




I am going to put in something like
this:




<xsd:complexType name="BankruptcyCaseType">

<xsd:annotation>

<xsd:documentation>
Additional information specific to bankruptcy
cases.
</xsd:documentation>
</xsd:annotation>

<xsd:complexContent>

<xsd:extension base="nc:CaseType">
−
<xsd:sequence>
        <xsd:element
ref="j:CaseAugmentation"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="ecf:CaseAugmentation"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB001"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB001C"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB001D"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB003A"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB003B"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB006Declaration"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB006Summary"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB006A"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB006B"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB006C"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB006D"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB006E"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB006F"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB006G"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB006H"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB006I"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB006J"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB007"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB008"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB021"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB022A"/>
        <xsd:element
ref="cmecf:FormB022C"/>

<!- whatever common elements that
exist throughout the forms, like court, debtor, authentication information,
etc separately, including ->
        <xsd:element
ref="Debtor" maxOccurs="2"/>

</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:extension>
</xsd:complexContent>
</xsd:complexType>

All of the simple elements listed in
your specification posted for comment (AssetNotice, NumberOfCreditorsValueLevelCode,
etc) 
are a data element from one of the listed
forms, and would more logically be defined within that container.

I hope that this proposal has your support,
as this system will be used by the United States Bankruptcy Courts,
with an eye towards refining  the
specification  in the future to be used as the  API for general
case filing.  Advice on how to better
implement this usage of this portion
of the ecf specification is welcome. 


David Milstein, J.D., PMP
Information Technology Specialist
Administrative Office of the US Courts
Office of Court Administration
Technology Division