General Rules
Court Appearances of Counsel
Attorneys are directed to appear at 9:30 a.m. sharp for all calendar calls, and at the previously scheduled time for all hearings, either personally or by a representative fully familiar with the case and who is authorized to settle, try, stipulate or dispose of any issue. In the event of actual engagement, as defined in Rule 125.1 of the Court Rules, an affidavit or affirmation must be submitted to the Clerk of the Part prior to the calendar call together with a stipulation signed by opposing counsel setting forth an agreed upon adjourned date. Failure to comply with the foregoing may result in dismissal, inquest or other sanctions. Mandatory appearance of all counsel and pro se litigants is required on all applications made by Order to Show Cause, particularly any applications to impose or continue a temporary restraining order, and all motions involving discovery.
Adjournments
Applications for adjournment will only be entertained either at the call of the calendar in the presence of all parties, or by stipulation, signed by all parties and setting forth the reason(s) for the adjournment request. Such stipulation shall be faxed to chambers at (718) 520-6404 at least 24 hours prior to the calendar call, and followed up by a telephone call to ascertain if the request has been granted. In no event shall more than two adjournments be granted, neither of which shall be for a period of more than 21 days, unless good cause is shown. Requests for an adjournment, if a motion has already been adjourned twice, must be made in person by an attorney who has authority to settle, stipulate or dispose of all issues raised in the motion papers. Orders to Show Cause may be adjourned by stipulation one time only for no more than two weeks. Counsel must make every effort to notify their adversaries and co-counsel of their intention to seek adjournments, and if possible to obtain consent of all parties.
Inquiries
All inquiries as to case or calendar status are, in the first instance, to be made to the appropriate Clerk's Office (see below). The only inquiries to be made directly to Chambers or the Part should be those involving the immediate exercise of judicial discretion.
IAS Motion Support Office: (718) 298-1009
IAS Ex-Parte Support Office: (718) 298-1018
IAS Trial Term Support Office: (718) 298-1015
Preliminary Conference
Preliminary Conference will be held on every TUESDAY, at 11:30 a.m. in the P.C. Part of the THIRD FLOOR of the Courthouse, unless parties are otherwise notified by the Court. Attorneys are required to "sign in" by 11:30 a.m. Counsel attending the conference must be fully familiar with and authorized settle, stipulate or dispose of the proceedings. There shall be no more than one consent adjournment by written stipulation, signed by all parties, and presented to the referee on the date of the scheduled Preliminary conference. Such adjournment shall be for a period of no more than 14 days. Any further adjournments shall be by application to the referee, in person, upon notice to all other parties. A Preliminary Conference Order will issue setting forth the issues resolved, issues to be determined at trial, a timetable for completion of disclosure proceedings, the compliance conference date, and the date for filing the Note of Issue. No adjournments of any dates of scheduled discovery will be permitted without leave of court. Be further advised that no ex parte application for adjournments will be entertained. Counsel for all parties must appear at all scheduled preliminary conferences and, whether present or not, will be bound by all orders of the court issued in connection therewith. Failure to comply with the foregoing may result in discovery ordered ex parte, dismissal, inquest or other sanctions.
Motions
All non-matrimonial motions are heard on WEDNESDAY and all matrimonial motions are heard on MONDAY. The first calendar call will be held at 9:30 a.m., promptly. A second call will be immediately thereafter.
Submission of Papers: Moving papers, with an affidavit of good faith (where required by Uniform Rule 202.7), shall be filed in the IAS Motion Support Office at least five(5) business days prior to the scheduled return date in order to be placed timely on the Part motion calendar. Answering papers will be accepted only on the return date in the Part. Service requirements under CPLR 2214 and 2215 will be strictly enforced. No sur-reply will be considered without leave of the court. No papers may be submitted directly to chambers. Any papers sent to chambers or the Part after submission of the motions will not be considered.
The motion will be heard for all purposes in the Part on the return date. On that date, the motion may be conferenced by the Justice or her Law Secretary, or otherwise treated pursuant to the discretion of the Justice. Rulings on applications will also be made at this time. Conferences will be held on discovery motions and counsel shall be prepared and authorized to discuss and resolve all discovery issues raised.
The failure of the moving party to appear on an Order to Show Cause for which no affidavit of service is attached to the moving papers or on a discovery related motion will result in the motion being marked off the calendar.
Courtesy copies of moving and answering papers need not be provided.
Settlements and Discontinuances
If an action is settled, discontinued or otherwise disposed of, counsel immediately shall inform the court by submission of a copy of the stipulation or a letter directed to the clerk of the Part. Filing a stipulation of discontinuance with the County Clerk does not suffice.
Trials
All counsel must submit to the court, prior to the commencement of trial, marked pleadings, copy of the bill of particulars, a witness list, exhibit list, proposed jury instructions and a proposed verdict sheet. If the proposed jury instructions are verbatim from the Pattern Jury Instructions ("PJI"), only PJI numbers are necessary. If a PJI is being modified, exact language must be submitted together with the appropriate authority therefore. In the case of a bench trial, all counsel must submit a witness list, proposed findings of fact and a memorandum of law. No adjournments will be granted if a witness is unavailable to testify unless the court concludes that good cause exists.
|
