Judge Jesse M. Furman — United States District Court, Southern District of New York

Revised: January 2, 2025

INDIVIDUAL RULES AND PRACTICES IN CIVIL PRO SE CASES Jesse M. Furman, United States District Judge

Pro Se Office United States District Court
Southern District of New York
Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse
500 Pearl Street, Room 250
New York, NY 10007 (212) 805-0175 prose@nysd.uscourts.gov

Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, these Individual Rules apply to all civil cases involving pro se litigants (that is, litigants without counsel) before Judge Furman.

1. Communications with Chambers

A. Telephone Calls by a Pro Se Party. Pro se parties may not call the Court directly; any questions should be directed to the Pro Se Office at (212) 805-0175.

B. Written Communications By a Pro Se Party. All communications with the Court by a pro se party should be in writing and delivered in person, mailed, or emailed to the Pro Se Office following the instructions in Paragraph 2(B) below.
No documents or court filings may be sent directly to Chambers. Unless the Court orders otherwise, all communications with the Court will be docketed upon receipt; such docketing shall constitute service on any user of the ECF system. If any other party is not a user of the ECF system (e.g., if there is another pro se party in the case), a pro se party must send copies of any filing to that party and include an Affidavit of Service or other statement affirming that it has done so.
Copies of correspondence between a pro se party and opposing parties shall not be sent to the Court.

C. Communications by Parties Represented by Counsel. Except as otherwise provided below, communications with the Court by a represented party shall be governed by Judge Furman’s Individual Rules and Practices in Civil Cases, available at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/hon-jesse-m-furman.

D. Requests for Adjournments or Extensions of Time. All requests for adjournments or extensions of time must be made in writing and must state: (1) the original date(s); (2) the number of previous requests for adjournment or extension; (3) whether these previous requests were granted or denied; (4) the reasons for the requested extension; (5) whether the adversary consents and, if not, the reasons given by the adversary for refusing to consent; and (6) the date of the parties’ next scheduled appearance before the Court as well as any other existing deadlines. Requests for extensions of deadlines regarding a matter that

has been referred to a Magistrate Judge shall be addressed to that assigned Magistrate Judge.

Absent an emergency, any request for extension or adjournment shall be made at least 48 hours prior to the deadline or scheduled appearance. Requests for extensions will ordinarily be denied if made after the expiration of the original deadline.

2. Filing of Papers and Service

A. Consent to Receive Electronic Service. To ensure timely service of documents, including Court Orders, non-incarcerated pro se parties are encouraged to consent to receive electronic service through the ECF System. To do so, a pro se party should review the instructions available at https://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/ default/files/2021-03/Consent_Pro-Se_Eservice-Instructions.pdf, and then submit a Consent to Electronic Service (available at https://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/ default/files/2021-03/Consent_Pro-Se_Eservice-form.pdf).

B. Papers Filed by a Pro Se Party. A pro se party may file papers with the Court by:

i. delivering them in person or mailing them to the Pro Se Office, Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, Room 250, New York, New York 10007;

ii. emailing them as an attachment in PDF format to prose@nysd.uscourts. gov, in which case the pro se party should follow the instructions contained in the April 1, 2020 Addendum to the Court’s ECF Rules & Instructions, available at https://www.nysd.uscourts.gov /electronic-case-filing; or

iii. filing them on the ECF System if the pro se party has filed a motion to participate in ECF (available at http://nysd.uscourts.gov/file/forms/motion -for-permission-for-electronic-case-filing-for-pro-se-cases and in the Pro Se Office) and been granted such permission by the Court.

C. Service on a Pro Se Party. Absent a pro se party consenting to receipt of electronic service, counsel in pro se cases must serve a pro se party with a paper copy of any document that is filed electronically and must file with the Court a separate Affidavit of Service. Submissions filed without proof of service that the pro se party was served will not be considered.

3. Discovery

All requests for discovery by a pro se party should be sent to counsel for the party from whom discovery is sought. Discovery requests should not be sent to the Court.

If there are any discovery disputes, the parties are required to confer with one another in an effort to resolve the dispute without the need for Court intervention. If the parties are unable to resolve their dispute, either party may file a letter-motion, no longer than three pages and in accordance with Paragraph 1 above, explaining the nature of the dispute and requesting an informal conference. If the opposing party wishes to respond to the letter, it must promptly file a responsive letter, not to exceed three pages.

4. Motions

A. Filing and Service. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, papers filed in opposition to a motion must be served and filed within 30 days of service of the motion papers, and reply papers, if any, must be served and filed within two weeks of receipt of opposition papers.

B. Memoranda of Law. The formatting and length of motion papers must conform to Local Civil Rule 7.1 (or, in the case of a motion for reconsideration, Local Civil Rule 6.3). As set forth in Local Civil Rule 7.1(c): If filed by an attorney or prepared with a computer, briefs in support of and in response to a motion (except for motions for reconsideration) may not exceed 8,750 words, and reply briefs may not exceed 3,500 words; if filed by a party who is not represented by an attorney and handwritten or prepared with a typewriter, briefs in support of and in response to a motion may not exceed 25 pages, and reply briefs may not exceed 10 pages. These limits do not include the caption, any index, table of contents, table of authorities, signature blocks, or any required certificates, but do include material contained in footnotes or endnotes. If a brief is filed by an attorney or prepared with a computer, it must include a certificate by the attorney, or party who is not represented by an attorney, that the document complies with the word-count limitations. The person preparing the certificate may rely on the word count of the word- processing program used to prepare the document. The certificate must state the number of words in the document.

C. Pro Se Notices. Parties who file a motion to dismiss, a motion for judgment on the pleadings, or a motion for summary judgment must provide the pro se party with a copy of whichever notices are required under Local Civil Rules 12.1 and 56.2.

D. Special Rule for Summary Judgment Motions. With respect to any deposition that is supplied, whether in whole or in part, in connection with a summary judgment motion, the index to the deposition should be included if it is available.

E. No Courtesy Copies. Unless the Court orders otherwise, parties should not submit courtesy hard copies of any submissions in pro se cases.

F. Oral Argument. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, oral argument will not be heard in pro se matters.

5. Initial Case Management Conference

Absent a motion to dismiss, the Court will generally schedule an initial case management conference within four months of the filing of the complaint. The Notice of Initial Pretrial Conference will be docketed on ECF and mailed to the pro se party or parties.
Unless and until the Court orders otherwise, the conference will be held remotely by telephone using the Court’s dedicated conference line, which can be access by calling (855) 244-8681 and then entering Access Code 2303 019 3884, followed by the pound (#) key. When prompted for an attendee ID number, press the pound key again. If any party wishes for the conference to be conducted in person or by videoconference, he or she should confer with all other parties and promptly file a letter-motion to that effect with the Court. The parties should consult the relevant scheduling order for additional information and guidance.

6. Trial Documents

A. Pretrial Statement. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, within 30 days of the completion of all discovery or, if a summary judgment motion is filed, within 30 days of the Court’s ruling on summary judgment, the plaintiff in a pro se case shall file a concise, written Pretrial Statement. This Statement need take no particular form, but it must contain the following: (1) a statement of the facts the plaintiff hopes to prove at trial; (2) a list of all documents or other physical objects that the plaintiff plans to put into evidence at trial; and (3) a list of the names and addresses of all witnesses the plaintiff intends to have testify at trial.
The Statement must be sworn by the plaintiff to be true and accurate based on the facts known by the plaintiff. If pro se, the plaintiff shall file an original of this Statement with the Pro Se Office. Two weeks after service of the plaintiff’s Statement, the defendant must file and serve a similar Statement of its case containing the same information.

B. Other Pretrial Filings. If the case is to be tried before only a Judge without a jury, any parties represented by counsel must also file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law at the time of filing the Pretrial Statement. If the case is to be tried before a jury, any parties represented by counsel must also file proposed voir dire questions, a proposed jury charge, and a proposed verdict form at the time of filing the Pretrial Statement. At the time of filing, a represented party should e-mail these documents to the Court

(Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd. uscourts.gov), in both PDF and Microsoft Word formats. The pro se party may file such documents, but is not required to do so and need not submit them by e- mail.

7. Pro Se Clinic There is a Pro Se Law Clinic in this District to assist parties in civil cases who do not have lawyers. The Clinic may be able to provide a pro se litigant with advice in connection with his or her case. The Pro Se Law Clinic is run by a private organization; it is not part of, or run by, the Court (and, among other things, therefore cannot accept filings on behalf of the Court, which must still be made by any unrepresented party through the Pro Se Intake Unit). To receive limited-scope assistance from the clinic, a pro se litigant should make an appointment by completing the online intake form, located at https://www.citybarjusticecenter.org/projects/federal-pro-se-legal-assistance-project.
   If a pro se litigant has questions about the intake form or needs to highlight an urgent deadline already disclosed in the form, the Clinic can be contacted by phone at (212) 382-4794 or email at fedprosdny@nycbar.org.

View source on SDNY.uscourts.gov →

Revised: April 7, 2026

INDIVIDUAL RULES AND PRACTICES IN CIVIL CASES Jesse M. Furman, United States District Judge

Chambers

Courtroom Deputy
United States District Court

Alexandra Smallman Southern District of New York

500 Pearl Street, Room 2510

New York, NY 10007

Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov

Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, these Individual Rules apply to all civil matters before Judge Furman except for civil pro se cases (see Individual Rules and Practices in Civil Pro Se Cases, available at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/hon-jesse-m-furman).

Guidelines for All Submissions ............................................................................................ 2 A. Text Searchable Submissions ........................................................................................... 2 B. Amended or Corrected Filings .......................................................................................... 2 C. Submission of Large Electronic Files ............................................................................... 2 D. No Courtesy Copies .......................................................................................................... 2 2. Communications with Chambers ........................................................................................ 3 A. Letters ............................................................................................................................... 3 B. Telephone Calls and Emails .............................................................................................. 3 C. Hand Deliveries ................................................................................................................ 3 D. Requests for Adjournments or Extensions of Time .......................................................... 3 E. Related and Consolidated Cases ....................................................................................... 4 F. ECF ................................................................................................................................. 4 G. Urgent Communications ................................................................................................... 4 3. Conferences ........................................................................................................................... 4 A. In-Person Conferences ...................................................................................................... 4 B. Teleconferences ................................................................................................................ 4 C. Attendance by Principal Trial Counsel ............................................................................. 5 D. Discovery Disputes ........................................................................................................... 5 E. Participation by Junior Attorneys ..................................................................................... 5 4. Motions................................................................................................................................... 6 A. Letter-Motions .................................................................................................................. 6 B. Pre-Motion Conferences in Civil Cases ............................................................................ 6 C. Memoranda of Law ........................................................................................................... 6 D. Hyperlinking ..................................................................................................................... 6 E. Unpublished Cases ............................................................................................................ 6 F. Oral Argument on Motions ............................................................................................... 6 G. Summary Judgment Motions ............................................................................................ 7 H. Preliminary Injunction Hearings ....................................................................................... 7 I. Motions to Exclude Testimony of Experts ....................................................................... 7 J. Default Judgment Motions ................................................................................................ 8 K. Proposed Stipulations and Orders ..................................................................................... 9

Other Pretrial Guidance....................................................................................................... 9 A. Applications for Temporary Restraining Orders .............................................................. 9 B. Settlement Agreements ..................................................................................................... 9 C. Bankruptcy Appeals ........................................................................................................ 10 6. Trial Submissions and Procedures .................................................................................... 10 A. Joint Pretrial Order .......................................................................................................... 10 B. Required Pretrial Filings ................................................................................................. 11 C. Electronic Copies of Exhibits and Exhibit Lists ............................................................. 12 D. Requests to Charge and Proposed Voir Dire .................................................................. 13 E. Additional Submissions in Non-Jury Cases .................................................................... 13 F. Filings in Opposition ...................................................................................................... 14 7. Redactions and Sealed Filings............................................................................................ 14 A. Redactions Not Requiring Court Approval..................................................................... 14 B. Redactions and Sealed Filings Requiring Court Approval ............................................. 14 C. Procedures for Filing Sealed or Redacted Documents ................................................... 14 8. Use of Electronic Devices and WiFi Access for Hearings and Trials ............................. 16 A. Use of Electronic Devices ............................................................................................... 16 B. WiFi Access for Hearings and Trials .............................................................................. 16

1. Guidelines for All Submissions

A. Text Searchable Submissions. Judge Furman reads most submissions in electronic form using an iPad or computer. Accordingly, if feasible, every submission should be in text-searchable format created by converting the document electronically to PDF by computer (that is, not by scanning a printed document). If a PDF is created by scanning a printed document (for instance, in the case of a pre-existing documentary exhibit), the party should use software to make the document text searchable whenever possible.

B. Amended or Corrected Filings. Any amended or corrected filing shall be filed with a redline showing all differences between the original and revised filing.

C. Submission of Large Electronic Files. The Court has a file transfer protocol for the safe electronic transmission of large files. If a party needs to submit large files by email (as opposed to ECF), the party should email the Court (at Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) requesting a link to be used for such transfer. The email should include the name and docket number of the case and the nature and size of the materials to be submitted electronically.

D. No Courtesy Copies. Unless the Court orders otherwise, parties should not submit courtesy copies of any submissions.

2. Communications with Chambers

A. Letters. Except as otherwise provided below, communications with the Court should be by letter, filed electronically on ECF. Letters seeking relief should (if consistent with the S.D.N.Y. Local Rules and the S.D.N.Y. Electronic Case Filing Rules and Instructions) be filed on ECF as letter-motions in accordance with Paragraph 4(A) below, not as ordinary letters.

Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, letters may not exceed five pages in length. Letters solely between parties or their counsel or otherwise not addressed to the Court may not be filed on ECF or otherwise sent to the Court (except as exhibits to an otherwise properly filed document).

B. Telephone Calls and Emails. Communications with Chambers, including requests for extensions or adjournments, shall be by letter or letter-motion filed on ECF in accordance with Paragraphs 2(A) and 4(A). For questions that cannot be answered by reference to these Rules or for urgent matters requiring immediate attention, email Chambers with the word “URGENT” in the subject. Technical questions pertaining to ECF filings should be directed to the ECF Help Desk at helpdesk@nysd.uscourts.gov or (212) 805-0800. Counsel may not submit substantive case-related communications by email without leave of the Court.

C. Hand Deliveries. Hand-delivered mail should be left with the Court Security Officers at the Worth Street entrance of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States District Courthouse at 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY 10007 and may not be brought directly to Chambers. If the hand-delivered letter is urgent and requires the Court’s immediate attention, ask the Court Security Officers to notify Chambers that an urgent package has arrived that needs to be retrieved by Chambers staff immediately.

D. Requests for Adjournments or Extensions of Time. All requests for adjournments or extensions of time must be made in writing and filed on ECF as letter-motions, not as ordinary letters, proposed stipulations, or proposed orders.
The letter-motion must state: (1) the original date(s); (2) the number of previous requests for adjournment or extension; (3) whether these previous requests were granted or denied; (4) the reasons for the requested extension; (5) whether the adversary consents and, if not, the reasons given by the adversary for refusing to consent; and (6) the date of the parties’ next scheduled appearance before the Court as well as any other existing deadlines. If the extension will affect any other deadlines in the case, the party seeking the extension should propose amendments to those deadlines as well. Requests for extensions of deadlines regarding a matter that has been referred to a Magistrate Judge shall be addressed to that assigned Magistrate Judge.

Absent an emergency, any request for extension or adjournment shall be made at least 48 hours prior to the deadline or scheduled appearance. Requests for

extensions will ordinarily be denied if made after the expiration of the original deadline.

E. Related and Consolidated Cases. After an action has been accepted as related to a prior filing, all future court papers and correspondence must contain the docket number of the new filing as well as the docket number of the case to which it is related (e.g., 12-CV-1234 [rel. 11-CV-4321]). After two or more actions have been consolidated for all purposes under a single docket number pursuant to Rule 42(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, all future court papers and correspondence should be filed only in the docket under which the cases have been consolidated and should reference only that docket number.

F. ECF. In accordance with the Electronic Case Filing Rules and Instructions, counsel are required to register promptly as ECF filers and to enter an appearance in the case. Counsel are responsible for updating their contact information on ECF, should it change, and they are responsible for checking the docket sheet regularly, regardless of whether they receive an ECF notification of case activity.
For assistance with updating contact information, please contact the ECF Help Desk at helpdesk@nysd.uscourts.gov or (212) 805-0800; do not file a letter- motion advising the Court of the change.

G. Urgent Communications. As a general matter, materials filed via ECF are reviewed by the Court the business day after they have been filed. If a submission requires more immediate attention, the filing party should notify Chambers by telephone after filing the submission on ECF.

3. Conferences

A. In-Person Conferences. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, all in-person conferences will be held in Courtroom 24B of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, New York NY. If any counsel wishes for a conference to be conducted remotely (by telephone or video), he or she should confer with all other counsel and promptly file a letter-motion to that effect in accordance with Paragraph 4(A). B. Teleconferences. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, any proceeding held by telephone will be on the Court’s dedicated conference line, which can be accessed by calling (855) 244-8681 and then entering Access Code 2303 019 3884, followed by the pound (#) key. When prompted for an attendee ID number, press the pound key again. The following procedures shall apply to all teleconferences with the Court: i. At least twenty-four hours before a scheduled teleconference, the parties must jointly email to the Court the names and honorifics (e.g., Mr., Ms., Dr., etc.) of counsel — absent permission of the Court, no more than two per party — who may speak during the teleconference. The email should also provide the telephone numbers from which counsel expect to join the

call.
ii. Counsel should use a landline whenever possible, should use a headset instead of speakerphone, and must mute themselves whenever they are not speaking to eliminate background noise.
iii. To facilitate orderly teleconferences and the creation of an accurate transcript where a teleconference is held on the record, counsel are required to identify themselves every time they speak. Counsel should spell any proper names for the court reporter. Counsel should also take special care not to interrupt or speak over one another.
iv. If there is a beep or chime indicating that a new caller has joined while counsel is speaking, counsel should pause to allow the Court to ascertain the identity of the new participant and confirm that the court reporter has not been dropped from the call. v. Broadcasting or recording of any court conference is prohibited by law.
C. Attendance by Principal Trial Counsel. Absent leave of the Court, the attorney who will serve as principal trial counsel must appear at all conferences with the Court. Any attorney appearing before the Court must enter a notice of appearance on ECF.

D. Discovery Disputes. Parties must follow Local Civil Rule 37.2 with the following modifications. Any party wishing to raise a discovery dispute with the Court must first confer in good faith with the opposing party, in person or by telephone, in an effort to resolve the dispute. If this meet-and-confer process does not resolve the dispute, either party may file on ECF a letter-motion, no longer than three pages, explaining the nature of the dispute and, if applicable, why the party is entitled to relief and requesting an informal conference. Any letter- motion seeking relief must include a representation that the meet-and-confer process occurred and was unsuccessful. Any opposition to a letter-motion shall be filed as a letter, not to exceed three pages, within three business days. Counsel should be prepared to discuss with the Court the matters raised by such letters, as the Court will seek to resolve discovery disputes quickly, by order (based on the letters alone) or in a conference. Counsel should seek relief in accordance with these procedures in a timely fashion; if a party waits until near the close of discovery to raise an issue that could have been raised earlier, the party is unlikely to be granted the relief that it seeks or more time for discovery.

E. Participation by Junior Attorneys. The Court encourages the participation of less experienced attorneys in all proceedings — including pretrial conferences, hearings on discovery disputes, oral arguments, and examinations of witnesses at trial — particularly where that attorney played a substantial role in drafting the underlying filing or in preparing the relevant witness. The Court may be inclined to grant a request for oral argument, which it generally disfavors, where doing so would afford the opportunity for a junior attorney to gain courtroom experience.

Nevertheless, all attorneys appearing before the Court must have authority to bind the party they represent consistent with the proceeding (for example, by agreeing to a discovery or briefing schedule), and should be prepared to address any matters likely to arise at the proceeding.

4. Motions

A. Letter-Motions. When permitted by the S.D.N.Y. Local Rules and the S.D.N.Y. Electronic Case Filing Rules and Instructions, letters seeking relief should be filed on ECF as letter-motions, not as ordinary letters. In particular, all requests for adjournments, extensions, and pre-motion conferences (including pre-motion conferences with respect to discovery disputes) should be filed as letter-motions.

B. Pre-Motion Conferences in Civil Cases. Pre-motion conferences are not required, except for disputes concerning discovery, which are governed by Paragraph 3(D) above.

C. Memoranda of Law. The typeface, margins, spacing, and length of motion papers must conform to Local Civil Rule 7.1 (or, in the case of a motion for reconsideration, Local Civil Rule 6.3). Per Local Civil Rule 7.1, memoranda of law in support of and in opposition to motions (other than motions for reconsideration) are limited to 8,750 words, and reply briefs are limited to 3,500 words. Memoranda exceeding 3,500 words shall contain a table of contents and a table of authorities. Sur-reply memoranda will not be accepted without prior permission of the Court. All appendices to memoranda of law must be indexed.

D. Hyperlinking.

i. Memoranda of law must include hyperlinks to (1) cited court decisions (both reported and unpublished), statutes, rules, regulations, treatises, and other legal authorities in either online legal research databases or in local, state, or federal government websites; and (2) the docket entry of any cited court documents, whether filed in federal or state court, except for documents filed under seal or otherwise not in the public record.

ii. A party need not include hyperlinks in a memorandum if, in a footnote in the memorandum, it certifies in good faith that it cannot include hyperlinks as a result of technological limitations or other good cause.

E. Unpublished Cases. If a party cites to a case not available in an official reporter, it need not provide copies of the case to Chambers if the case is available on Westlaw.

F. Oral Argument on Motions. The Court rarely holds oral argument. But a party may request oral argument by indicating “ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED” on the cover page of its memorandum of law. If a party believes that the Court

would benefit from oral argument for a particular reason not obvious from the parties’ briefing, the party may file a letter — not a letter-motion — explaining the reason on ECF. Additionally, a party should advise the Court by letter if oral argument would be handled by a less experienced attorney because, as discussed in Paragraph 3(E) above, that may make the Court more inclined to hold oral argument. If oral argument is requested, the Court will determine whether argument will be heard and, if so, advise counsel of the argument date.

G. Summary Judgment Motions.

i. Absent good cause, the Court will not ordinarily have summary judgment practice in a non-jury case.

ii. With respect to any deposition that is supplied, whether in whole or in part, in connection with a summary judgment motion, the index to the deposition should be included if it is available.

iii. The parties should provide the Court with an electronic, text-searchable copy of any hearing or deposition transcript, or portion thereof, on which the parties rely, if such a copy is available, unless doing so would be unduly burdensome.

iv. Memoranda of law should include sections discussing the relevant background and facts. Parties should not merely incorporate by reference their Local Rule 56.1 Statements or Counterstatements.

v. If both sides intend to file summary judgment motions, the parties should confer and propose (by letter-motion or orally at a conference) a briefing structure, schedule, and page limits. To avoid redundancy, the Court will generally, absent good reason, set a briefing schedule with deadlines for: (1) one party to file the initial motion; (2) the other party to file a cross- motion, with a single, consolidated memorandum of law supporting the cross-motion and opposing the initial motion; (3) the first party to file a single, consolidated memorandum of law replying in support of the initial motion and opposing the cross-motion; and (4) the cross-moving party to file a reply in support of the cross-motion.

H. Preliminary Injunction Hearings. If the Court holds an evidentiary hearing with respect to a motion for a preliminary injunction, the Court will generally follow the procedures for the conduct of non-jury trials described in Paragraph 6(E) below.

I. Motions to Exclude Testimony of Experts. Unless the Court orders otherwise, motions to exclude the testimony of experts, pursuant to Rules 702-705 of the Federal Rules of Evidence and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), and its progeny, must be made by the deadline for dispositive motions and should not be treated as motions in limine. Absent leave

of the Court, the moving party must file a single motion and single, consolidated memorandum of law, consistent with Paragraph 4(C) above, even when seeking to exclude the testimony of multiple experts.

J. Default Judgment Motions. If a party fails to respond to a claim, the party asserting the claim should promptly move for entry of default judgment if appropriate. If a failure to answer is the basis for the default, the party seeking a default judgment must begin by seeking a Clerk’s Certificate of Default pursuant to Local Civil Rule 55.1. Only after obtaining a Clerk’s Certificate of Default should the party proceed to filing a motion for default judgment on ECF pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(2) and Local Civil Rule 55.2. (Counsel should therefore seek and obtain a Clerk’s Certificate of Default well in advance of any Court-imposed deadline to move for default judgment.)

A party seeking a default judgment should not proceed by order to show cause.
Any motion for default judgment must be supported by the following papers:

i. an attorney’s affidavit or declaration pursuant to Local Civil Rule 55.2(a)(1);

ii. a statement of damages, sworn or affirmed to by one or more people with personal knowledge, showing the proposed damages and the basis for each element of damages, including interest, attorney’s fees, and costs;

iii. a memorandum of law setting forth:

(a) the basis for entering a default judgment, including a description of the method and date of service of the summons and complaint;

(b) the procedural history beyond service of the summons and complaint, if any;

(c) legal authority for why such service was proper;

(d) the basis for subject-matter and personal jurisdiction;

(e) whether, if the default is applicable to fewer than all of the counterparties, the Court may appropriately order a default judgment on the issue of damages prior to resolution of the entire action;

(f) legal authority for why an inquest into damages would be unnecessary;

iv. if the proposed damages are supported by calculations, native versions of the files with calculations (i.e., versions of the files in their original format, such as in “.xlsx”), which shall be emailed to Chambers at Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov;

v. a proposed default judgment;

vi. copies of all the operative pleadings;

vii. a copy of the affidavit of service of the summons and complaint; and

viii. a certificate of service stating that all documents in support of the request for default judgment have been personally served on or mailed to the party against whom default judgment is sought, pursuant to Local Civil Rule 55.2(a)(3).

K. Proposed Stipulations and Orders. In accordance with the Local Rules and the Electronic Case Filing Rules and Instructions, parties should file on ECF all proposed stipulations and orders that they wish the Court to sign, using the appropriate ECF filing event. See SDNY ECF Rules & Instructions §§ 13.17-19 & App’x A. As noted above, requests for extensions and adjournments must be made by letter-motion, not by proposed stipulation or proposed order.

5. Other Pretrial Guidance

A. Applications for Temporary Restraining Orders. A party should confer with his or her adversary before making an application for a temporary restraining order unless the party seeking relief is able to satisfy the requirements for obtaining temporary relief without notice to the adverse party set forth in Rule 65(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In the absence of an emergency that would justify seeking immediate relief in person, if the party seeking relief (1) believes that Rule 65(b)(1)’s requirements can be met and a temporary restraining order should issue without notice to the adverse party, the party should file its papers on ECF under seal (or, if ECF is not a viable option, by email to Chambers at Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) and then email Chambers with the words “URGENT: TRO” in the subject; or (2) is prepared to seek relief on notice to the adverse party, the party seeking relief should simultaneously file its papers on ECF, serve them on all other parties, and then email Chambers, copying all other parties, with the words “URGENT: TRO” in the subject.

B. Settlement Agreements. Unless the Court orders otherwise, the Court will not retain jurisdiction to enforce confidential settlement agreements. If the parties wish that the Court retain jurisdiction to enforce a settlement agreement, the parties must place the terms of their agreement on the public record. The parties may either provide a copy of the settlement agreement for the Court to endorse or

include the terms of their settlement agreement in their stipulation of settlement and dismissal.

C. Bankruptcy Appeals. The parties must comply with the briefing schedule and the format and length specifications set forth in the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure 8014-8018 unless otherwise ordered by the Court.

6. Trial Submissions and Procedures

A. Joint Pretrial Order. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, no later than thirty days after the date for the completion of all discovery or, in the event a dispositive motion is filed, no later than thirty days after the Court’s ruling on such motion, the parties shall both file on ECF, as a “Joint Pretrial Statement,” and submit by email to the Court (Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) a proposed joint pretrial order, which shall include the following:

i. the full caption of the action;

ii. the names, law firms, addresses, telephone number, and email addresses of trial counsel if not already listed on the docket;

iii. a brief statement by plaintiff (or, in a removed case, by defendant) as to the basis of subject matter jurisdiction, and a brief statement by each other party as to the presence or absence of subject matter jurisdiction. Such statements shall include citations to all statutes relied on and relevant facts as to citizenship and jurisdictional amount;

iv. a brief summary by each party of the claims and defenses that the party asserts remain to be tried, including citations to any statutes on which the party relies. Such summaries shall also identify all claims and defenses previously asserted that are not to be tried. The summaries should not recite any evidentiary matter;

v. a statement as to the number of trial days needed and whether the case is to be tried with or without a jury;

vi. a joint statement summarizing the nature of the case, to be read to potential jurors during jury selection;

vii. a list of people, places, and institutions (in alphabetical order) that are likely to be mentioned during the course of the trial, to be read to potential jurors during jury selection;

viii. a statement as to whether all parties have consented to trial by a magistrate judge, without identifying which parties do or do not consent;

ix. any stipulations or agreed statements of fact or law to which all parties consent. In a jury case, the parties should memorialize any such stipulations or agreed statements of fact or law in a standalone document that can be marked and admitted at trial;

x. a list of all trial witnesses (in alphabetical order), indicating whether such witnesses will testify in person or by deposition, whether such witnesses will require an interpreter (and, if so, which party will pay the costs for the interpreter), and a brief summary of the substance of each witness’s testimony. Absent leave of the Court, a witness listed by both sides shall testify only once (with the defendant(s) permitted to go beyond the scope of the direct on cross-examination), and counsel should confer with respect to scheduling;

xi. designations by each party of deposition testimony to be offered in its case-in-chief and any counter-designations as follows:

(a) a chart listing (1) the designations and counter-designations; (2) any objections, including the bases for such objections; (3) a brief response to each objection; and

(b) transcripts of each relevant deposition with designations, counter- designations, and objections highlighted in different colors.

The parties need not designate deposition testimony to be used for impeachment purposes only. The parties should limit their designations to those that they actually intend to use at trial;

xii. a list by each party of all exhibits to be offered in its case-in-chief, with a single asterisk indicating exhibits to which no party objects on any ground.
If a party objects to an exhibit, the objection should be noted by indicating the Federal Rule of Evidence that is the basis for the objection. If any party believes that the Court should rule on such an objection in advance of trial, that party should include a notation to that effect (e.g., “Advance Ruling Requested”) as well. In general, the Court will rule on relevance and authenticity objections at the time of trial;

xiii. a statement of the damages claimed and any other relief sought, including the manner and method used to calculate any claimed damages and a breakdown of the elements of such claimed damages; and

xiv. a statement of whether the parties consent to less than a unanimous verdict.

B. Required Pretrial Filings. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, each party shall file with the joint pretrial order:

i. in all cases, motions addressing any evidentiary issues or other matters that should be resolved in limine. Absent leave of the Court, each party must file a single memorandum of law, consistent with Paragraph 4(C) above, in support of all motions in limine filed by that party. No motion in limine will be considered or decided unless the moving party’s memorandum of law includes a certification that, prior to filing the motion, the parties conferred, in person or by telephone, in a good faith effort to resolve the issue(s) asserted in the motion without the intervention of the Court and were unable to reach an agreement;

ii. in all jury cases, joint requests to charge, joint proposed verdict forms, and joint proposed voir dire questions as specified by Paragraph 6(D) below;

iii. in all non-jury cases, proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law.
The proposed findings of fact should be detailed and should include citations to the proffered trial testimony and exhibits, as there may be no opportunity for post-trial submissions. At the time of filing, parties should also submit copies of these documents to the Court by email (Furman_ NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov), both in .pdf format and as a Microsoft Word document;

C. Electronic Copies of Exhibits and Exhibit Lists. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, the parties shall also submit with the joint pretrial order (but not file on ECF):

i. an electronic copy of each exhibit sought to be admitted (with each filename corresponding to the relevant exhibit number — e.g., “PX-1,” “DX-1,” etc.). (If the files are too large for submission by email, see Paragraph 1(C) above.) If submission of electronic copies would be an undue burden on a party, the party may seek leave of the Court (by letter- motion filed on ECF) to submit prospective documentary exhibits in hard copy. Each hard copy shall be pre-marked (that is, with an exhibit sticker) and assembled sequentially in a loose leaf binder (not to exceed 2 1/2 inches in thickness) or in separate manila folders labeled with the exhibit numbers and placed in redweld folders labeled with the case name and docket number;

ii. the parties shall email to the Court (Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd. uscourts.gov) a Microsoft Word document listing all exhibits sought to be admitted. The list shall contain four columns labeled as follows: (1) “Exhibit Number”; (2) “Description” (of the exhibit); (3) “Date Identified”; and (4) “Date Admitted.” The parties shall complete the first two columns, but leave the third and fourth columns blank. Unless the Court orders otherwise, the parties shall confer at the end of each trial day and, no later than the beginning of the next trial day, email to the Court an

updated list indicating (in the third and fourth columns) each exhibit that was identified and/or admitted.

D. Requests to Charge and Proposed Voir Dire. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, in all jury trials, joint requests to charge, joint proposed verdict forms, and joint proposed voir dire questions shall be submitted as attachments to the proposed joint pretrial order, with any differing proposals displayed in track- change format and supported by authority or other justification. Absent good reason, the parties should not include proposed language for standard instructions (about, for example, the role of the Court and the jury, the standard of proof, etc.), as the Court is likely to use its own standard instructions; instead, the parties should include a list of standard instructions that they believe are appropriate and focus their attention on case-specific requests to charge. At the time of filing, the parties should also submit copies of these documents to the Court by email (Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) as Microsoft Word documents.
For any request to charge or proposed voir dire question on which the parties cannot agree, each party should clearly set forth its proposed charge or question, and briefly state why the Court should use its proposed charge or question, with citations to supporting authority.

E. Additional Submissions in Non-Jury Cases. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, at the time the joint pretrial order is filed, each party in a non-jury trial shall submit to the Court by email (Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts. gov) and serve on opposing counsel, but not file on ECF, the following:

i. Copies of affidavits constituting the direct testimony of each trial witness, except for the direct testimony of an adverse party, a person whose attendance is compelled by subpoena, or a person for whom the Court has agreed to hear direct testimony live at the trial. The affidavit should be treated as a direct substitute for the witness’s live testimony; that is, counsel should be attentive to the Rules of Evidence (e.g., hearsay and the like) and authenticate any exhibits that will be offered through that witness’s testimony. Three business days after submission of such affidavits, counsel for each party shall submit a list of all affiants whom he or she intends to cross-examine at the trial. Only those witnesses who will be cross-examined need to appear at trial. The original signed affidavits should be brought to trial to be marked as exhibits, at which time any objections to particular paragraphs of an affidavit can be made; and

ii. All deposition excerpts that will be offered as substantive evidence, as well as a one-page synopsis of those excerpts for each deposition. Each

synopsis shall include page citations to the pertinent pages of the deposition transcripts.

F. Filings in Opposition. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, any party may file the following documents within one week after the filing of the pretrial order, but in no event later than three days before the scheduled trial date:

i. Opposition to any motion in limine; and

ii. Opposition to any legal argument in a pretrial memorandum.

7. Redactions and Sealed Filings

A. Redactions Not Requiring Court Approval. The parties are referred to Rule 5.2 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Southern District’s ECF Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”). There are two categories of information that may be redacted from public court filings without prior permission from the Court: “sensitive information” and information requiring “caution.” Parties should not include in their public filings, unless necessary, the five categories of “sensitive information” (i.e., social security numbers [use the last four digits only], names of minor children [use the initials only], dates of birth [use the year only], financial account numbers [use the last four digits only], and home addresses [use only the City and State]). Parties may also, without prior Court approval, redact from their public filings the six categories of information requiring caution described in the Privacy Policy (i.e., any personal identifying number, medical records [including information regarding treatment and diagnosis], employment history, individual financial information, proprietary or trade secret information, and information regarding an individual’s cooperation with the government).

B. Redactions and Sealed Filings Requiring Court Approval. Except for redactions permitted by the previous Paragraph, all redactions or sealing of public court filings require Court approval. To be approved, any redaction or sealing of a court filing must be narrowly tailored to serve whatever purpose justifies the redaction or sealing and must be otherwise consistent with the presumption in favor of public access to judicial documents. See, e.g., Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga, 435 F.3d 110, 119-20 (2d Cir. 2006). In general, neither the parties’ consent nor the fact that information is subject to a confidentiality agreement between litigants is, by itself, a valid basis to overcome the presumption in favor of public access to judicial documents. See, e.g., In re Gen. Motors LLC Ignition Switch Litig., No. 14-MD-2543 (JMF), 2015 WL 4750774, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 11, 2015).

C. Procedures for Filing Sealed or Redacted Documents. Any party seeking to file a document under seal or in redacted form shall proceed as follows:

i. Meet and Confer. The party should meet and confer with any opposing

party (or any third party seeking confidential treatment of the information) in advance to narrow the scope of the request. When a party seeks leave to file a document under seal or in redacted form on the ground that an opposing party or third party has requested it, the filing party shall notify the opposing party or third party that it must file, within three business days, a letter explaining the need to seal or redact the document.

ii. Sealed Document(s). The party shall file a letter-motion seeking leave to file a document under seal on ECF in accordance with Standing Order 19- MC-583 and Section 6 of the S.D.N.Y. Electronic Case Filing Rules and Instructions. The letter motion itself shall be filed in public view, should explain the reasons for seeking to file the document under seal, and should not include confidential information. The proposed sealed document shall be contemporaneously filed under seal on ECF (with the appropriate level of restriction) and electronically related to the motion (or to the relevant Court order if the Court previously granted leave to file the document under seal). Note that the summary docket text, but not the document itself, will be open to public inspection and, thus, should not include confidential information sought to be filed under seal.

iii. Redacted Document(s). Where a party seeks leave to file a document in redacted form, the party shall file a letter-motion seeking leave to file a document in redacted form on ECF in accordance with Standing Order 19- MC-583 and Section 6 of the S.D.N.Y. Electronic Case Filing Rules and Instructions. The letter-motion itself shall be filed in public view, should explain the reasons for seeking to file the document in redacted form, and should not include confidential information. At the same time, the party shall (1) publicly file on ECF and electronically relate to the letter-motion a copy of the document that implements the proposed redactions; and (2) file under seal on ECF (with the appropriate level of restriction) and electronically relate to the motion an unredacted copy of the document with the proposed redactions highlighted.

iv. Submission by Email. Any party unable to comply with the requirements for electronic filing under seal through the ECF system, or who believes that a particular document should not be electronically filed at all, shall file a letter-motion seeking leave of the Court to file in a different manner.
If the party is unable to file such a letter-motion on ECF, or believes there is good cause not to file such a letter-motion on ECF, the party may submit it by email (at Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) as a text-searchable .pdf attachment with a copy simultaneously delivered to all counsel. Any such email shall state clearly in the subject line: (1) the caption of the case, including the lead party names and docket number; and (2) a brief description of the contents of the letter. Parties may not include substantive communications in the body of the email; such communications may be included only in the body of the letter.

8. Use of Electronic Devices and WiFi Access for Hearings and Trials A. Use of Electronic Devices. Electronic devices (including mobile telephones, personal electronic devices, and computers) may not be used in Judge Furman’s Courtroom without his permission. More broadly, the use of any such devices within the Courthouse and its environs is governed by the Court’s Standing Order M10-468, available at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/2018- 06/standing-order-electronic-devices.pdf. If required by the Standing Order, counsel seeking to bring a device into the Courthouse shall submit an Electronic Device and Wi-Fi Access Request Form, available on the Court’s website, to the Court by e-mail (Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) as early as possible — and certainly no later than three business days before the final pretrial or pre-hearing conference. If approved and signed by Judge Furman, a copy of the Order will be sent to the requesting attorney, who will receive a network name, username, password, and instructions from the District Executive’s Office on or before the first day of the scheduled proceeding. (Note that WiFi access is actually managed by the District Executive’s Office, not Chambers, so any questions regarding WiFi access should be directed to the District Executive’s Office.) Wi-Fi access is limited to the approved attorney (who may not share his or her username or password with others) for the duration of the proceeding and for Courtroom 24B (unless Judge Furman or another judicial officer grants permission for it to be used in another courtroom). If an attorney wishes to test the Wi-Fi prior to the proceeding, that request must also be made to Chambers at least three business days prior to the proceeding. Requests submitted later than three business days prior to the relevant final pretrial or pre- hearing conference may be denied on that basis alone. If permitted by the Standing Order, mobile telephones are permitted inside the Courtroom, but they MUST be kept turned off at all times. Non-compliance with this rule may result in forfeiture of the device for the remainder of the proceedings.

B. WiFi Access for Hearings and Trials. Attorneys participating in a hearing or trial may obtain authorization to use the Court’s WiFi system in Judge Furman’s Courtroom during the proceeding. For further information, see Judge Furman’s Individual Rules and Practices for Hearings and Trials, available on Judge Furman’s webpage.

View source on SDNY.uscourts.gov →

Revised: August 22, 2025

INDIVIDUAL RULES AND PRACTICES IN CRIMINAL CASES Jesse M. Furman, United States District Judge

Chambers

Courtroom

United States District Court

500 Pearl Street, Courtroom 24B Southern District of New York

500 Pearl Street, Room 2510

Courtroom Deputy New York, NY 10007

Alexandra Smallman Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov (212) 805-0282

1. Electronic Case Filing (ECF)

Counsel are required to register for Electronic Case Filing (ECF) promptly after being retained or assigned. Counsel can obtain instructions on how to register at https://nysd. uscourts.gov/electronic-case-filing.

2. Guidelines for All Submissions

A. Text Searchable Submissions. Judge Furman reads most submissions in electronic form using an iPad or computer. Accordingly, if feasible, every submission should be in text-searchable format created by converting the document electronically to PDF by computer (that is, not by scanning a printed document). If a PDF is created by scanning a printed document (for instance, in the case of a pre-existing documentary exhibit), the party should use software to make the document text searchable whenever possible.

B. Submission of Large Electronic Files. The Government should use USAfx to transfer large files to the Court. If USAfx is unavailable or another party needs to submit large files by email (as opposed to ECF), the party should email the Court (at Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) requesting a link to be used for such transfer. The email should include the name and docket number of the case and the nature and size of the materials to be submitted electronically.

C. No Courtesy Copies. Unless the Court orders otherwise, parties should not submit courtesy copies of any submissions, including sentencing submissions.

3. Communications with Chambers

A. Initial Pretrial Conference. Upon assignment of a criminal case to Judge Furman, the Assistant United States Attorney shall immediately email Chambers (Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) to arrange for a prompt conference/arraignment. In the email, the Assistant United States Attorney shall include (1) the name of the defendant(s); (2) defense counsel’s name and contact

information; (3) whether the defendant(s) is/are detained (and, if so, the relevant defendant’s Reg. No.) or bailed; (4) whether any defendant requires an interpreter (and, if so, the relevant language); (5) the parties’ joint availability for a prompt conference/arraignment; (6) whether there is any reason a scheduling order should not be filed on the public docket; and (7) any other pertinent information. In addition, the Assistant United States Attorney shall attach to the email PDFs of the indictment and the criminal complaint, if one exists.

B. Telephone Calls. Any other communications with Chambers, including requests for extensions or adjournments, shall be by letter or letter-motion filed on ECF in accordance with Paragraphs 3(C) and 5(A). For questions that cannot be answered by reference to these Rules or for urgent matters requiring immediate attention, call Alexandra Smallman, Courtroom Deputy, at (212) 805-0282.

C. Letters. Except for matters requiring immediate attention or as otherwise provided below, communications with the Court should be by letter filed on ECF. Letters seeking relief, including requests for extensions, adjournments, or bail modification, should be filed on ECF as letter-motions in accordance with Paragraph 5(A) below, not as ordinary letters.

Any letter to be filed under seal or containing sensitive or confidential information may be e-mailed as a text-searchable PDF attachment to the Court (Furman_NYSD Chambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) with a copy simultaneously delivered to all counsel (unless the submission is being made ex parte). Any such e-mail shall state clearly in the subject line: (1) the caption of the case, including the lead party names and docket number; and (2) a brief description of the contents of the letter. Parties shall not include substantive communications in the body of the e-mail; such communications shall be included only in the letter itself.

Whether filed electronically or not, letters (together with any related exhibits) may not exceed ten pages in length. Letters solely between parties or their counsel or otherwise not addressed to the Court may not be filed on ECF or otherwise sent to the Court (except as exhibits to an otherwise properly filed document).

D. Requests for Adjournments or Extensions of Time. All requests for adjournments or extensions of time must be made in writing and filed on ECF as letter-motions in accordance with Paragraphs 3(C) and 5(A), not as ordinary letters. (If a request contains sensitive or confidential information, it may be submitted by e-mail in lieu of being filed electronically.) The letter-motion must state: (1) the original date(s); (2) the number of previous requests for adjournment or extension; (3) whether these previous requests were granted or denied; (4) the reason for the extension or adjournment; (5) whether the adversary consents and, if not, the reasons given by the adversary for refusing to consent; (6) the date of the parties’ next scheduled appearance before the Court; and (7) if applicable, whether all parties consent to exclusion of time under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161.

Absent an emergency, any request for extension or adjournment shall be made at least 48 hours prior to the deadline or scheduled appearance and any request for

adjournment of sentencing shall be made at least 72 hours prior to the scheduled proceeding. Requests for extensions will ordinarily be denied if made after the expiration of the original deadline.

E. Hand Deliveries. Hand-delivered mail should be left with the Court Security Officers at the Worth Street entrance of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States District Courthouse at 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY 10007.

F. Urgent Communications. As a general matter, materials filed via ECF are reviewed by the Court the business day after they have been filed. If a submission requires more immediate attention, please notify chambers by telephone after you file via ECF.

4. Defense Counsel

A. Benefactor Payments. Whenever defense counsel has received, or is receiving, a benefactor payment that subjects counsel to a conflict of interest, said counsel must inform the Court and request a Curcio hearing at the first conference.

B. Other Conflicts. Counsel have an obligation to promptly inform the Court upon learning of any other conflict of interest, whether a potential or an actual conflict, and to request a Curcio hearing if appropriate.

C. Substitution of Counsel. When there is a substitution of defense counsel, counsel of record must file a letter-motion on ECF in accordance with Paragraph 5(A) to request that a conference be scheduled as soon as possible. At the conference, the Court will address the application by defense counsel to be relieved. Counsel of record (i.e., current counsel), the defendant, replacement counsel, and the Assistant United States Attorney must also attend the conference.

5. Motions

A. Letter-Motions. Letter-motions may be filed via ECF if they comply with the S.D.N.Y. Local Rules and the S.D.N.Y. Electronic Case Filing Rules and Instructions. In particular, in accordance with Paragraph 3(D) above, all requests for adjournments and extensions should be filed as letter-motions. All letter-motions should be text searchable.

B. Memoranda of Law. Unless prior permission has been granted, memoranda of law in support of and in opposition to motions are limited to twenty-five pages, and reply memoranda are limited to ten pages. All memoranda of law shall be in twelve-point font or larger, double spaced, and text-searchable. Memoranda of ten pages or more shall contain a table of contents and a table of authorities, neither of which shall count against the page limit. Sur-reply memoranda will not be accepted without prior permission of the Court. All appendices to memoranda of law must be indexed.

C. Discovery Motions. In making discovery motions, counsel must comply with Southern District Local Criminal Rule 16.1. Any discovery motion must contain the Rule 16.1 affidavit.

6. Bail Modifications

Any written request for a bail modification by a defendant shall be filed on ECF as a letter- motion (not an ordinary letter) and shall indicate whether the Government and the Pre-Trial Services Officer consent to the request. Absent an emergency, any such request with respect to travel or the like shall be made at least 48 hours in advance. Late requests may be denied on that basis alone.

7. Guilty Pleas

A. Plea Agreements and Pimentel Letters. When a defendant is pleading guilty pursuant to a plea agreement or a cooperation agreement, a copy of the agreement, signed or unsigned, ordinarily must be received by Chambers at least two business days before the scheduled plea. Where the Government is providing a Pimentel letter, a copy of the Pimentel letter must be received by Chambers no fewer than two business days before the scheduled plea. These documents should be e-mailed to the Court at Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov.

B. Preparation for Allocution. Prior to the date set for the plea, defense counsel is expected to have reviewed with the defendant — if necessary, with the assistance of an interpreter — any Pimentel letter or plea agreement. Defense counsel and the defendant should execute any plea or cooperation agreement, prior to the time set for the plea. The defendant should also be prepared in advance of a guilty plea to give narrative allocutions that incorporate all of the elements of the offense(s) to which the defendant is pleading guilty. In the interest of clarity and efficiency, counsel is encouraged to assist the defendant in writing an allocution that can be read in open court during the plea proceeding.

8. Trials

A. Trial Dates. Judge Furman’s general practice is to set a trial date at the second pretrial conference (after the filing of any defense motions). In advance of that conference, counsel should confer with respect to when they would want to have the trial and should advise the Courtroom Deputy of their preferred time period.

B. Pre-Trial Deadlines. In most cases, the Court will enter an order approximately two months before the trial date scheduling a final pretrial conference and setting deadlines for the submission of requests to charge, proposed voir dire, proposed verdict forms, and any motions in limine.

C. Proposed Voir Dire, Jury Instructions, and Verdict Forms. The parties should include in their proposed voir dire a brief description of the case and a list of names and places likely to be mentioned at trial, both to be read to prospective jurors during jury selection. At the time of filing, each party should also e-mail those documents, as Microsoft Word documents, to Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov.
Absent good reason, the parties should not include proposed language for standard instructions (about, for example, the role of the Court and the jury, the standard of proof, etc.), as the Court is likely to use its own standard instructions; instead, the parties should include a list of standard instructions that they believe are appropriate and focus their attention on case-specific requests to charge.

D. Motions in Limine. Absent leave of the Court, each party must file a single memorandum of law, consistent with Paragraph 5(B) above, or letter brief in support of all motions in limine filed by that party. No motion in limine will be considered or decided unless the moving party’s submission includes a certification that, prior to filing the motion, the parties conferred, in person or by telephone, in a good faith effort to resolve the issue(s) asserted in the motion without the intervention of the Court and were unable to reach an agreement.

E. Exhibits and 3500 Material. Before trial, each party must provide the Court with all documentary exhibits and Section 3500 material in electronic form (with each filename corresponding to the relevant exhibit number — e.g., “GX-1,” “DX-1,” etc.) by using USAfx or the Court’s filing transfer program in accordance with Paragraph 2(B). If submission of electronic copies in this manner would be an undue burden on a party, the party may seek leave of Court (by letter-motion filed on ECF) to submit materials on a CD or DVD (not a flash drive) or in hard copy. Where submitted in hard copy, exhibits and Section 3500 material should be pre-marked and assembled sequentially in a loose leaf binder or binders (not to exceed 2 1/2 inches in thickness), or in separate manila folders labeled with the exhibit numbers and placed in redweld folders labeled with the case name and docket number.

F. Exhibit Lists. Before trial, each party shall e-mail to the Court (Furman_ NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) a Microsoft Word document listing all exhibits sought to be admitted. The list shall contain four columns labeled as follows: (1) “Exhibit Number”; (2) “Description” (of the exhibit); (3) “Date Identified”; and (4) “Date Admitted.” The submitting party shall complete the first two columns, but leave the third and fourth columns blank. Unless the Court orders otherwise, the parties shall confer at the end of each trial day and, no later than the beginning of the next trial day, email to the Court an updated list indicating (in the third and fourth columns) each exhibit that was identified and/or admitted.

G. Other Trial Rules and Procedures. In addition to the foregoing, counsel shall familiarize themselves with, and abide by, Judge Furman’s Individual Rules and Practices for Hearings and Trials, available at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/hon-jesse-m- furman.

9. Sentencings

A. Sentencing Adjournments. Any request for an adjournment of a sentencing should be made as early as possible, and no later than 72 hours before the sentencing proceeding, in accordance with Paragraph 3(D) above.

B. Sentencing Submissions. Unless prior permission has been granted, sentencing memoranda are limited to twenty-five pages. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, a defendant’s sentencing submission shall be filed and served two weeks in advance of the date set for sentencing. The Government’s sentencing submission shall be filed and served one week in advance of the date set for sentencing. If a party does not intend to file a substantive sentencing submission, the party shall file and serve a letter to that effect.

C. Sentencing Letters. Letters should be grouped and filed together as attachments to a single document marked SENTENCING SUBMISSION with the caption and docket number clearly indicated. The defendant is responsible for filing all letters submitted on behalf of the defendant, including those from friends and relatives. The Government is responsible for filing all letters from victims. The parties are cautioned that the quality of sentencing letters usually matters more than quantity.
Accordingly, counsel are encouraged to curate letters submitted on behalf of the defendant or victims and to avoid submitting duplicative or pro forma letters.

D. ECF Filing. Except for submissions to be filed under seal or in redacted form, every document in a sentencing submission, including letters, must be filed on ECF. For guidance on making submissions under seal or in redacted form, see Paragraph 10.

10. Redactions and Sealed Filings

A. Redactions Not Requiring Court Approval. The parties are referred to the E- Government Act of 2002 and the Southern District’s ECF Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”). There are two categories of information that may be redacted from public court filings without prior permission from the Court: “sensitive information” and information requiring “caution.” Parties should not include in their public filings, unless necessary, the five categories of “sensitive information” (i.e., social security numbers [use the last four digits only], names of minor children [use the initials only], dates of birth [use the year only], financial account numbers [use the last four digits only], and home addresses [use only the City and State]). Parties may also, without prior Court approval, redact from their public filings the six categories of information requiring caution described in the Privacy Policy (i.e., any personal identifying number, medical records [including information regarding treatment and diagnosis], employment history, individual financial information, proprietary or trade secret information, and information regarding an individual’s cooperation with the government).

B. Redactions and Sealed Filings Requiring Court Approval. Except for redactions permitted by the previous Paragraph, all redactions or sealing of public court

filings require Court approval. To be approved, any redaction or sealing of a court filing must be narrowly tailored to serve whatever purpose justifies the redaction or sealing and must be otherwise consistent with the presumption in favor of public access to judicial documents. See, e.g., Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga, 435 F.3d 110, 119-20 (2d Cir. 2006). In general, the parties’ consent or the fact that information is subject to a confidentiality agreement between litigants is not, by itself, a valid basis to overcome the presumption in favor of public access to judicial documents. See, e.g., In re Gen. Motors LLC Ignition Switch Litig., No. 14-MD- 2543 (JMF), 2015 WL 4750774, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 11, 2015).

C. Procedures for Filing Documents with Redactions. Any party seeking to file a document with partial redactions should follow the following three steps:

i. ECF Filing of the Redacted Document(s). The party should file the redacted version of the document on ECF.

ii. Filing or E-mailing of a Letter-Motion Seeking Leave to File with Redactions. If the party is seeking leave of the Court to redact the document (i.e., if the redactions are not among the categories of redactions that can be made without Court approval), the party should simultaneously file on ECF a letter-motion seeking leave to file the document with those redactions. The letter-motion must explain the purpose of the redactions, and why the redactions are consistent with the standards discussed in Paragraph 10(B) above. (The party should endeavor to draft the letter-motion in a form that can be filed publicly on ECF. If, however, the party believes that the letter- motion itself should be sealed or redacted, the party should include an unredacted copy of the letter-motion as an attachment to the email described in Paragraph 10(C)(iii) below, and — if possible — file a redacted version of the letter-motion on ECF.)

iii. E-mailing of Documents to Chambers. At the same time, the party should e-mail to Chambers (Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) (1) a clean (i.e., unredacted) copy of the document; (2) a copy of the document highlighting the information that has been redacted in the ECF filing; and (3) an unredacted copy of the letter-motion described in Paragraph 10(C)(ii), should the party also be seeking leave to file that letter-motion with redactions or under seal.

D. Procedure for Filing Sealed Documents.

i. Sealing Exhibits. Any party seeking leave to file an unsealed or redacted document with a fully sealed exhibit attached thereto should file the main document (in accordance with the procedures above, if the party seeks to do so with redactions) on ECF, accompanied by a single page marked “SEALED” in place of any exhibit that the party seeks leave to file under seal, regardless of the actual length of such exhibit. The party should simultaneously file a letter-motion seeking leave to file in that manner according to the procedure described in Paragraphs 10(C)(ii)-(iii) above.

ii. Sealing Entire Documents. Any party seeking leave to file under seal an entire submission (with or without exhibits) should not file anything on ECF in the first instance. Instead, the party should e-mail an unredacted copy of the submission to Chambers (Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) and should include as an attachment to the e-mail a letter-motion seeking leave to file the document under seal. The letter-motion must explain why sealing is justified in light of the standards discussed in Paragraph 10(B) above. If the party believes that the letter-motion itself should be sealed or redacted, the letter- motion should so state and should provide the justification therefor. The Court will include instructions for filing sealed or redacted versions of the document and accompanying letter-motion, if necessary, in any order disposing of the motion to seal.

11. Use of Electronic Devices and WiFi Access for Hearings and Trials

A. Use of Electronic Devices. Electronic devices (including mobile telephones, personal electronic devices, and computers) may not be used in Judge Furman’s Courtroom without his permission. More broadly, the use of any such devices within the Courthouse and its environs is governed by the Court’s Standing Order M10-468, available at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/2018-06/standing-order- electronic-devices.pdf. If required by the Standing Order, counsel seeking to bring a device into the Courthouse shall submit an Electronic Device and Wi-Fi Access Request Form, available on the Court’s website, to the Court by e-mail (Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) as early as possible — and certainly no later than three business days before the start of the trial or hearing. Requests submitted later than later than three business days prior to the relevant trial or hearing may be denied on that basis alone. If permitted by the Standing Order, mobile telephones are permitted inside the Courtroom, but they MUST be kept turned off at all times. Non-compliance with this rule may result in forfeiture of the device for the remainder of the proceedings.

B. WiFi Access for Hearings and Trials. Attorneys participating in a hearing or trial may obtain authorization to use the Court’s WiFi system in Judge Furman’s Courtroom during the proceeding. For further information, see Judge Furman’s Individual Rules and Practices for Hearings and Trials, available on Judge Furman’s webpage.

If you have any questions about these practices, please email Alexandra Smallman, Courtroom Deputy, at Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov.

View source on SDNY.uscourts.gov →

Revised: March 27, 2026

INDIVIDUAL RULES AND PRACTICES FOR HEARINGS AND TRIALS Jesse M. Furman, United States District Judge

Courtroom

Courtroom Deputy
United States District Court

Alexandra Smallman Southern District of New York

(212) 805-0282 500 Pearl Street, Courtroom 24B

New York, NY 10007

Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov

The following rules and procedures apply to hearings and trials in both civil and criminal cases before Judge Furman.

A. Schedule for Trials. Once jury selection is complete, trials will generally be conducted Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 or 3 p.m., with one short break from approximately 11:30 a.m. to noon. For jury trials, the first day of trial (that is, jury selection and any other proceedings) will generally be conducted from 9:30 to 5 p.m. Judge Furman will confirm the trial schedule at or before the final pretrial conference. B. Audio-Visual Needs. If a party wishes to use audio-visual equipment at a hearing or trial, or at a final pretrial or pre-hearing conference, it is that party’s responsibility to ensure that any required approvals are obtained and that the necessary equipment is set up and working properly in advance of trial. A list of the technology already set-up in Judge Furman’s Courtroom can be found in Attachment B. The party should email Alexandra Smallman, Courtroom Deputy, at the Chambers email address above sufficiently in advance of trial to make the necessary arrangements for a technology walk-through and equipment test (which will usually be done thirty minutes prior to the final pretrial or pre-hearing conference). To the extent that authorization is required to use electronic devices, a party must submit an Electronic Device and Wi-Fi Access Request Form, which is available on the Court’s website. The completed Form should be submitted as early as possible — and certainly no later than three business days before the final pretrial or pre-hearing conference. C. Wi-Fi Access. Attorneys participating in a hearing or trial may obtain authorization to use the Court’s WiFi system in Judge Furman’s Courtroom during the proceeding. Counsel may request Wi-Fi access by email when submitting the Electronic Device and Wi-Fi Access Request Form referenced above — no later than three business days before the final pretrial or pre-hearing conference. If approved and signed by Judge Furman, a copy of the Order will be sent to the requesting attorney, who will receive a network name, username, password, and instructions from the District Executive’s Office on or before the first day of the scheduled proceeding. (Note that WiFi access is actually managed by the District Executive’s Office, not Chambers, so any questions regarding WiFi access should be directed to the District Executive’s Office.) Wi-Fi access is limited to the approved attorney (who may not share his or her username or password with others) for the duration of the proceeding and for Courtroom 24B (unless Judge Furman or another judicial officer grants permission for it to be used in

another courtroom). If an attorney wishes to test the Wi-Fi prior to the proceeding, that request must also be made to Chambers at least three business days prior to the proceeding. D. Submission of Large Electronic Files. The Court has a file transfer protocol for the safe electronic transmission of large files. If a party needs to submit large files by email (as opposed to ECF), the party should email the Court (at Furman_NYSDChambers@nysd. uscourts.gov) requesting a link to be used for such transfer. The email should include the name and docket number of the case and the nature and size of the materials to be submitted electronically. In criminal cases, the Government may use USAfx. E. Exhibit Lists. Per the Court’s Individual Rules and Practices for Civil and Criminal Cases (available at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/hon-jesse-m-furman), the parties shall confer at the end of each trial day and, no later than the beginning of the next trial day, email to the Court an updated exhibit list indicating each exhibit that was identified and/or admitted during trial. F. Jury Selection. Jurors will be selected by the struck panel method, as described in Attachment A.

G. Time Limits. In most civil cases, the Court will impose time limits on both sides at the final prehearing or pretrial conference. The parties’ opening statements (in civil jury trials) and examinations of witnesses will count against their time; lengthy colloquies before the jury will be split down the middle. The time limits do not apply to jury selection or to summations; the Court may impose separate time limits for summations. The parties should be prepared to address the issue of time limits at the final prehearing or pretrial conference.

H. Hearing and Trial Practices. Counsel shall abide by the following rules and practices with respect to witnesses, the handling of exhibits, and making objections:

1. Sidebars during jury trials are strongly disfavored. Counsel are expected to anticipate any issues that might require argument and to raise those issues with the Court in advance of the time that the jury will be hearing the evidence, ideally in advance of the final pretrial conference.

2. If counsel intends to use a demonstrative exhibit during his or her opening statement, he or she shall confer with opposing counsel and advise the Court in advance.

3. Counsel shall ensure that each witness is present and ready to take the stand when that witness’s turn to testify arrives. If a witness finishes his or her testimony, and the side calling that witness does not have another witness present and ready to testify, that side will be deemed to have rested, and the Court will proceed to the next phase of the proceeding.

4. If both sides intend to call a particular witness, the parties shall confer in an effort to ensure that the witness does not need to be called twice. Where a defense witness is called by the plaintiff (or a rebuttal witness is called by a defendant), the Court will allow counsel to go beyond the scope of the direct examination on cross-examination to avoid the need for the witness to be recalled.

5. If counsel plan to use a deposition at a hearing or trial, for impeachment or any other purpose, a copy of the deposition should be provided to the Court in advance of the hearing or trial session during which the deposition is to be used.

6. In advance of each hearing or trial session, counsel for the party going forward at that session should show opposing counsel the exhibits he or she intends to introduce. The parties should raise any objections to an exhibit, other than authenticity or foundation, before the opening of the session. If possible, the Court will rule on the objection then, thereby eliminating the necessity for a colloquy or sidebar when the exhibit is offered.

7. Exhibits must be pre-marked (that is, with exhibit stickers or the like) and should generally be labeled by party and exhibit number (e.g., “GX-1,” “PX-1,” “DX-1,” etc.) rather than letter (e.g., “DX-AA). Parties are encouraged to use electronic copies of exhibits as much as possible. Regardless, electronic copies of any document sought to be admitted (with each filename corresponding to the relevant exhibit number — e.g., “PX-1,” “DX-1,” etc.) should be provided to the Court in advance of the proceeding. (If the files are too large for submission by email, see Paragraph D above.) If submission of electronic copies would be an undue burden on a party, the party may seek leave of Court (by letter-motion filed on ECF) to submit prospective documentary exhibits in hard copy.

8. Where a hard copy exhibit is used, sufficient copies should be made, as appropriate, for witnesses, opposing counsel, jurors, the court reporter, any interpreters, and the Court. If counsel intends to publish hard copies of documentary exhibits to the jury rather than using the Court’s audiovisual system, a separate copy should be provided for each juror to avoid unnecessary delay.

9. Any exhibit offered in evidence should, at the time of it is offered, be shown to opposing counsel unless it was provided, pre-marked, to counsel before the proceeding. At the end of the hearing or trial, counsel should make sure they have all of their exhibits. The Court is not responsible for them.

10. Counsel should request permission before approaching the bench; and any document that counsel wishes to have the Court examine should be handed to the Courtroom Deputy.

11. If counsel intends to question a witness about a group of documents, he or she should avoid delay by having all the documents with him or her when commencing the examination.
    Where practicable, counsel should provide all the documents in the group to the witness (ideally in a binder) and conduct the examination from the podium so as to avoid the need to approach the witness separately for each document.

12. Counsel should not make speaking objections before the jury. In making objections before the jury, counsel should state “objection” only and provide the legal ground (e.g., “relevance” or “hearsay”) only if elaboration is requested by the Court.

13. Counsel should not make motions (e.g., a motion for a mistrial) in the presence of the jury.
    Such matters may be raised at the next recess.

14. Offers of, or requests for, a stipulation should be made privately, not within the hearing of the jury. In most instances, stipulations should be reduced to writing in a form that can be marked and admitted at trial.

I. Conduct During a Hearing or Trial. Unless excused by the Court or incapable on account of disability, anyone at counsel table, including, as appropriate, any counsel or party, shall abide by the following rules and practices:

1. Stand as Court is opened, recessed, or adjourned.

2. Stand when the jury enters or exits the courtroom.

3. Stand when addressing, or being addressed by, the Court.

4. Stand at the lectern while examining any witness; except that counsel may, with the Court’s permission, approach the Courtroom Deputy’s desk or the witness for purposes of handling or tendering exhibits.

5. Address all remarks to the Court, not to opposing counsel.

6. Be respectful of opposing counsel, the litigants, and witnesses.

7. Refer to all persons, including witnesses, other counsel, and parties by their surnames and not by their first or given names.

8. Only one attorney for each party shall examine, or cross-examine, each witness. The attorney stating objections, if any, during direct examination, shall be the attorney recognized for cross-examination. The attorney who conducts direct examination shall be the attorney who states any objections during cross-examination.

9. Commence cross-examination without preliminaries.

10. In examining a witness, counsel shall not repeat or echo the answer given by the witness.

11. Counsel should not face or otherwise appear to address him or herself to jurors when questioning a witness.

12. In opening statements and in arguments to the jury, counsel shall not express personal knowledge or opinion concerning any matter in issue.

J. Submission of Evidence to the Jury. Unless the Court orders otherwise, in any jury trial, the parties should be prepared to provide the jurors at the start of deliberations with a laptop (with an HDMI port or HDMI adaptor) and wireless mouse to view the evidence. The laptop should contain all exhibits that were admitted during trial, along with whatever software is needed to view those exhibits, and nothing else. The filename of each exhibit should correspond to the

exhibit number of the exhibit. The exhibits should be organized in a folder or folders on the computer desktop along with a copy of the exhibit list, which should include only the exhibits admitted during trial with a brief, neutral description of each exhibit; the parties should also provide two printed copies of the exhibit list. All parties should be prepared to confirm on the record that the laptop and exhibit list meet the foregoing requirements before they submitted to the jury.

K. Post-Hearing and Post-Trial Procedures. Counsel are responsible for raising promptly any issue concerning the accuracy of transcripts certified by the Court Reporter to be used for purposes of appeal. Counsel perceiving an error that is material shall stipulate to the appropriate correction or, if agreement cannot be reached, shall proceed by motion on notice.
Non-material defects in syntax, grammar, spelling, or punctuation should be ignored.

i

ATTACHMENT A Procedures for Jury Selection

The Court will select jurors using the struck panel method as follows. The Court will conduct a voir dire of a number of panelists computed by totaling: the number of jurors to be selected (8 in most civil cases and 12 in criminal cases); the number of alternates (none in civil cases and usually 2 in criminal cases); and the number of peremptory challenges. Thus, in a civil case with an 8-person jury and 3 peremptory challenges per side, the Court will voir dire 14 panelists. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 47, 48; 28 U.S.C. § 1870. In trials expected to last for substantially more than a week, the Court will consider increasing the number of jurors in a civil case and the number of alternates in a criminal case.

In a single defendant criminal case in which the defendant has 10 and the Government 6 peremptory challenges, plus 1 each with respect to alternates, see Fed. R. Crim. P. 24, the Court will voir dire 32 panelists (12 jurors + 2 alternates + 10 peremptories for the defendant + 6 peremptories for the Government + 1 peremptory for the defendant for the alternates + 1 peremptory for the Government for the alternates).

The panelists will be voir dired (by the Court, not counsel) in the Courtroom. If issues are raised that are better discussed outside the presence of the entire panel (e.g., sensitive issues, requests to be excused, etc.), the Court will follow-up with the individual jurors either at sidebar or in the robing room. If a panelist is excused for cause, he or she will be replaced by another prospective juror from the pool and the new panelist will be voir dired. After the Court has voir dired all members of the panel, the Court will — at sidebar or in the robing room — give counsel an opportunity to propose follow up questions and entertain challenges for cause.

Once all challenges for cause have been heard and decided, the parties will then exercise their peremptory challenges (in the Courtroom) against the panelists who compose the potential members of the regular jury (in the ordinary criminal case, against the first 28 panelists) and, in criminal cases, the potential alternates (in a case where 2 alternates are to be selected, panelists 29 through 32). Peremptory challenges will be exercised simultaneously, with each party submitting a written list of the panelists it wishes to excuse. Any overlap among the lists of challenges will not result in parties receiving additional challenges. The jurors will be selected starting with the unchallenged juror with lowest number from the relevant pool (e.g., 1 through 28 for the regular jury and 29 through 32 for the alternates). For example, in an ordinary criminal case, if there was an overlap of 1 peremptory challenge with respect to the potential regular jurors (i.e., the first 28 panelists), the 15 challenged panelists would be excused and the first 12 of the remaining 13 would be seated as the jury. The 13th panelist, that is, the unchallenged panelist with the highest number, would also be excused.

ii

ATTACHMENT B Technology in Courtroom 24B of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY

Judge Furman’s Courtroom is equipped with the following equipment that can be used, with a computer, to present electronic evidence: • Counsel Tables: Two video monitors, one evidence presentation selection panel, a source input for evidence presentation, and two microphones per table. • Presentation Lectern: One document camera, one touch display monitor for annotation, and one microphone. • Witness Stand: One touch-screen video monitor for evidence display and annotation, source input for evidence presentation, and one microphone. • Jury Box: Video monitors and acoustic speakers for evidence presentation. • Gallery: One large video monitor.
The system allows a user to share evidence through an HDMI connection provided by the Court.
If a device does not have a HDMI connection, the user is responsible for bringing an appropriate adapter.

View source on SDNY.uscourts.gov →

Revised December 11, 2025 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

Plaintiff(s),
-v-
Defendant(s).

X : : : : : : : : : : : : : : X -CV-__ (JMF) CIVIL CASE MANAGEMENT PLAN AND SCHEDULING ORDER This Civil Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order is submitted by the parties in accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f)(3). 1. All parties [consent ______ / do not consent ______] to conducting all further proceedings before a United States Magistrate Judge, including motions and trial. 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). The parties are free to withhold consent without adverse substantive consequences. [If all parties consent, the remaining Paragraphs should not be completed. Instead, within three (3) days of submitting this Proposed Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order, the parties shall submit to the Court a fully executed Notice, Consent, and Reference of a Civil Action to a Magistrate Judge, available at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/2018- 06/AO-3.pdf.] 2. The parties [have ______ / have not ______] conferred pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f). 3. Amended pleadings may not be filed and additional parties may not be joined except with leave of the Court. Any motion to amend or to join additional parties shall be filed no later than ______________________. [Absent exceptional circumstances, a date not more than thirty (30) days following the initial pretrial conference. Any motion to amend or to join additional parties filed after the deadline in this paragraph will be subject to the “good cause” standard in Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4) rather than the more lenient standards of Fed. R. Civ. P. 15 and 21.] 4. Initial disclosures pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) shall be completed no later than ______________________. [Absent exceptional circumstances, a date not more than fourteen (14) days following the initial pretrial conference.] 5. [If applicable] The plaintiff(s) shall provide HIPAA-compliant medical records release authorizations to the defendant(s) no later than _____________________________.

Revised December 11, 2025 6. Discovery a. The parties are to conduct discovery in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Civil Rules of the Southern District of New York. b. All fact discovery shall be completed no later than ______________________. [A date not more than 120 days following the initial pretrial conference, unless the Court finds that the case presents unique complexities or other exceptional circumstances.] c. The parties agree that there [is ______ / is no ______] need for expert discovery. If the parties agree that there is no need for expert discovery, all discovery shall be completed by the deadline for fact discovery, unless — prior to that date — a party files, and the Court grants, a letter-motion seeking an extension for purposes of taking expert discovery; any such motion should explain why expert discovery has become necessary and propose a schedule for such discovery. [If any party believes that there is a need for expert discovery, the parties should complete Paragraph 6(d).] d. [If applicable] All expert discovery, including reports, production of underlying documents, and depositions, shall be completed no later than ___________________. [Absent exceptional circumstances, a date not more than 45 days from the date in Paragraph 6(b) (i.e., the completion of all fact discovery). In the Court’s experience, expert discovery is rarely necessary in wage-and-hour cases, and it can generally be conducted concurrently with fact discovery (i.e., completed by the date set forth in Paragraph 6(b)) in cases involving claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act.] e. The parties should not anticipate extensions of the deadlines for fact discovery and expert discovery set forth in the foregoing Paragraphs. Relatedly, the parties should not make a unilateral decision to stay or halt discovery (on the basis of settlement negotiations or otherwise) in anticipation of an extension. If something unforeseen arises, a party may seek a limited extension of the foregoing deadlines by letter-motion filed on ECF. Any such motion must be filed before the relevant deadline and must explain why, despite the parties’ due diligence, discovery could not be completed by the relevant deadline. 7. Interim Discovery Deadlines a. Initial requests for production of documents shall be served by ____________________. [Absent exceptional circumstances, a date not more than thirty (30) days following the initial pretrial conference.] b. Interrogatories pursuant to Local Civil Rule 33.3(a) shall be served by _____________________. [Absent exceptional circumstances, a date not more than thirty (30) days following the initial pretrial conference.] No Rule 33.3(a) interrogatories need to be served with respect to disclosures automatically required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a). c. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, contention interrogatories pursuant to Local Civil Rule 33.3(c) must be served no later than thirty (30) days before the close of

Revised December 11, 2025 discovery. No other interrogatories are permitted except upon prior express permission of the Court.
d. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, depositions of fact witnesses shall be completed by the date set forth in Paragraph 6(b). i. Absent an agreement between the parties or an order from the Court, depositions are not to be held until all parties have responded to initial requests for document production. ii. There is no priority in deposition by reason of a party’s status as a plaintiff or a defendant. iii. Absent an agreement between the parties or an order from the Court, non-party depositions shall follow initial party depositions. e. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, requests to admit shall be served by no later than thirty (30) days before the close of discovery. f. Any of the deadlines in Paragraphs 7(a) through 7(e) may be extended by the written consent of all parties without application to the Court, provided that all fact discovery is completed by the date set forth in Paragraph 6(b). g. In the event that there is expert discovery, no later than thirty (30) days prior to the date in Paragraph 6(b) (i.e., the completion of all fact discovery), the parties shall meet and confer on a schedule for expert disclosures, including reports (including rebuttal reports, if applicable), production of underlying documents, and depositions, provided that (1) expert report(s) of the party with the burden of proof shall be due before those of the opposing party’s expert(s); and (2) all expert discovery shall be completed by the date set forth in Paragraph 6(c). 8. Privileged Materials and Trial-Preparation Materials a. [If and as applicable] The parties shall comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(5)(A) and Local Civil Rule 26.2 no later than ______________________ using the following method or methods: :

[In general, parties are encouraged to exchange privilege logs or other means of identifying withheld materials concurrently with, or as promptly as practicable following, each production. In accordance with Local Civil Rule 26.2(c), parties are

Revised December 11, 2025 also encouraged to identify and use efficient methods for the exchange of such information, including, as appropriate, the use of document-by-document, categorical, or metadata privilege logs.] b. The parties [have ______ / have not ______] reached an agreement under Fed. R. Evid. 502. [If the parties have reached such an agreement, they may file an agreed-upon proposed order under Fed. R. Evid. 502(d).] c. The parties [do ______ / do not ______] believe that a protective order under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c) is warranted. [If the parties believe that a protective order is warranted, they should file an agreed-upon proposed order. Any such order may bind the parties to treat as confidential documents so classified but may not authorize the parties to file documents under seal absent an appropriate court finding. That finding will be made, if ever, upon a document-by-document review pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Court’s Individual Rules and Practices and subject to the presumption in favor of public access to “judicial documents.” See generally Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga, 435 F.3d 110, 119-20 (2d Cir. 2006).] 9. All motions and applications shall be governed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Local Civil Rules of the Southern District of New York, and the Court’s Individual Rules and Practices in Civil Cases (available at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/hon-jesse-m-furman). 10. In the case of discovery disputes, parties should follow Local Civil Rule 37.2 with the following modifications. Any party wishing to raise a discovery dispute with the Court must first confer in good faith with the opposing party, in person or by telephone, in an effort to resolve the dispute. If this meet-and-confer process does not resolve the dispute, the party shall, in accordance with the Court’s Individual Rules and Practices in Civil Cases, promptly file a letter-motion, no longer than three pages, explaining the nature of the dispute and requesting an informal conference. Any letter-motion seeking relief must include a representation that the meet-and-confer process occurred and was unsuccessful. Any opposition to a letter-motion seeking relief shall be filed as a letter, not to exceed three pages, within three business days. Counsel should be prepared to discuss with the Court the matters raised by such letters, as the Court will seek to resolve discovery disputes quickly, by order, by conference, or by telephone. Counsel should seek relief in accordance with these procedures in a timely fashion; if a party waits until near the close of discovery to raise an issue that could have been raised earlier, the party is unlikely to be granted the relief that it seeks, let alone more time for discovery. 11. Absent good cause, the Court will not have summary judgment practice in a non-jury case. Summary judgment motions, if applicable, must be filed within thirty (30) days of the close of fact or expert discovery (whichever is later). Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, any opposition to such a motion must be filed two (2) weeks after the motion is served on the opposing party, and any reply must be filed one (1) week after service of any opposition. If both sides intend to file summary judgment motions, the parties should confer and propose (no later than one week after the close of discovery) a briefing structure, schedule, and page limits. To avoid redundancy, the Court will, in most instances, set a briefing schedule with deadlines for (1) one party to file the initial motion; (2) the other party to file a cross-motion, with a single, consolidated memorandum of law supporting the cross-motion and opposing

Revised December 11, 2025 the initial motion; (3) the first party to file a single, consolidated memorandum of law replying in support of the initial motion and opposing the cross-motion; and (4) the cross- moving party to file a reply in support of the cross-motion. 12. Any motion to exclude the testimony of experts pursuant to Rules 702-705 of the Federal Rules of Evidence and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), and its progeny, must be filed within thirty (30) days of the close of fact or expert discovery (whichever is later). Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, any opposition to such a motion must be filed two (2) weeks after the motion is served on the opposing party, and any reply must be filed one (1) week after service of any opposition. Absent leave of the Court, any party moving to exclude expert testimony must file a single motion and single, consolidated memorandum of law, consistent with Paragraph 4(C) of the Court’s Individual Rules and Practices for Civil Cases, even when seeking to exclude the testimony of multiple experts. 13. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, within thirty (30) days of the close of all discovery, or, if a dispositive motion has been filed, within thirty (30) days of a decision on such motion, the parties shall submit to the Court for its approval a Joint Pretrial Order prepared in accordance with the Court’s Individual Rules and Practices and Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3). The parties shall also follow Paragraph 6 of the Court’s Individual Rules and Practices for Civil Cases, which identifies submissions that must be made at or before the time of the Joint Pretrial Order, including any motions in limine. 14. If this action is to be tried before a jury, joint requests to charge, joint proposed verdict forms, and joint proposed voir dire questions shall be filed on or before the Joint Pretrial Order due date in accordance with the Court’s Individual Rules and Practices. Jury instructions may not be submitted after the Joint Pretrial Order due date, unless they meet the standard of Fed. R. Civ. P. 51(a)(2)(A). If this action is to be tried by the Court, proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law shall be filed on or before the Joint Pretrial Order due date in accordance with the Court’s Individual Rules and Practices. 15. Unless the Court orders otherwise for good cause shown, the parties shall be ready for trial two weeks after the Joint Pretrial Order is filed. 16. This case [is ______ / is not ______] to be tried to a jury. 17. Counsel for the parties have conferred, and the present best estimate of the length of trial is ______________________. 18. Settlement a. Settlement discussions [have ______ / have not ______] taken place. b. [If applicable] Counsel have discussed an informal exchange of information in aid of early settlement and have agreed upon disclosure of the following information within ______________ days:

Revised December 11, 2025

c. If the case has not already been referred for settlement, counsel for the parties believe the following alternative dispute resolution mechanisms may be helpful in resolving this case (check any and all that apply):

Immediate referral to the District’s Mediation Program Immediate referral to the designated Magistrate Judge Referral to the District’s Mediation Program for a settlement conference

____________ the close of ____________ discovery Referral to the designated Magistrate Judge for a settlement conference ____________ the close of ____________ discovery Other: ___________________________________________________ d. All counsel must meet in person for at least one hour to discuss settlement within fourteen (14) days following the close of fact discovery. 19. Other issues to be addressed at the Initial Pretrial Conference, including those set forth in Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f)(3), are set forth below.

TO BE FILLED IN BY THE COURT IF APPLICABLE: ______________ shall file a motion for/to _____________________________________ no later than ____________________________. Any opposition shall be filed by _______________.
Any reply shall be filed by __________________. The parties shall contact the Chambers of the Magistrate Judge assigned to this case on or before _________________ in order to schedule settlement discussions under his/her supervision _______________________________. [select one] [select one] [select one] [select one]

Revised December 11, 2025 The parties shall file a joint letter by _______________________ indicating whether they would like the Court to refer the case to the assigned Magistrate Judge and/or the Court mediation program for settlement purposes and, if so, approximately when they believe a settlement conference should be held. The next pretrial conference is scheduled for ______________________ at ______________. Unless and until the Court orders otherwise, the conference will be held remotely by telephone in accordance with Paragraph 3.B of the Court’s Individual Rules and Practices in Civil Cases. The parties should join the conference by calling the Court’s dedicated conference line at (855) 244-8681 and using access code 2303 019 3884, followed by the pound (#) key. When prompted for an attendee ID number, press the pound (#) key again. Absent leave of Court, by Thursday of the week prior to any future conference, the parties shall file on ECF a joint letter, not to exceed three (3) pages, regarding the status of the case. The letter should include the following information in separate paragraphs: (1) A statement indicating whether the parties believe they can do without the pretrial conference altogether. If not, the Court will hold the pretrial conference, albeit perhaps at a different time. To that end, counsel should indicate in their joint letter dates and times during the week of the conference that they would be available for the teleconference; (2) A statement of all existing deadlines, due dates, and/or cut-off dates; (3) A brief description of any outstanding motions; (4) A brief description of the status of discovery and of any additional discovery that needs to be completed; (5) A list of all prior settlement discussions, including the date, the parties involved, whether any third-party (e.g., Magistrate Judge, mediator, etc.) was involved, and the approximate duration of such discussions, if any; (6) A statement of whether or how the Court could facilitate settlement of the case (for example, through a(nother) settlement conference before the assigned Magistrate Judge or as part of the Court’s Mediation Program); (7) A statement of the anticipated length of trial and whether the case is to be tried to a jury; (8) A statement of whether the parties anticipate filing motions for summary judgment; and (9) Any other issue that the parties would like to address at the pretrial conference or any information that the parties believe may assist the Court in advancing the case to settlement or trial. This Order may not be modified or the dates herein extended, except by further Order of this Court for good cause shown. Further, the use of any alternative dispute resolution mechanism does not stay or modify any date in this Order. Indeed, unless the Court orders otherwise, parties

Revised December 11, 2025 engaged in settlement negotiations must proceed on parallel tracks, pursuing settlement and conducting discovery simultaneously. Parties should not assume that they will receive an extension of an existing deadline if settlement negotiations fail.
Any application to modify or extend the dates herein (except as provided in Paragraph 7(f)) shall be made in a written application in accordance with Court’s Individual Rules and Practices for Civil Cases and shall be made no fewer than two (2) business days prior to the expiration of the date sought to be extended. Absent exceptional circumstances, extensions will not be granted after deadlines have already passed.
SO ORDERED. Dated:

New York, New York
JESSE M. FURMAN United States District Judge

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