Hon. Margaret M. Garnett

5. Requests for Adjournments or Extensions of Time. All requests for adjournments or extensions of time should be made by letter-motion and must state: (1) the reason for the proposed adjournment or extension; (2) the original Last updated: March 28, 2025 2 date(s); (3) the number of previous requests for adjournment or extension of time; (4) whether the other party or parties consent and, if not, the reason given for refusing to consent; and (5) proposed alternative dates, including any other scheduled dates that may be affected by the requested adjournment or extension. Absent an emergency, the request must be made at least two business days prior to the original due date. In the event of such an emergency, after filing the appropriate letter-motion on ECF, the parties should also alert Chambers to the filing by email, following the procedures pertaining to email communications with the Court detailed in Rule I(B)(3), supra, and clearly stating the nature of the emergency. Source ↗

a table of contents and table of authorities. 3. Courtesy Copies. One courtesy copy of a complete set of motion papers should be submitted by the movant at the time the reply is served, or as soon thereafter as reasonably practicable. Courtesy copies shall be mailed or hand-delivered to Chambers (see supra Rule I(B)(6) for hand-delivery instructions). Courtesy copies shall be submitted according to the following instructions: i. Briefs should be printed single-sided and stapled in the upper-left corner. If there are any exhibits or supplemental materials filed with that brief, the brief shall be placed in the front left pocket of a three-ring binder containing those materials, as described below; Last updated: March 28, 2025 10 ii. In the three-ring binder, any affidavits, declarations, exhibits, or other motion papers filed with that brief should be printed double-sided, three-hole- punched, placed in the binder, and separated by binder tabs; iii. Binder tabs should either (a) identify the tabbed document by title (e.g., “Affidavit of Jane Doe”), or (b) be numbered, as long as a corresponding table of contents is included as the front page of the binder; iv. Binders should include cover and spine sheets that clearly identify the full case name and the documents included within (e.g., “Plaintiff’s Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss”); and v. If the parties have redacted or filed under seal any portion of the motion papers or attendant exhibits, courtesy copies are to be unredacted, but the portions redacted from public filings should be highlighted so that the Court will know to refrain from quoting those passages in opinions and orders. Do not VeloBind or binder clip any courtesy copies submitted to the Court. Source ↗

5. Initial Case Management Conference. The Court will generally schedule a Fed. R. Civ. P. 16 conference approximately six weeks from the filing of the Complaint. Plaintiff's counsel (or, in a matter removed from state court, defendant's counsel) is responsible for distributing copies of the Notice of Initial Pretrial Conference to all parties. The Notice will direct the parties to submit to the Court, approximately one week prior to the conference date, a joint proposed Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order and a joint letter, not to exceed three pages in length (single-spaced, with standard font and margins), describing the case, any contemplated motions, and the prospect for settlement. Source ↗

3. Redactions Requiring Court Approval in Civil Cases. i. Meet and Confer. Prior to requesting the Court’s permission to redact or seal, the requesting party shall meet and confer with their adversary in a good- faith effort to narrow the need for redactions or sealing and to secure consent, if possible. Last updated: March 28, 2025 4 ii. Redacted Document(s). Where a party seeks leave to file a document with redactions, the party shall file a letter-motion 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 shall (1) request the redactions; (2) indicate whether the party’s adversary consents to the redactions and, if the adversary does not consent, describe the basis for objection; (3) describe the efforts to meet and confer; and (4) explain why redactions are appropriate in light of the presumption of public access to the federal courts. The letter-motion shall be filed in public view 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 with 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. iii. Sealed Document(s). Where a party seeks leave to file a document in sealed form, the party shall file a letter-motion 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 shall (1) request the sealing; (2) indicate whether the party’s adversary consents to the sealing and, if the adversary does not consent, describe the basis for objection; (3) describe the efforts to meet and confer; and (4) explain why sealing is appropriate in light of the presumption of public access to the federal courts. The letter-motion shall be filed in public view 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. iv. Submissions by Alternative Method. 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 Source ↗

2. Memoranda of Law. Unless prior permission has been granted, memoranda of law must conform to Local Civil Rule 7.1. Specifically, memoranda of law in support of and in opposition to motions may not exceed 8,750 words, and reply memoranda may not exceed 3,500 words. 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. Briefs filed by a party who is not represented by an attorney, or are handwritten or prepared with a typewriter, may not exceed 25 pages if filed in support of or in opposition to a motion and may not exceed 10 pages if filed on reply. All memoranda of law shall be formatted with one-inch margins and double-spaced. All text must be in 12-point font or larger. Memoranda of 10 pages or more shall contain a table of contents and table of authorities. Source ↗

2. Memoranda of Law. Unless prior permission has been granted, memoranda of law must conform to Local Civil Rule 7.1. Specifically, memoranda of law in support of and in opposition to motions may not exceed 8,750 words, and reply memoranda may not exceed 3,500 words. 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. Source ↗

5. Oral Argument on Motions. As a matter of course, the Court will not typically hold oral argument on motions. A party may nevertheless 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 short letter—not a letter-motion—explaining the reason(s) on ECF no later than three business days after the reply motion has been filed. In this letter, the party should advise the Court if the oral argument would be handled by a less experienced attorney because, as discussed in Rule II(A)(4), supra, that may make the Court more inclined to hold oral argument. If oral argument is requested, the Court will determine whether the argument will be heard and, if so, advise counsel of the argument date. Source ↗

1. Pre-Motion Letters and Conferences. Pre-motion letters or conferences are not required, except for letter-motions concerning discovery, which are governed by Rule II(A)(6), supra, and the procedure applicable to summary judgment motions, described in Rule II(B)(9), infra. Source ↗

• Telephone calls to Chambers are prohibited (Rule I(B)(2)). Faxes to Chambers are not permitted (Rule I(B)(4)). Initial conference scheduled approximately six weeks from the filing of the Complaint (Rule II(A)(5)) -- earlier than most SDNY judges. Motions to Dismiss: plaintiff may amend the complaint within 14 days of a motion to dismiss without prior Court permission; defendant must answer, file new motion, or rely on prior motion within 14 days of the amended complaint (Rule II(B)(6)). Summary Judgment: requires pre-motion conference requested within 14 days after close of fact discovery; motion not generally available in non-jury cases (Rule II(B)(9)). Courtesy copies due at time reply is served, in specific three-ring binder format (Rule II(B)(3)). Electronic devices must be submitted three business days before trial or hearing for Courthouse entry (Rule I(E)).