Hon. Alison J. Nathan

E. 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, or submitted pursuant to Rule 1.C, if appropriate. Such requests must state: (i) the original date(s); (ii) the number of previous requests for adjournment or extension; (iii) whether these previous requests were granted or denied; and (iv) whether the adversary consents and, if not, the reasons given by the adversary for refusing to consent. If the parties are requesting adjournment of a conference, they must also provide three mutually agreeable alternate conference dates. If the parties are requesting adjournment of an initial pretrial conference or post-discovery conference, the proposed dates should be Friday afternoons. All requests for adjournment or extension of time must be made at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled deadline or appearance. Absent extraordinary circumstances, requests outside this period will be denied. If the requested adjournment or extension affects any other scheduled dates, a proposed Revised Scheduling Order should be attached to the request. Source ↗

xhibits to an otherwise properly filed document). Unless otherwise noted, parties should not submit courtesy copies of letters filed on ECF. B. Urgent Communications. As a general matter, letter motions or requests filed via ECF are reviewed by the Court the day that they are filed. Other materials filed on ECF are reviewed the business day after they have been filed. If you believe you have an urgent matter that requires Judge Nathan’s truly immediate attention, please notify Chambers by email at ca02_AJNchambers@ca2.uscourts.gov after you file the submission via ECF. If you seek to provide information to the Court, or seek information from the Court, you must file a letter on ECF, unless sealing is sought pursuant to Rule 1.C. Source ↗

2. Conferences A. Attendance by Principal Trial Counsel. 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 with the Clerk of Court. Source ↗

3. Motions A. Pre-Motion Conferences in Civil Cases. Pre-motion conferences are not required, except for disputes concerning discovery, which are governed by Rule 2.C, and summary judgment motions made before the close of discovery, which are governed by Rule 3.G.vii. Source ↗

C. Filing of Motion Papers. Motion papers shall be filed promptly after service. D. Oral Argument on Motions. Parties may request oral argument by letter at the time their moving, opposing, or reply papers are filed. The Court will determine whether argument will be heard and, if so, will advise counsel of the argument date. Source ↗

3. Motions A. Pre-Motion Conferences in Civil Cases. Pre-motion conferences are not required, except for disputes concerning discovery, which are governed by Rule 2.C, and summary judgment motions made before the close of discovery, which are governed by Rule 3.G.vii. Source ↗

• A. All Communications by Letter. Except as otherwise provided below in Rule 1.B and 1.C, all communications with the Court shall be by letter filed on ECF. This rule also applies to questions regarding the Undersigned's Individual Rules. Parties should not call the Chambers telephone line except as directed in Rule 1.B. Letters may not exceed three pages in length (exclusive of exhibits or attachments). Any letter longer than one page must be double spaced. 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). Unless otherwise noted, parties should not submit courtesy copies of letters filed on ECF.
• §2.C: C. 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, the party may file a letter-motion, explaining the nature of the dispute and requesting an informal conference. Such a letter must include a representation that the meet-and-confer process occurred by telephone or in person and was unsuccessful. If the opposing party wishes to respond to the letter, it must submit a responsive letter, within two business days of the initial letter. To the extent a party's letter contains information for which sealing is requested, the party is directed to Rule 1.C. 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, including by telephone conference call.
• §3.A: A. Pre-Motion Conferences in Civil Cases. Pre-motion conferences are not required, except for disputes concerning discovery, which are governed by Rule 2.C, and summary judgment motions made before the close of discovery, which are governed by Rule 3.G.vii.
• §3.E: E. Motions to Dismiss. When a motion to dismiss is filed, the non-moving party must, within 10 days of receipt of the motion, notify the Court and its adversary in writing whether (i) it intends to file an amended pleading and when it will do so, or (ii) it will rely on the pleading being attacked. Non-moving parties are on notice that declining to amend their pleadings to timely respond to a fully briefed argument in the motion to dismiss may well constitute a waiver of their right to use the amendment process to cure any defects that have been made apparent by the briefing. See Loreley Fin. (Jersey) No. 3 Ltd. v. Wells Fargo Sec., LLC., 797 F.3d 160, 190 (2d Cir. 2015) (leaving "unaltered the grounds on which denial of leave to amend has long been held proper, such as undue delay, bad faith, dilatory motive, and futility."). This provision does not alter the time to file a response in the Fed. R. Civ. P. or Local Rules. If the party amends, the opposing party may then (i) file an answer; (ii) file a new motion to dismiss; or (ii) submit a letter stating that it relies on the initially filed motion to dismiss. If the moving party files an answer or a new motion to dismiss, the Court will deny the original motion to dismiss as moot without notice to the parties.
• §4.B: B. Sealing and Redactions Requiring Court Approval. Except as permitted by Section 4.A, all sealing and redactions require Court approval. Motions or Letter Motions for approval of sealed or redacted filings in civil and miscellaneous cases and the subject documents, including the proposed sealed document(s), must be filed electronically through the court's ECF system in conformity with the court's standing order, 19-mc-00583, and ECF Rules & Instructions, section 6. The motion must be filed in public view, must explain the particular reasons for seeking to file that information under seal, and should not include confidential information sought to be filed under seal. Supporting papers must be separately filed electronically and may be filed under seal or redacted only to the extent necessary to safeguard information sought to be filed under seal. The proposed sealed document must be contemporaneously filed under seal in the ECF system and electronically related to the motion. The summary docket text, but not the sealed document, will be open to public inspection and should not include confidential information sought to be filed under seal. Where the motion seeks approval to redact information from a document that is to be publicly filed, the filing party shall: (a) publicly file the document with the proposed redactions, and (b) electronically file under seal a copy of the unredacted document with the redactions highlighted. Both documents must be electronically filed through the ECF system and related to the motion. 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 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). The party seeking leave to file sealed or redacted materials should meet and confer with any opposing parties (or third parties seeking confidential treatment of the information, if any) in advance to narrow the scope of the request. When a party seeks leave to file sealed or redacted materials on the ground that an opposing party or third party has requested it, that party shall notify the opposing party or third party that it must file, within three days, a letter explaining the need to seal or redact the materials. Any party unable to comply with the requirement for electronic filing under seal through the ECF system, or who has reason to believe that a particular document should not be electronically filed, must move for leave of the Court to file in the traditional manner, on paper.