Judge Edgardo Ramos — United States District Court, Southern District of New York
District Judge
Practice notes for litigators appearing before Judge Ramos in the S.D.N.Y.. Sourced from the judge's individual rules, standing orders, and chambers procedures published by the court.
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Individual Practices
Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT Rev. June. 2013 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK -------------------------------------------------------------x CIVIL CASE DISCOVERY PLAN Plaintiff(s), AND SCHEDULING ORDER
-
against -
Defendant(s). CV (ER)
-------------------------------------------------------------x This Civil Case Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order is adopted, after consultation with counsel, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 16 and 26(f): 1. All parties [consent] [do not consent] to conducting all further proceedings before a Magistrate Judge, including motions and trial, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). The parties are free to withhold consent without adverse substantive consequences. (If all parties consent, the remaining paragraphs of this form need not be completed.) 2. This case [is] [is not] to be tried to a jury. 3. Joinder of additional parties must be accomplished by _______________________. 4. Amended pleadings may be filed until _____________________. 5. Interrogatories shall be served no later than ___________________, and responses thereto shall be served within thirty (30) days thereafter. The provisions of Local Civil Rule 33.3 [shall] [shall not] apply to this case. 6. First request for production of documents, if any, shall be served no later than ____________________. 7. Non-expert depositions shall be completed by ____________________________. a. Unless counsel agree otherwise or the Court so orders, depositions shall not be held until all parties have responded to any first requests for production of documents. b. Depositions shall proceed concurrently. c. Whenever possible, unless counsel agree otherwise or the Court so orders,
non-party depositions shall follow party depositions.
8.
Any further interrogatories, including expert interrogatories, shall be served no
later than _______________________.
9.
Requests to Admit, if any, shall be served no later than
______________________.
10.
Expert reports shall be served no later than ______________________.
11.
Rebuttal expert reports shall be served no later than ______________________.
12.
Expert depositions shall be completed by ______________________.
13.
Additional provisions agreed upon by counsel are attached hereto and made a part
hereof.
14.
ALL DISCOVERY SHALL BE COMPLETED BY ______________________.
15.
Any motions shall be filed in accordance with the Court’s Individual Practices.
16.
This Civil Case Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order may not be changed without
leave of Court (or the assigned Magistrate Judge acting under a specific order of
reference).
17.
The Magistrate Judge assigned to this case is the Hon. .
18.
If, after entry of this Order, the parties consent to trial before a Magistrate Judge,
the Magistrate Judge will schedule a date certain for trial and will, if necessary,
amend this Order consistent therewith.
19.
The next case management conference is scheduled for _____________________,
at ____________. (The Court will set this date at the initial conference.)
SO ORDERED.
Dated: New York, New York
Edgardo Ramos, U.S. District Judge
Individual Practices
March 17, 2025
INDIVIDUAL PRACTICES OF JUDGE EDGARDO RAMOS
Contact Information
Courtroom Deputy Clerk
Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse
Ms. Jazmin Trotman
40 Foley Square
jazmin_trotman@nysd.uscourts.gov
New York, NY 10007
Courtroom 619
ChambersNYSDRamos@nysd.uscourts.gov
Unless otherwise ordered, matters before Judge Ramos shall be conducted in accordance
with the following procedures:
1.
Communications with Chambers
A.
Letters. Except as otherwise provided below, communications with chambers
shall be by letter, filed electronically via ECF. Letters seeking relief should be
filed as letter-motions in accordance with Section 1.E below. Letters between or
among counsel shall not be filed on ECF or otherwise sent to the Court (except as
exhibits to an otherwise properly filed document).
Letters to be filed under seal shall follow the procedure for Electronic Filing
Under Seal in Civil and Miscellaneous Cases in accordance with Section 3 of this
document.
Parties shall not submit courtesy copies of letters that are filed as described
above.
B.
Telephone Calls. Except as provided below, telephone calls to chambers are
permitted only in situations requiring immediate attention.
C.
Faxes and E-mails. Faxes to chambers are not permitted. Except as otherwise
provided in Section 1.A. above, if a party wishes to e-mail a .pdf document to the
Court, it must obtain prior permission. E-mails should indicate who in chambers
provided such permission, and must be copied to all counsel. If a document is
e-mailed to chambers, do NOT also send a hard copy.
D.
Docketing, Scheduling, and Calendar Matters. Please email chambers at
ChambersNYSDRamos@nysd.uscourts.gov.
E.
Requests for Adjournments or Extensions of Time. All requests for
adjournments or extensions of time shall be in writing and filed on ECF as letter-
motions (if consistent with the S.D.N.Y. Local Rules and the S.D.N.Y.
“Electronic Filing Rules and Instructions”), and must include:
i.
the original date;
ii.
the number of previous requests for adjournment or extension, and the
reason(s) therefor;
iii.
whether the previous requests were granted or denied;
iv.
the reason for the instant request; and
v.
whether the adversary consents, and, if not, the reasons given by the
adversary for refusing to consent.
If the requested adjournment or extension affects any other scheduled dates, a
proposed Revised Scheduling Order must be attached. Absent extraordinary
circumstances, requests for extensions will be denied if not made before the
expiration of the original deadline. If the request is for an adjournment of a court
appearance, absent an emergency, the request shall be made at least 48 hours
prior to the scheduled appearance. Requests for extensions of deadlines regarding
a matter that has been referred to a Magistrate Judge shall be directed to that
assigned Magistrate Judge.
F.
Proposed Orders and Stipulations. All proposed orders, judgments and
stipulations requiring the Court’s signature, must be filed electronically on the
court’s ECF system.
G.
Courtesy Copies. One courtesy hard copy of all motion papers (with the
exception of motions for admission pro hac vice and letter-motions), shall be
submitted to chambers as soon as practicable after filing. Courtesy copies should
be clearly marked as such. If hand-delivered, courtesy copies should be brought
to the Court Security Officers at the Worth Street entrance to 500 Pearl Street, not
to chambers.
PLEASE NOTE: If a courtesy copy of a document filed on ECF is not delivered
to chambers, it may not come to the Court’s attention in a timely manner.
Whenever possible, the courtesy hard copy should be accompanied by an
electronic copy submitted on any portable media (CD/DVD preferred).
H. 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 immediate attention, please notify Chambers by email after you file the submission via ECF. 2. Pleadings and Motions A. Pre-Motion Conference in Civil Cases. i. For discovery motions, follow Local Civil Rule 37.2, requiring the moving party to request an informal conference with the Court before the filing of any such motion. Strict adherence to Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(1), the “meet and confer” rule, is required. The parties should be prepared to describe the time, place, and duration of the meeting, and to identify the counsel involved. ii. A pre-motion conference with the Court is required before making any other motion, except where a litigant believes that delay in filing the motion might result in the loss of a right or where a litigant seeks to make a motion in a case involving an incarcerated pro se litigant, motion for admission pro hac vice, motion for reargument or reconsideration, or motion for temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction. To arrange a pre-motion conference, the moving party shall submit a letter, not to exceed three pages, setting forth the basis for the anticipated motion. The opposing party shall submit a letter, also not to exceed three pages, setting forth its position within three business days from the service of the moving party’s letter. If a pre-motion conference is requested in connection with proposed motion to dismiss, the request will stay the deadline for the requesting party to move or answer, and a new deadline will be set at the conference. B. Motion Papers. i. Unless prior permission has been granted, memoranda of law in support of and in opposition to motions are limited to 25 pages, and reply memoranda are limited to 10 pages. Memoranda of 10 pages or more shall contain a table of contents. All memoranda of law shall be in 12- point font or larger and be double-spaced, and shall have one inch margins on all sides. Unless prior permission has been granted, sur-reply memoranda will not be accepted.
ii.
All documents submitted in connection with motions must be bound in
any manner that is secure, does not obscure the text, and permits the
document to lie reasonably flat when open. Parties should submit multiple
volumes rather than large documents that do not lie reasonably flat when
open.
C.
Special Rules for Summary Judgment Motions.
i.
Except for pro se litigants, the moving party shall provide all other parties
with an electronic copy of the moving party’s Statement of Material Facts
pursuant to Local Civil Rule 56.1. Opposing parties must reproduce each
entry in the moving party’s Rule 56.1 Statement, and set out the opposing
party’s response directly beneath it.
ii.
With respect to any deposition transcript 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.
Except for pro se litigants, the parties shall provide the Court with an
electronic, text-searchable courtesy copy of any hearing or deposition
transcript, or a portion thereof, on which the parties rely, if such a copy is
available, unless doing so would be unduly burdensome. (Parties shall
provide these materials on a CD only, not on a DVD or memory stick and
not by e-mail.)
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 date and
time.
3.
Electronic Filing Under Seal in Civil and Miscellaneous Cases
i.
Sealing/Redactions Not Requiring Court Approval. Federal Rule of
Civil Procedure 5.2 describes sensitive information that must be redacted
from public court filings without seeking prior permission from the Court.
ii.
Sealing/Redaction Requiring 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 proposed redactions
highlighted. Both documents must be electronically filed through the ECF
system and related to the motion.
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.
4. Pretrial Procedures
A.
Joint pretrial statements in Civil Cases. Unless otherwise ordered by the
Court, within 30 days after the date for completion of discovery in a civil case, or,
if a dispositive motion has been filed, within 30 days after a decision on the
motion, the parties shall file a joint pretrial statement, with one courtesy hard
copy for chambers.
The joint pretrial statement shall include the information required by Fed. R. Civ.
P. 26(a)(3) and the following:
i.
The full caption of the action.
ii.
The names, addresses (including firm names), e-mail addresses, and
telephone and fax numbers of trial counsel.
iii. A brief statement by plaintiff 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 party has asserted that remain to be tried, without recital of evidentiary matter but including citations to all statutes relied on. The parties shall also identify all claims and defenses previously asserted that are not to be tried. v. A statement by each party as to whether the case is to be tried with or without a jury, and the number of trial days needed. vi. A statement as to whether all parties have consented to trial of the case by a magistrate judge (without identifying which parties have or have not so consented). vii. Any stipulations or agreed statements of fact or law. viii. A list of the witnesses each party expects to call on its case in chief, including a very brief description of the witness’s role and/or the subject matter of his or her anticipated testimony, and a statement as to whether any other party objects to the witness. ix. A designation by each party of deposition testimony to be offered in its case in chief, with any cross-designations and objections by any other party. x. A list by each party of exhibits to be offered in its case in chief, with one star indicating exhibits to which no party objects on grounds of authenticity, and two stars indicating exhibits to which no party objects on any ground. xi. A statement of the relief sought, including damages claimed, itemizing each component or element of the damages sought with respect to each claim, and including the manner and method used to calculate the claimed damages. xii. A statement as to whether the parties consent to a less than unanimous verdict.
B.
Filings Prior to Trial in Civil Cases. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court,
each party shall file the following documents, and submit two courtesy hard
copies to chambers, 15 days before the date of commencement of trial if such a
date has been fixed, or 30 days after the filing of the joint pretrial statement if no
date has been fixed:
i.
In jury cases, proposed voir dire questions, requests to charge, verdict form,
and all documentary exhibits and depositions excerpts that will be offered as
substantive evidence. The plaintiff’s proposed voir dire questions should
include an agreed upon paragraph (designated as such) for the Court to use in
voir dire to provide the jury panel with a brief explanation of the case. If the
parties cannot agree to a paragraph after good faith efforts, their respective
proposed paragraphs (designated as such) should be set for in their respective
voir dire submissions. In addition to being filed in the normal manner,
proposed jury instructions should be e-mailed to Judge Ramos’ law clerk.
Counsel should send an email to chambers to make arrangements for same.
Each proposed jury instruction must contain a citation to the source/authority
for the proposed instruction, or the request will be disregarded.
ii. In nonjury cases, proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Proposed
findings of fact should be detailed, and proposed conclusions of law should
include a statement of the elements of each claim or defense.
iii. In all cases, motions addressing any evidentiary or other issues that should be
resolved in limine; and
iv. In any case in which any party believes it would be useful, a pretrial
memorandum.
C.
Filings in Opposition. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, any party may
file, and submit one courtesy hard copy to chambers, the following documents
within one week of the filing of any document described in section 4.B above:
i.
Objections to the other party’s proposed voir dire questions or requests to
charge.
ii.
Opposition to any motion in limine.
iii.
Opposition to any legal argument made in a pretrial memorandum.
D.
Additional Submissions in Non-Jury Cases. At the time the joint pretrial
statement is filed, each party shall serve, but not file, the following documents,
and submit two courtesy hard copies to chambers:
i.
Affidavits constituting the direct testimony of each trial witness, except
for the testimony of an adverse witness for whom a party has requested
and the Court has agreed to hear direct testimony during the trial. 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 trial. Only those witnesses who will be cross-examined need appear at
trial. The original affidavit shall be marked as an exhibit at trial.
ii.
All deposition excerpts which will be offered as substantive evidence, as
well as a 1-page synopsis (with page references) of those excerpts for each
deposition.
iii.
All documentary exhibits.
5.
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.
6.
Default Judgments. A party that wishes to obtain a default judgment must proceed by
way of order to show cause. Follow the Default Judgment Procedure, attached hereto as
Attachment A.
7.
Bankruptcy Appeals. Briefs must be submitted in accordance with Federal Rules of
Bankruptcy Procedure 8014 through 8018. Counsel may extend the dates provided
therein by stipulation submitted to the Court no later than two business days before the
brief is due. The page limits in Rule 7.1(c) of the Local Civil Rules of the United States
District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York must be observed.
8.
Criminal Cases
A.
Initial Matters. Upon assignment of a criminal case to Judge Ramos, the parties
shall immediately arrange with the Courtroom Deputy for a prompt initial
conference, at which the defendant will be present. The Assistant United States
Attorney (“AUSA”) shall provide to chambers, as soon as practicable, a courtesy
copy of the Indictment or Information, and a courtesy copy of the Complaint, if
one exists.
B. Guilty Pleas. Guilty pleas will ordinarily be taken by Judge Ramos and will not be assigned to Magistrate Judges by standing order. Permission for a guilty plea to be taken before a Magistrate Judge may be given under special circumstances. The AUSA shall provide a courtesy copy of any plea agreement or related documents to chambers as soon as practicable. C. Sentencing. Follow the Sentencing Procedures attached hereto as Attachment B. 9. Encouraged Participation of Junior Members of Legal Teams. Due to the decline of trials, opportunities to train junior lawyers in courtroom skills have become increasingly rare. Accordingly, where junior lawyers are familiar with the matter under consideration, but are not experienced in arguing before a court, they should be encouraged to actively participate. In such circumstances, where it creates an opportunity for a junior lawyer to argue, this Court is amenable to permitting more than one lawyer to argue for one party.
ATTACHMENT A DEFAULT JUDGMENT PROCEDURE 1. Prepare an Order to Show Cause for default judgment and make the Order returnable before Judge Ramos in Courtroom 619 of the United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, New York, NY. Leave the date and time of the conference blank. Judge Ramos will set the date and time when he signs the Order. 2. Attach the following papers to the Order to Show Cause: A. an attorney's affidavit setting forth: i. why a default judgment is appropriate, including a description of the method and date of service of the original summons and complaint; ii. whether, if the default is applicable to fewer than all of the defendants, the Court may appropriately order a default judgment on the issue of liability and/or damages prior to resolution of the entire action (see Fed. R. Civ. P. Rule 54(b)); iii. the proposed Statement of Damages and the basis for each element of damages including interest, attorney's fees, and costs; and iv. legal authority for why an inquest would be unnecessary; B. a proposed default judgment; C. copies of all of the pleadings; D. a copy of the affidavit of service of the original summons and complaint; E. if failure to answer is the basis for the default, a Certificate from the Clerk of Court stating that no answer has been filed. 3. File the proposed Order to Show Cause on ECF in accordance with the Court’s Electronic Case Filing Rules & Instructions. 4. After the Clerk approves the Order to Show Cause and the Judge signs and files it on ECF, print a copy and serve it on the defendant. 5. Prior to the return date, file the affidavit of service on the defendant of a conformed copy of the Order. For ECF cases, the affidavit of service must be filed electronically on the ECF system.
ATTACHMENT B SENTENCING PROCEDURES Unless permission to the contrary has been obtained, every document in a sentencing submission, including letters, should be filed in the public record, either in paper form or through the ECF system, using the procedures described below. The defendant is responsible for filing all letters submitted on behalf of the defendant, including those from friends, relatives, etc. The Government is responsible for filing all letters from victims. In this regard, the parties are referred to E-Government Act of 2002 and the Southern District’s ECF Rules & Instructions, Section 21, Privacy and Public Access to ECF cases, (“Privacy Policy”) and reminded not, unless necessary, to include the five categories of “sensitive information” in their submissions (i.e., social security numbers; names of minor children [use the initials only]; dates of birth [use the year only]; financial account numbers; and home addresses [use only the city and state]). Parties may redact the five categories of “sensitive information” and the six categories of information requiring caution (i.e., personal identifying numbers; medical records, treatment and diagnosis; employment history; individual financial information; proprietary or trade secret information; and information regarding an individual’s cooperation with the government) as described in the Privacy Policy, without application to the Court. If any material is redacted from the publicly filed document, only those pages containing the redacted material will be filed under seal. Bring a copy of those pages to the sentencing proceeding, marked to indicate what information has been redacted from the publicly filed materials, to give to the Court for filing under seal. 1. A defendant’s sentencing submission shall be served two weeks in advance of the date set for sentence. The Government’s sentencing submission shall be served one week in advance of the date set for sentence. The parties should provide the Court with one courtesy copy of each submission when it is served. At the time it is served, a party shall file its sentencing submission following one of the two procedures described here. A. Paper Filing. If the case is not electronically filed, letters must be filed as hard copies. A party shall group all letters together in a single paper filing under a cover marked SENTENCING MEMORANDUM with the caption and docket number clearly indicated and submit it to the Clerk’s Office. B. ECF Filing. If the case is electronically filed, letters must be electronically filed on the ECF system. A party shall group and file the letters together as attachments to a single document marked SENTENCING MEMORANDUM with the caption and docket number clearly indicated. 2. If a party redacts information beyond the eleven categories of information identified in the Privacy Policy, an application to do so must be served and filed at the time the sentencing submission is served. The application should clearly identify the redaction
and explain the reasons for the redaction. The application will be addressed at the sentencing proceeding. 3. If you have any questions about these procedures, send an email to chambers.
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