All local rules for S.D.N.Y., integrated with this judge's published requirements.
(d) No ex parte order, or order to show cause to bring on a motion, will be granted, except upon a clear and specific showing by affidavit that contains good and sufficient reasons why a procedure other than by notice of motion is necessary and states whether a previous application for similar relief has been made. Local Civil Rule 6.1(d) ↗
A. General Provisions 1. Communications with Chambers 2. Motions 3. Pretrial Procedures 4. Proposed Orders and Judgments 5. Redactions and Filing Under Seal 6. Pro Se Parties 7. Participation by Junior Attorneys
(c) Length of Memoranda of Law. 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. Local Civil Rule 7.1(c) ↗
(c) Length of Memoranda of Law. 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. Local Civil Rule 7.1(c) ↗
(c) Length of Memoranda of Law. 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. Local Civil Rule 7.1(c) ↗
Except for letter-motions as permitted by Local Civil Rule 7.1(d), and unless provided otherwise by statute or rule, or by the court in a judge’s individual practices or in a direction in a particular case, motion papers must be served and filed as follows: (a) On all motions and applications under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 through 37 and 45(d)(3), (1) all motion papers must be served by the moving party on all other parties that have appeared in the action, (2) any opposing or response papers must be served within seven days after service of the moving papers, and (3) any reply papers must be served within two days after service of the answering papers. In computing periods of days, refer to Fed. R. Civ. P. 6. (b) On all civil motions, petitions, and applications, other than those described in Rule 6.1(a), and other than petitions for writs of habeas corpus, (1) the moving papers must be served by the moving party on all other parties that have appeared in the action, (2) any opposing or response papers must be served within 14 days after service of the moving papers, and (3) any reply papers must be served within seven days after service of the answering papers. Local Civil Rule 6.1 (introductory clause) and 6.1(a)-(b) ↗
Silent on fixed motion hearing days. Local Civil Rules 6.1, 7.1 (silent) ↗
Local Civil Rule 77.1. Submission of Orders, Judgments and Decrees Proposed orders, judgments, and decrees must be presented as directed by the ECF rules published on the website of each respective court. Local Civil Rule 77.1 ↗
Under Seal in Civil and Miscellaneous Matters. 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. Such sensitive information includes: Social Security numbers; names of minor children; dates of birth; and financial account numbers. 7 Other information that should be treated with caution and may warrant a motion for approval of sealed or redacted filing includes: personal identifying numbers (PIN numbers); medical records, treatment and diagnosis; employment history; individual financial information; proprietary or trade secret information; personal home addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers; and information regarding an individual’s cooperation with the government. Sensitive information and information requiring caution must not be included in any document filed publicly on ECF unless such inclusion is necessary and relevant to the case. If such information must be included, personal identifiers must be partially redacted in accordance with the above-cited rules and policies in order to protect any privacy interest. ii. Sealing/Redaction Requiring Court Approval. Motions or letter-motions by represented parties 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 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 19, 2019), and ECF Rules & Instructions, section
Silent on oral argument default. Local Civil Rules 6.1, 7.1 (silent) ↗
(including pre-motion conferences with respect to discovery disputes) should be filed as letter-motions. Letter-motions must be filed via ECF in compliance with the S.D.N.Y. Local Rules and the S.D.N.Y. “Electronic Case Filing Rules and Instructions.” d. Motions for default judgment. A party wishing to obtain a default judgment must notify the Court by letter (copied to the party against which a default judgment is to be sought and filed on the ECF System) of its desire to seek a default judgment. The Court will enter an order directing the party as to whether evidentiary submissions will be required in connection with the motion. Default judgments will be granted only upon written motion with notice to Defendant(s) and their counsel, if known. A copy of the Clerk’s Certificate of Default, an affidavit or declaration in accordance with Local Civil Rule 55.2(a)(1), and proof of service of the Summons and Complaint, the Motion for Default Judgment, the Clerk’s Certificate of Default and the aforementioned affidavit or declaration must be attached to the Motion for Default Judgment, along with any other material the Court directs be included in the motion papers. The Motion for Default Judgment must also include the papers required by Local Civil Rule 7.1, including a memorandum of law, and must be accompanied by a proposed order detailing the proposed judgment to be entered. e. Motions for withdrawal or displacement of attorney of record in civil matters. An attorney who has appeared as attorney of record for a party in a civil matter may be relieved or displaced in accordance with Local Civil Rule 1.4. 5 f. Evidentiary support. Evidentiary support, in admissible form, of all factual assertions relied upon in support of or in opposition to a motion must be filed and served with the moving or opposition papers, as the case may be. Recitals in notices of motion, attorneys’ affirmations, assertions of material factual matters “on information and belief” and the like are generally insufficient to establish factual matters. g. Briefing. Unless otherwise directed by the Court in the particular case, motions in civil matters must be briefed in accordance with the schedule set forth in Local Civil Rule 6.1. h. Memoranda of law. Unless prior permission has been granted, if filed by an attorney or prepared with a computer, memoranda of law in support of and in opposition to motions are limited to 8,750 words, and reply memoranda are limited to 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 limitations 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 ce
ounsel, at SwainNYSDCorresp@nysd.uscourts.gov. 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. If such a request in a criminal case contains sensitive or confidential information, it may be submitted by email, to SwainNYSDCorresp@nysd.uscourts.gov, in lieu of electronic filing. A sensitive or confidential letter-motion in a civil case must be filed on ECF in accordance with the pertinent ECF sealed filing procedures (see subdivision A.5. below). The letter-motion must state (1) the original date, (2) the number of previous requests for adjournment or extension, (3) whether these 3 previous requests were granted or denied, and (4) 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 submitted in accordance with the ECF procedures. If the request is for an adjournment of a court appearance, absent an emergency it must be made at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled appearance. f. Courtesy Copies Required. A courtesy copy of all letters, motions, pleadings, and other filings must be promptly emailed to Chambers at SwainNYSDCorresp@nysd.uscourts.gov. The courtesy copy of any submission filed on ECF must be a copy of the filed version of the submission and must include the automatically-generated ECF header (that is, the text – for example, “Case 1:20- cv-01234-ABC Document 100 Filed 09/03/20 Page 1 of 1”– appearing at the top of each page of a document on the ECF system). No paper courtesy copies need to be submitted, unless requested by Chambers. Source ↗
B. Criminal Cases 1. Initial Pretrial Conference 2. Substitution of Counsel 3. Motions 4. Applications to File Under Seal 5. Pleas 6. Trial Procedures 7. Sentencing Unless otherwise ordered by Judge Swain, matters before Judge Swain shall be conducted in accordance with the following practices: 2 Source ↗
filed by an attorney or prepared with a computer, memoranda of law in support of and in opposition to motions are limited to 8,750 words, and reply memoranda are limited to 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 limitations 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. To the extent the court permits a party to submit briefs longer than these limits, and expresses those limits in pages, each additional page must not contain more than 350 additional words if the brief is filed by an attorney or prepared with a computer. Memoranda of 10 pages or more must contain a table of contents. The format of the documents must comply with Local Civil Rule 7.1. i. Filing of motion papers. Motion papers must be filed at the time of service or promptly thereafter. j. Oral argument and evidentiary proceedings on motions. Parties may request oral argument and/or indicate the need for an evidentiary hearing at the time their moving, opposing or reply papers are filed, by including a conspicuous notation of the request on the cover page of the relevant paper. The Court will determine whether argument will be heard and/or whether an evidentiary proceeding is required to resolve disputed factual issues and, if it determines that such an argument or proceeding is necessary, will advise counsel of the relevant date. 6 Source ↗
at the time of service or promptly thereafter. j. Oral argument and evidentiary proceedings on motions. Parties may request oral argument and/or indicate the need for an evidentiary hearing at the time their moving, opposing or reply papers are filed, by including a conspicuous notation of the request on the cover page of the relevant paper. The Court will determine whether argument will be heard and/or whether an evidentiary proceeding is required to resolve disputed factual issues and, if it determines that such an argument or proceeding is necessary, will advise counsel of the relevant date. 6 Source ↗
2. Motions a. Pre-motion conferences in civil matters. For discovery motions, follow Local Civil Rule 37.2. For motions other than discovery motions, pre-motion conferences are not required. Compliance with the certification requirement of subdivision b. below is, however, required for all civil case motions, whether discovery-related or not. b. Informal efforts to resolve issues required. i. Pre-motion communications. (1) In civil matters, prior to making a motion of any type, and prior to requesting a conference on any discovery issues, the parties must use their best efforts to resolve informally the matters in controversy. Such efforts must include, but need not be limited to, an exchange of letters outlining their respective legal and factual positions on the matters and at least one telephonic or in-person discussion of the matters. (2) If a motion pursuant to Fed. Source ↗