Fr Sr Rules Part 2

[Curtis Cassel]

b) Waiver. For good cause shown, and in the interests of justice, the court in an action or proceeding may waive compliance with any of the rules in this Part, other than sections 202.2 and 202.3, unless prohibited from doing so by statute or by a rule of the Chief Judge.

(d) Application of CPLR. The provisions of this Part shall be construed consistent with the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR), and matters not covered by these provisions shall be governed by the CPLR.

(f) Counsel who appear before the court must be familiar with the case with regard to which they appear and be fully prepared and authorized to discuss and resolve the issues which are scheduled to be the subject of the appearance. Failure to comply with this rule may be treated as a default for purposes of Rule 202.27 and/or may be treated as a failure to appear for purposes of Rule 130.2.1.

(a) Terms of Court. A term of court is a four-week session of court, and there shall be 13 terms of court in a year, unless otherwise provided in the annual schedule of terms established by the Chief Administrator of the Courts, which also shall specify the dates of such terms.

(b) Parts of Court. A part of court is a designated unit of the court in which specified business of the court is to be conducted by a judge or quasi- judicial officer. There shall be such parts of court as may be authorized from time to time by the Chief Administrator of the Courts.

(a) General. There shall be established for all civil actions and proceedings heard in the Supreme Court and County Court an individual assignment system which provides for the continuous supervision of each action and proceeding by a single judge. Except as otherwise may be authorized by the Chief Administrator or by these rules, every action and proceeding shall be assigned and heard pursuant to the individual assignment system.

(b) Assignments. Actions and proceedings shall be assigned to the judges of the court upon the filing with the court of a request for judicial intervention pursuant to section 202.6 of this Part. Assignments shall be made by the clerk of the court pursuant to a method of random selection authorized by the Chief Administrator. The judge thereby assigned shall be known as the "assigned judge" with respect to that matter and, except as otherwise provided in subdivision (c) of this section, shall conduct all further proceedings therein.

(1) Where the requirements of matters already assigned to a judge are such as to limit the ability of that judge to handle additional cases, the Chief Administrator may authorize that new assignments to that judge be suspended until the judge is able to handle additional cases.

(2) The Chief Administrator may authorize the establishment in any court of special categories of actions and proceedings, including but not limited to matrimonial actions, medical malpractice actions, tax assessment review proceedings, condemnation actions and actions requiring protracted consideration, for assignment to judges specially assigned to hear such actions or proceedings. Where more than one judge is specially assigned to hear a particular category of action or proceeding, the assignment of such actions or proceedings to the judges so assigned shall be at random.

(3) The Chief Administrator may authorize the assignment of one or more special reserve trial judges. Such judges may be assigned matters for trial in exceptional circumstances where the needs of the courts require such assignment.

(5) The Chief Administrator may authorize the transfer of any action or proceeding and any matter relating to an action or proceeding from one judge to another in accordance with the needs of the court.

(6) The Chief Administrator may authorize the establishment in any court or county or judicial district of a dual track system of assignment. Under such system each action and proceeding shall be supervised continuously by the individually assigned judge until the note of issue and certificate of readiness have been filed and the pretrial conference, if one is ordered, has been held. The action or proceeding then may be assigned to another judge for trial in a manner prescribed by the Chief Administrator.

Ex parte applications in actions or proceedings in the Supreme Court, and applications for the settlement of actions or proceedings pending in the Supreme Court, where judicial approval is necessary, may be heard and determined by a judge of the County Court in the county where venue is laid, during periods when no Supreme Court term is in session in the county.

(a)(1) The party filing the first paper in an action, upon payment of the proper fee, shall obtain from the county clerk an index number, which shall be affixed to the paper. The party causing the first paper to be filed shall communicate in writing the county clerk's index number forthwith to all other parties to the action. Thereafter such number shall appear on the outside cover and first page to the right of the caption of every paper tendered for filing in the action. Each such cover and first page also shall contain an indication of the county of venue and a brief description of the nature of the paper and, where the case has been assigned to an individual judge, shall contain the name of the assigned judge to the right of the caption. In addition to complying with the provisions of CPLR 2101, every paper filed in court shall have annexed thereto appropriate proof of service on all parties where required, and if typewritten, shall have at least double space between each line, except for quotations and the names and addresses of attorneys appearing in the action, and shall have at least one-inch margins. In addition, every paper filed in court, other than an exhibit or printed form, shall contain writing on one side only, except that papers that are fastened on the side may contain writing on both sides, and shall contain print no smaller than 12-point, or 8 x 11 inch paper, bearing margins no smaller than one inch. The print size of footnotes shall be no smaller than 10 point. Papers that are stapled or bound securely shall not be rejected for filing simply because they are not bound with a backer of any kind.

(2) Unless otherwise directed by the court, each electronically-submitted memorandum of law, affidavit and affirmation, exceeding 4500 words, which was prepared with the use of a computer software program, shall include bookmarks providing a listing of the document's contents and facilitating easy navigation by the reader within the document.

(b) Submission of Papers to Judge. All papers for signature or consideration of the court shall be presented to the clerk of the trial court in the appropriate courtroom or clerk's office, except that where the clerk is unavailable or the judge so directs, papers may be submitted to the judge and a copy filed with the clerk at the first available opportunity. All papers for any judge that are filed in the clerk's office shall be promptly delivered to the judge by the clerk. The papers shall be clearly addressed to the judge for whom they are intended and prominently show the nature of the papers, the title and index number of the action in which they are filed, the judge's name and the name of the attorney or party submitting them.

(c) Papers filed to commence an action or special proceeding. For purposes of CPLR 304. governing the method of commencing actions and special Proceedings. the term "clerk of the court" shall mean the county clerk. Each county clerk, and each chief clerk of the Supreme Court. shall post prominently in the public areas of his or her office notice that filing of papers in order to commence an action or special proceeding must be with the county clerk. Should the county clerk, as provided by CPLR 304, designate a person or persons other than himself or herself to accept delivery of the papers required to be filed in order to commence an action or special proceeding, the posted notice shall so specify.

i. the taxpayer identification number of an individual or an entity, including a social security number, an employer identification number, and an individual taxpayer identification number, except the last four digits thereof;

iv. a financial account number, including a credit and/or debit card number, a bank account number, an investment account number, and/or an insurance account number, except the last four digits or letters thereof..; and

v. any of the documents or testimony in a matrimonial action protected by Domestic Relations Law section 235 or evidence sealed by the court in such an action which are attached as exhibits or referenced in the papers filed in any other civil action. For purposes of this rule, a matrimonial action shall mean: an action to annul a marriage or declare the nullity of a void marriage, an action or agreement for a separation, an action for a divorce, or an action or proceeding for custody, visitation, writ of habeus corpus, child support, maintenance or paternity.

(2) The court sua sponte or on motion by any person may order a party to remove CPI from papers or to resubmit a paper with such information redacted; order the clerk to seal the papers or a portion thereof containing CPI in accordance with the requirement of 22NYCRR 216.1 that any sealing be no broader than necessary to protect the CPI; for good cause permit the inclusion of CPI in papers; order a party to file an unredacted copy under seal for in camera review; or determine that information in a particular action is not confidential. The court shall consider the pro se status of any party in granting relief pursuant to this provision.

(3) Where a person submitting a paper to a court for filing believes in good faith that the inclusion of the full confidential personal information described in subparagraphs (i) to (iv) of paragraph (1) of this subdivision is material and necessary to the adjudication of the action or proceeding before the court, he or she may apply to the court for leave to serve and file together with a paper in which such information has been set forth in abbreviated form a confidential affidavit or affirmation setting forth the same information in unabbreviated form, appropriately referenced to the page or pages of the paper at which the abbreviated form appears.

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