Legal Update: Updates to NYS Court Uniform Civil Rules

Effective February 1, 2021, the New York State Court system has adopted a large-scale update to the Uniform Civil Rules for the Supreme Court and the County Courts. Some notable changes to the rules for civil practice include:

Meet and Confer Prior to Court Appearances, and Be Prepared

• Requiring counsel who appear before the Court to be fully prepared to discuss the case, or else can be subject to sanctions. Unbelievably, it has become common for some firms to contract attorneys who are uninvolved in the case and lacking any familiarity with the case, to appear in court. That will no longer be tolerated. (Section 202.1)

• Requiring Counsel to consult with one another before any preliminary or compliance conference, to talk about resolving the case and about discovery issues, rather than waiting for the Court to bring this up for the first time (Section 202.23)

• Court appearances are to be staggered, to minimize the time spent waiting for your case to be called (Section 202.23)

• Parties must make sure that all resolutions reached at discovery conference are memorialized in writing (Section 202.20-g)

Non-Presiding Justices Available for Settlement Conference

• Parties may request a settlement conference in front of a justice or judge other than the justice or judge who is presiding over the case (Section 202.29)

• When cases are settled, not only should the Stipulation be filed, but the assigned judge should be notified by email or telephone. (Section 202.28)

Limits on length of depositions and documents filed with the Court

• Absent Court Order, parties are limited to 10 depositions, and no more than 7 hours of depositions per witness (Section 202.20-b)

• Memoranda of law and affirmations are limited to 7,000 words and reply memoranda and affirmations are limited to 4,000 words (Section 202.8-b)

• 25-page Pre-trial memorandum will be required, ad well as an indexed binder of trial exhibits for each attorney, the court and for witnesses (Section 202.20-h)

Changes to Summary Judgment Practice

• Requiring a separation Statement of Material Facts to accompany motions for summary judgment (Section 202.8-g)

This is not a comprehensive list of all changes, but a brief summary. If you have any questions or need additional information, contact Laura Wong-Pan at 845-218-1288 (lwp@laurawongpanlaw.com).

This article should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinion with regard to any specific situation, but is presented for informational purposes only.