Hon. Joan M. Azrack — Individual Rules of Practice

Revised November 2025

INDIVIDUAL RULES OF

DISTRICT JUDGE JOAN M. AZRACK

United States District Court

Eastern District of New York

Long Island Courthouse

100 Federal Plaza

Central Islip, NY 11722

Courtroom 920

Chambers: (631) 712-5600

Brooklyn Courthouse

225 Cadman Plaza East

Brooklyn, NY 11201

Courtroom 8D South

Chambers: (718) 613-2530

Courtroom Deputy: Lauren Posillico (631) 712-5609

Rules at a Glance

Indiv. Rule

Issue Requirement No. Page

Electronic Case Filing Mandatory, except for pro se litigants. I. 3

Court Filings Courtesy Copies Should not be provided unless the II. 4

submission exceeds 20 pages.

Telephone Calls For docketing, scheduling, or calendar III.A 4

matters, call Lauren Posillico at (631)

712-5609.

Communications Requests for Must be made in the form of a III.B 4

with Chambers Adjournments/ letter filed by ECF at least 48 hours

Extensions before the deadline or court

appearance.

Urgent Notify Chambers by telephone after III.C 5

Communications filing on ECF.

Motions Made to See rule for full list. IV.A 5

Motions Magistrate Judges

Pre-Motion Conference Required before making any motion IV.B 5

except for those listed in the rule.

Moving party shall file a letter not to

exceed 3 pages. Responses (not to

exceed 3 pages) are due within 7 days.

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Memoranda of Law Memoranda of law in support of, and in IV.C 6

opposition to, motions are limited to 25

pages, and reply memoranda are limited

to 15 pages.

Citations Court prefers WestLaw citations to IV.D 6

unpublished opinions.

Summary Parties must follow the Court’s IV.E 6

Judgment Motions formatting and filing rules for Local

Rule 56.1 statements and evidentiary

filings.

Magistrate Judges All appeals and objections to Reports IV.F 7

and Recommendations must be filed

within 14 days of service of order.

Responses are due within 14 days.

Filing of Motion Bundling Rule: no motion papers shall IV.G 7

Papers be filed on ECF until the motion is fully

briefed. See rule for full list of

requirements.

Motions No pre-motion conference required and IV.H 8

Implicating Time- bundling rule does not apply.

Limiting Rules

Default Party moving shall submit a proposed IV.I 8

Judgments/ order for the Court’s signature.

Petitions to

Confirm

Arbitration

Awards

Social Security Appeals Bundling Rule Briefing must the “bundling rule”. V.A 9

Administrative Transcript shall only be

filed on ECF contemporaneously with

the fully-briefed motion.

Pre-Trial Procedures Joint Pretrial Shall be prepared under the supervision VI.A 10

Orders in Civil of the assigned Magistrate Judge. See

Cases rule for list of what should be included

in order.

Filings Prior to See rule for full list of requirements. VI.B 10

Trial in Civil

Cases

Criminal Cases Sentencing Defendant’s sentencing memorandum VII. 12

due 3 weeks prior to sentencing.

Government’s response due 2 weeks

prior.

Junior Lawyers Junior lawyers are invited to address the VIII. 12

Court during conferences, argue

motions, and to question witnesses.

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Unless otherwise ordered by Judge Azrack in a specific case, matters before Judge Azrack shall

be conducted in accordance with the following practices:

I. ELECTRONIC CASE FILING (ECF)

A. All documents must be filed electronically.

B. All written submissions and supporting materials must be text-searchable, to the

extent practicable.

C. Chambers staff are unable to assist with filing via ECF. For ECF assistance, call

(631) 712-6030. Attorneys should also refer to the Court’s website at:

https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/attorneys

https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/cmecf-nextgen-information

D. Attorneys will receive all notifications and orders from the Court electronically

through ECF.

E. Parties filing voluminous or non-text exhibits that are impracticable to file

electronically should contact Chambers prior to filing.

F. Litigants proceeding pro se are exempt from ECF requirements. Chambers mails

copies of any orders to pro se parties. Pro se parties are responsible for maintaining

a current address on file with the Court. Pro se parties without ECF access shall file

all documents through the Clerk’s Office and shall not fax any document to

Chambers without prior approval.

G. In pro se cases, parties represented by counsel must still submit documents

electronically. For questions about filing and serving documents in cases where one

or more parties are proceeding pro se, contact the pro se office at (631) 712-6060.

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II. COURTESY COPIES

A. Hard copies of documents filed by ECF should not be provided to Chambers

unless the submission exceeds 20 pages, including exhibits. Any courtesy copies

submitted to Chambers must be clearly marked “Courtesy Copy,” “Original Filed

by ECF,” and “Assigned Document Number [indicate document number from

docket sheet].” Any exhibits or appendices should be clearly labeled and tabbed in

the courtesy copy. Where a filing is of substantial length, the filer should submit

the hard copy in a binder.

B. Courtesy copies should be mailed to Chambers on the filing date; overnight or

expedited mail is not required unless the Court orders otherwise.

C. Courtesy copies of any pleadings permitted under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

(“FRCP”) 7(a) and any filing directed to the assigned Magistrate Judge should not

be provided to Judge Azrack.

D. Proposed orders, jury instructions, and other such writings a party wishes the Court

to adopt should be submitted to chambers in Microsoft Word format as well as filed

on ECF in PDF format. However, parties need not submit word-processing files of

stipulations of dismissal or settlement unless specifically requested to do so.

Counsel may send the files to: Azrack_Chambers@nyed.uscourts.gov.

III. COMMUNICATIONS WITH CHAMBERS

A. Telephone Calls: Parties may contact Courtroom Deputy Lauren Posillico at (631)

712-5609 regarding docketing, scheduling, or calendar matters. If parties have

questions concerning the application of Judge Azrack’s individual rules, they

shall jointly contact Chambers at (631) 712-5600.

B. Requests for Adjournments or Extensions of Time: All requests for

adjournments of court appearances or extensions of time must be made in the form

of a letter filed by ECF at least 48 hours before the deadline or court appearance.

The request must indicate: (1) the original date and time; (2) the reason for the

request; (3) how much additional time is requested; (4) the number of previous

requests; (5) whether the adversary consents, and, if not, the reasons given by the

adversary for refusing consent; (6) proposed alternative dates when all parties are

available; and (7) whether the request affects any other scheduled deadline or court

appearance (in which case alternative dates must be proposed). See § IV(A), infra,

for further details.

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C. Urgent Communications: Materials filed via ECF may not be reviewed the same

day they are filed. If a submission requires immediate attention, please notify

Chambers by telephone after filing on ECF.

IV. MOTIONS

A. Judge to Whom Motions Are to Be Made: All dispositive motions, including

motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment, motions to change venue,

motions to remand, and motions for class certification are to be made to Judge

Azrack.

The assigned Magistrate Judge will preside over pretrial case management,

discovery, and settlement. Unless otherwise specifically ordered, all discovery and

other non-dispositive pretrial motions and applications are to be made to the

Magistrate Judge in accordance with the Magistrate Judge’s individual rules. Non-

dispositive motions and applications include:

1. Discovery motions and applications, including motions to stay

discovery.

2. Motions to amend pleadings.

3. Extensions of time to serve, answer, or file amended pleadings.

4. Stipulations concerning amendments to pleadings.

5. Stipulations to transfer venue.

6. Motions to quash subpoenas.

7. So ordering of subpoenas.

8. Applications concerning confidentiality/protective orders.

9. Sealing and unsealing orders.

10. Motions to withdraw as counsel.

11. Pro hac vice motions.

12. Substitutions of counsel.

13. Motions to disqualify counsel.

14. Requests for adjournments or extensions of time concerning

arbitration or mediation proceedings.

15. Motions for conditional certification under the Fair Labor

Standards Act.

B. Pre-Motion Conference: Except as noted below, a pre-motion conference is

required before making any motion addressed to Judge Azrack. To arrange a pre-

motion conference, the moving party shall file (via ECF) a letter not to exceed

three pages in length setting forth the basis or bases for the anticipated motion.

All parties so served must file a letter response (also via ECF), not to exceed three

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pages, within seven days of service. Service of a pre-motion letter by the moving

party within the time requirements established by statute or the Federal Rules of Civil

Procedure for the filing of a motion (such as FRCP 12), shall constitute timely

service of the motion.

No pre-motion conference is required for motions pursuant to FRCP 50, 52, 59, and

60, habeas corpus/prisoner petitions, Social Security and Bankruptcy appeals,

objections to Reports and Recommendations by Magistrate Judges, motions for

default judgment, motions to remand, and motions filed by pro se parties. Counsel

should be aware that the Court of Appeals will not accept an argument that

compliance with district court motion rules should excuse non-compliance with

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4.

In some cases, it will be apparent from the letter requesting a pre-motion conference

that such a conference will not be a useful expenditure of the parties’ time, and a

motion schedule will be set without a pre-motion conference. However, if a party

advises the Court in its pre-motion argument request that an attorney with seven years

or less of experience as a licensed attorney will be representing the party at the

conference, the Court may schedule a pre-motion conference.

Additionally, counsel should note that, in appropriate cases, the pre-motion letter

along with counsel’s argument at the pre-motion conference, may be construed, at

the discretion of the Court, as the motion itself.

C. Memoranda of Law: 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 15 pages. Memoranda of 10 pages or more shall contain

a table of contents.

D. The Court prefers WestLaw citations to unpublished opinions.

E. Summary Judgment Motions: Except in pro se cases, Local Rule 56.1 statements

by a party opposing summary judgment shall quote verbatim the moving party’s

Local Rule 56.1 statement, and shall respond to each allegation in the moving

party’s statement immediately beneath each allegation. The opposing statement

also may, if necessary, include a separate section of additional material facts alleged

to be in dispute. If the opposing statement includes a separate section of additional

facts, the moving party must file a reply statement addressing the additional

assertions.

On motions for summary judgment, do not attach complete deposition transcripts

as exhibits. Attach only pages containing relevant testimony to which citation is

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made in the motion papers.

F. Magistrate Judge Appeals and Objections to Magistrate Judge Reports and

Recommendations

In accordance with FRCP 72, all Magistrate Judge appeals and objections to

Reports and Recommendations must be served upon all parties and filed with the

Court within 14 days of service of the challenged order or report. The party

opposing an appeal or objection shall file an opposition within 14 days of service.

All appeals and objections must set forth the specific aspects of the order or report

that are being challenged.

For appeals from Magistrate Judge orders concerning discovery, the appeal must

be in the form of a letter, not exceeding three pages in length.

For all other Magistrate appeals and objections to Reports and Recommendations,

the parties shall follow the page limits set forth in Section IV(c) above.

G. Filing of Motion Papers

1. For motions in which a pre-motion conference request is required, if the

motion goes forward, the Court will set a briefing schedule at the pre-

motion conference. For all other motions, the parties shall submit a

proposed briefing schedule to the Court.

2. Judge Azrack follows the “bundling rule.” Except for motions pursuant

to FRCP 50, 52, 59, and 60, motions to remand, and motions where the

movant is pro se, no motion papers shall be filed on ECF until the

motion is fully briefed. The movant shall serve the notice of motion and

all supporting papers on the other parties in accordance with the briefing

schedule. When the adversary serves its opposition papers, the adversary

will also provide the movant with one additional copyof the opposition

papers (and, if the adversary is represented by counsel, with a PDF

version of the opposition papers). Once the motion is fully briefed, the

moving party is responsible for filing the full set of motion papers via

ECF. The moving party is also responsible for providing Chambers with

one courtesy copy of all motion papers, together with a cover letter

specifying each document in the package. A copy of the cover letter shall

be sent to opposing counsel.

3. Oral Argument: Parties may request oral argument at the time their

moving, opposition, or reply papers are filed. The Court will determine

whether argument will be heard and, if so, will advise counsel of the

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argument date.

4. Notices of motion shall not contain a return date.

5. Exhibits must be plainly labeled on ECF, not simply listed as an “Exhibit,”

in a manner substantially similar to the following:

H. Motions Implicating Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(4)(A) or Similar Time-Limiting Rules

As indicated above, these practices do not require a pre-motion conference or that a

motion be fully briefed before it is filed when strictly enforced time limits must be met

to preserve rights. Regardless, if any party concludes in good faith that delaying the

filing of a motion, in order to comply with any aspect of these individual practices, will

deprive the party of a substantive right, the party may file the motion within the time

required by the Federal Rules of Civil and/or Appellate Procedure, together with an

explanation of the basis for the conclusion.

I. Default Judgments/Unopposed Petitions to Confirm Arbitration Awards

A party moving for default judgment or moving to confirm an unopposed petition to

confirm an arbitration award shall submit a proposed order for the Court’s signature.

The proposed order shall contain evidentiary citations, with affidavits and other

documentary evidence.

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V. SOCIAL SECURITY APPEALS

A. Briefing in Social Security Appeals shall comply with the “bundling rule”

described in Individual Rule IV(F). The Administrative Transcript shall only

be filed on ECF contemporaneously with the fully-briefed motion.

B. In all cases in which the plaintiff is represented by counsel, along with its motion

for judgment on the pleadings, as required by this district’s Administrative Order

2015-05 (“In re: Scheduling in Social Security Cases”)(ii)(A), the plaintiff shall

provide a “Statement of Contentions.” This statement, conceptually similar to that

required for summary judgment motions by Local Rule 56.1, shall set forth a

separate, short, and concise statement, in numbered paragraphs, the contentions of

the plaintiff as to the alleged legal errors in the Secretary’s determination and/or

the specific findings of the decision of the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) that,

the plaintiff contends, is not supported by substantial evidence. Failure to submit

such a statement may constitute grounds for denial of the motion, and failure to

identify a legal error or finding unsupported by substantial evidence may be deemed

a waiver of such argument. See Selian v. Astrue, 708 F.3d 409, 420 (2d Cir. 2013)

(discussing forfeiture of arguments not presented to district court); Estrella v.

Berryhill, 925 F.3d 90, 98 (2d Cir. 2019) (“claimants in Social Security cases must

preserve legal arguments—not necessarily factual ones”).

C. The responsive papers filed by the defendant, as required by AO(ii)(B), shall

include an “Opposing Statement of Contentions,” containing correspondingly

numbered paragraph responding to each numbered paragraph in the statement of

the moving party. The failure to include such an opposing statement may result in

the striking of the opposition to the motion.

D. Each contention by the movant and opponent made pursuant to this rule must be

followed by pinpoint citations to the administrative record, identifying evidence

supporting and/or rebutting each said contention. By way of example, if plaintiff

contends that the ALJ failed to properly assess plaintiff’s residual functional

capacity, plaintiffs Statement of Contentions should identify with particularity the

aspects of plaintiff’s purported disability which were disregarded by the ALJ along

with specific page citations identifying evidence supporting this claim. The

Government, in turn, in its Opposing Statements should provide citations

identifying the evidence which it believes the ALJ properly relied upon in reaching

a determination as to those specific findings.

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VI. PRETRIAL PROCEDURES

A. Joint Pretrial Orders in Civil Cases: A joint pretrial order shall be prepared under

the supervision of the assigned Magistrate Judge in accordance with the schedule

set by the Magistrate Judge. The parties are directed to cooperate with each other

in the preparation of the joint pretrial order, which shall include the following:

1. The full caption of the action.

2. The names, addresses (including firm names), and telephone and fax

numbers of trial counsel.

3. 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.

4. A brief summary by each party of the claims and defenses that party

has asserted which remain to be tried, without recital of evidentiary

matters, but including citations to all statutes relied on. The parties shall

identify all claims and defenses previously asserted which are not to

be tried.

5. Any stipulations of fact or law that have been agreed to by all parties.

6. A statement regarding damages and other relief sought.

7. 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.

8. Names of all witnesses (fact and expert), together with a brief narrative

statement of the expected testimony of each witness and an indication

whether the witness will testify in person or by deposition. Only listed

witnesses will be permitted to testify except when prompt notice has

been given and good cause shown.

9. Schedule of exhibits to be offered in evidence by each party. To the

extent practicable, counsel should identify any anticipated objections

to an opposing party’s exhibits. Exhibits admitted by stipulation are to

be designated as such. Only exhibits listed shall be offered in

evidence except when prompt notice has been given and good cause

shown.

10. A designation by each party of deposition testimony to be offered in its

case-in-chief, with any cross-designations.

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11. 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).

B. Filings Prior to Trial in Civil Cases: After the parties have filed their joint pretrial

order, the Court will set deadlines for submission of the following trial materials:

1. In All Trials: Two courtesy copies of all exhibits, which shall be

appropriately labeled and indexed, including a table of contents. All

exhibits must be premarked for trial and exchanged with the other

parties at least ten days before trial. Where exhibits are voluminous,

they should be paginated and placed in binders with tabs.

2. In Jury Trials:

i. Voir dire questions. Only questions specifically addressing the

issues to be tried should be submitted. Routine questions are not

necessary. Unless otherwise notified, the Court (or a magistrate

judge) will conduct all voir dire.

ii. A joint list of all persons, entities, or places that may be

mentioned at trial.

iii. A joint, brief, summary of the case that will be read to the jury

during voir dire.

iv. Proposed verdict forms.

A joint request to charge. General instructions will be prepared

by the Court. The joint request to charge shall include the

elements of the claims, the damages sought, the defenses, any

special requests to charge, and supporting authority. In

preparing the joint request to charge, the parties shall confer in

good faith and attempt to resolve any disagreements. Areas of

honest disagreement should be highlighted, clearly identified,

and supported by authority. In addition to filing the joint request

to charge on ECF and providing a courtesy copy to the

Chambers, an electronic copy should be emailed to Chambers

at Azrack_chambers@nyed.uscourts.gov.If the parties cite to

jury instructions from another case as authority for their

proposed instructions, the parties shall submit a PDF version of

those instructions to Chambers at

Azrack_chambers@nyed.uscourts.gov .

v. Fully briefed motions addressing any evidentiary or other

issues that should be resolved in limine.

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vi. A pretrial memorandum where a party believes it would be

useful.

3. In Non-Jury Trials: Legal memoranda addressing all contested

legal issues.

VII. Sentencing in Criminal Cases

Defendant’s sentencing memorandum, if any, is due three weeks prior to sentencing. The

Government’s response, if any, is due two weeks prior to sentencing. Sentencing

memoranda and any objections to the Presentence Report must be provided to the Probation

Department.

VIII. Junior Lawyers

Junior members of legal teams representing clients are invited to address the Court during

conferences, argue motions they have helped prepare, and to question witnesses with whom

they have worked. Opportunities to train young attorneys in oral advocacy are rare because

of the decline of trials. Where junior lawyers are familiar with the matter under

consideration, but have little experience arguing before a court, they should be encouraged

to speak in court when possible. This court is amenable to permitting a number of lawyers

to argue for one party if this creates an opportunity for a junior lawyer to participate. The

ultimate decision of who speaks on behalf of the client is, of course, for the lawyer in charge

of the case, not for the Court.

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