Hon. Nina Gershon — Individual Rules of Practice

INDIVIDUAL MOTION PRACTICES OF

JUDGE NINA GERSHON

United States District Court

225 Cadman Plaza East

Brooklyn, New York 11201

Telephone: 718-613-2655 (Victor Joe, Case Manager)

victor_joe@nyed.uscourts.gov

Hours: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM (Monday - Friday)

Motions Returnable: Set by the Court

Revised as of 11/4/22

Unless otherwise ordered by the Judge in a specific case, matters before Judge Gershon

shall be conducted in accordance with the following practices:

1. Electronic Case Filing (ECF) For Civil and Criminal Cases.

A. All documents in civil and criminal actions shall be filed electronically.

B. Orders will be posted electronically, and parties not registered on ECF will not receive

them.

C. Hard copies of all motion papers, including exhibits, filed electronically must be

provided to chambers. All such papers must be clearly marked ACourtesy Copy,@ and

AOriginal Filed by ECF.@ The document number that ECF assigns to the document should

be indicated on the lower right corner of the courtesy copy. It is unnecessary to provide

chambers with hard copies of other electronically filed documents, such as letters and

stipulations.

D. Parties filing voluminous and non-text exhibits that are impracticable to file

electronically, should, if possible, submit a Portable Document Format (PDF) or Microsoft

Word version by email to the Court. Counsel should contact chambers to obtain an email

address to which the files may be sent. For exhibits that cannot be electronically filed, or

submitted in PDF or Microsoft Word, submit the original to Clerk=s Office for filing, and

a courtesy copy to chambers. The motion papers should indicate in what manner the

exhibits have been filed.

E. Pro se parties are automatically exempt from mandatory electronic filing. However,

parties represented by counsel must file documents electronically, even in Pro Se cases.

F. Requests by attorneys for an exemption to the mandatory policy will be considered for

good cause hardship reason only, and will be reviewed on an individual basis by the

assigned United States Magistrate Judge. But no request will be granted until the attorney

has sought ECF training. ECF training may be scheduled by calling 718-613-2312.

2. Communications With Chambers

A. Letters. Except as provided below, communications with chambers shall be by letter

filed on ECF. Copies of correspondence between counsel shall not be filed on ECF or

sent to the Court.

B. Telephone Calls. Except as provided in Paragraph 2(D)below, telephone calls to

chambers are permitted only in emergency situations requiring immediate attention. In

such situations only, call chambers at the number listed above.

C. Faxes. Faxes to chambers are not permitted.

D. Docketing, Scheduling, and Calendar Matters. For docketing, scheduling, and

calendar matters, call the contact listed above during the hours specified.

E. Requests for Adjournments or Extension of Time. All requests for adjournments or

extensions of time must state: (1) the original date; (2) the number of previous requests for

adjournment or extension; (3) whether these 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 attached. If the request is for an

adjournment of a court appearance, absent an emergency it shall be made at least 48 hours

prior to the scheduled appearance.

3. Motions

A. Pre-Motion Conferences in Civil Cases. For discovery motions not assigned to a

magistrate judge, follow Local Civil Rules 6.4 and 37.3. For motions other than discovery

motions, in all cases where the parties are represented by counsel and in other than habeas

corpus/prisoner petitions and Social Security and Bankruptcy appeals, a pre-motion

conference with the court is required before making any dispositive motion, or motion for

a change of venue. Motions for reconsideration and motions described at Fed. R. App. P.

4(a)(4)(A) should be made without a pre-motion conference.

To arrange a pre-motion conference, the moving party shall serve and file a letter not to

exceed three (3) pages in length setting forth the basis for the anticipated motion. All

parties so served must serve and file a letter response, not to exceed three (3) pages within

seven (7) days from service of the notification letter. Service of the letter by the moving

party within the time requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 12 shall constitute timely service of

a motion made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12 (b).

B. Memoranda of Law. Unless prior permission has been granted, memoranda of law in

support of or in opposition to motions are limited to 25 pages, double-spaced, and reply

memoranda are limited to 10 pages, double-spaced. Use Times New Roman 12-point font

and one-inch margins. All memoranda 10 pages or longer shall contain a table of contents

and table of authorities.

Requests to file memoranda exceeding the page limits set forth herein must be made in

writing five days prior to the due date, except with respect to reply briefs, in which case

the written request must be made at least one day prior to the due date.

C. Filing of Motion Papers. Parties are to serve their motion papers on all parties, along

with a cover letter specifying the papers being served, in accordance with deadlines

specified in the briefing schedule. At the time of service, the movant shall file a copy of

the cover letter used to transmit the movant’s opening motion papers. The letter must be

filed as a letter, not as a motion.

Except for motions for reconsideration and motions described at Fed. R. App. P.

4(a)(4)(A), no motion papers shall be filed with the court until the motion has been fully

briefed, at which time the moving party shall file a complete set of all motion papers. If

waiting to file a fully briefed motion would result in the loss of an appellate or other right,

a party may, upon notice to the court and all parties, file a motion before briefing is

completed.

D. Briefing Schedule. Subject to court approval, the parties are to set up their own

briefing schedule. No changes in the approved schedule may be made without court

approval. Approval may be given at the pre-motion conference or by subsequent letter.

No party is to serve any motion papers prior to obtaining court approval for the schedule.

E. Courtesy Copies. The original moving party shall be responsible for furnishing to

chambers a full set of courtesy copies of the motion papers together with a cover letter

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

assigned magistrate judge and to opposing counsel.

F. Oral Argument on Motions. Parties may request oral argument by letter at the time

their moving or opposing or reply papers are filed. The court will determine whether

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

4. Pretrial Procedures

A. Joint Pretrial Orders in Civil Cases. In civil cases, joint pretrial orders are due 60

days from the date of completion of discovery, unless otherwise ordered by the Court or

unless at least one party seeks summary judgment by filing a pre-motion conference letter

in anticipation of such a motion. If at least one party files such a letter, the Court will set

a deadline for the filing of a joint pretrial order, if needed, after its resolution of the motion

for summary judgment.

The joint pretrial order shall include the following:

i. The full caption of the action.

ii. The names, addresses (including firm names), 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

which remain to be tried, without recital of evidentiary matter but including citations to all

statutes relied on. Such summaries shall identify all claims and defenses previously

asserted which are not to be tried.

v. A brief statement of the categories and amounts of damages claimed or other relief

sought.

vi. 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.

vii. A statement as to whether or not all parties have consented to trial of the case by a

magistrate judge (without identifying which parties have or have not so consented.)

viii. Any stipulations or agreed statements of fact or law which have been agreed to by

all parties.

ix. A list of names and addresses of all witnesses, including possible witnesses who

will be called only for impeachment or rebuttal purposes and so designated, together with

a brief narrative statement of the expected testimony of each witness. Only listed witnesses

will be permitted to testify except when prompt notice has been given and good cause

shown.

x. 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.

xi.

(1) A statement of stipulated facts, if any;

(2) A schedule listing exhibits to be offered in evidence and, if not admitted by

stipulation, the party or parties that will be offering them. The schedule will also

include possible impeachment documents and/or exhibits, as well as exhibits that

will be offered only on rebuttal. The parties will list and briefly describe the basis

for any objections that they have to the admissibility of any exhibits to be offered

by any other party. Parties are expected to resolve before trial all issues of

authenticity, chain of custody and related grounds. Meritless objections based on

these grounds may result in the imposition of sanctions. Only exhibits listed will be

received in evidence except for good cause shown; and

(3) All exhibits must be premarked for the trial and exchanged with the other

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

be placed in binders with tabs.

B. Filings Prior to Trial in Civil Cases. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, each

party shall file, 15 days before the date of commencement of trial if such a date has been

fixed, or 30 days after the filing of the final pretrial order if no trial date has been fixed:

i. On the Thursday before trial in jury cases, requests to charge and proposed voir dire

questions. Requests to charge should be limited to the elements of the claims, the damages

sought and defenses. General instructions will be prepared by the Court. When feasible,

proposed jury charges should also be submitted in Microsoft Word or PDF format.

Counsel should contact chambers to obtain an email address to which the files may be sent.

ii. In non-jury cases, a statement of the elements of each claim or defense involving

such party, together with a summary of the facts relied upon to establish each element;

iii. In all cases, motions addressing any evidentiary or other issues which should be

resolved in limine; and

iv. In any case where such party believes it would be useful, a pretrial memorandum.