Hon. Peggy Cross-Goldenberg — Individual Rules of Practice

Individual Practices and Rules of

Magistrate Peggy Cross-Goldenberg

Effective September 14, 2026

United States District Court

Eastern District of New York

225 Cadman Plaza East

Brooklyn, New York 11201

Courtroom 322N Chambers 317 North

Courtroom Deputy

(718) 613-2360

Jahni Daley Cross-Goldenberg_Chambers@nyed.uscourts.gov

(718) 613-2364

Consent Jurisdiction: If the parties wish to consent to having Judge Cross-

Goldenberg preside over their case for all purposes, the necessary form is available

at https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/mjconsentform.pdf.

I. COMMUNICATIONS WITH CHAMBERS

A. ECF Generally Required. Except as provided below, communications with

Chambers should be by ECF, using the appropriate event type and a brief

description of the document. When filing a letter asking the Court to take an

action, the appropriate event type is typically “Motion,” not “Letter.”

B. Pro se litigants are exempt from ECF requirements but may request

permission to file documents and receive notices electronically.1 Pro se

litigants should file documents by hand delivery or U.S. mail to the designated

“Pro Se Clerk” in the Clerk’s office. Unless the Court orders otherwise, all

communications with the Court will be docketed upon receipt; such docketing

shall constitute service on any user of the ECF system. Counsel representing

parties in cases involving pro se litigants must send copies of documents filed

by ECF to the pro se party and must file proof of service on ECF. Pro se

litigants must keep current contact information on file with the Court.

1 Instructions and eligibility requirements are available at

https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pro-se-document-submission-and-consent-notifications.

C. Requests for Adjournments, Extensions, and Changes to Conferences.

All requests for the adjournment of a court date or any other change to a court

conference (such as a request to appear by telephone) or for the extension of a

court-ordered deadline must be by letter motion filed on ECF as a “Motion,”

not as a “Letter” or “Status Report.” Absent an emergency, the motion must

be made at least two business days prior to the conference.

Each such motion must state:

(1) the original date and the number of previous requests;

(2) the reason for the request, which must demonstrate “good cause” if the

request is for an extension of discovery, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4); and

(3) whether the request is on consent and, if not, the reasons given for

withholding consent.

If appropriate, the parties should indicate whether the request affects other

scheduled dates or propose mutually convenient dates for a re-scheduled

conference.

D. No courtesy copies of electronic filings should be sent to Chambers absent a

specific request from the Court.

E. Telephone calls to Chambers are permitted only in emergency situations

requiring same-day attention. Counsel may contact the Courtroom Deputy

at (718) 613-2364 with questions about scheduling matters, but all

adjournment requests must be in writing and will not be considered

telephonically. Parties themselves may not call Chambers. Pro se parties may

call the Court’s Pro Se Office with case-related questions at (718) 613-2665.

F. Emails to Chambers (Cross-Goldenberg_Chambers@nyed.uscourts.gov) are

permitted only as provided in these Rules or as otherwise directed by the

Court.

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II. CONFERENCES

A. Appearance by Counsel of Record. Attorneys appearing before the Court

must first enter a notice of appearance on ECF prior to their first appearance.

Only a party’s counsel of record, or an attorney personally authorized to appear

by a party (and not simply by the party’s counsel of record) may appear on

behalf of a party.

B. Courtroom Opportunities for Relatively Inexperienced Attorneys.

The Court encourages opportunities for law students and junior attorneys to

appear and to argue in Court, when accompanied and supervised by counsel of

record. Requests for leave for law students to argue in Court will be freely

granted, and the Court will permit multiple attorneys to argue for one party if

this creates an opportunity for junior attorneys to participate.

C. Initial Conferences.

1. Initial Conferences will typically be held in person absent a compelling

reason to proceed remotely.

2. Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f), the parties must meet and confer prior to

the Initial Conference to discuss their claims and defenses, the possibilities

for a prompt settlement, and a proposed discovery plan.

3. The Court will provide the parties with a link to a proposed Discovery Plan

and Scheduling Order prior to the Initial Conference.2 The parties must file

their joint proposed discovery plan on ECF at least one week before the

Initial Conference. In the event the parties are unable to reach agreement

on any of the deadlines in the proposed Discovery Plan and Scheduling

Order, the parties should note any areas of disagreement in a joint letter.

4. Once a Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order has been so ordered by the

Court, its deadlines may be amended only upon a showing of good cause.

2 The Proposed Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order may also be downloaded from this

Court’s website: https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/magistrate-judge-peggy-cross-goldenberg.

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D. Settlement Conferences.

1. Each party, or someone with settlement authority for each party (other than

counsel), must be present at the conference unless prior permission has

been granted to participate by telephone.

2. The parties must exchange a good-faith demand and a good-faith offer at

least two weeks before the Settlement Conference and before submitting

their confidential ex parte settlement statements, described immediately

below.

3. Confidential ex parte settlement statements must be emailed to Chambers

at least one week before the conference, except as otherwise directed by the

Court. Each settlement statement must contain the last demand and offer

made, a realistic assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the case,

information on what is important to the client, any barriers to settlement,

and anything else that will assist the Court in helping the parties reach an

agreement.3 After receiving the parties’ settlement statements, the Court

may contact counsel for each party individually ahead of the conference.

III. DISCOVERY

A. Discovery Motions.

1. Parties must make a good-faith effort to resolve disputes before making any

discovery motion. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(1).

2. Informal Discovery Conferences. If the parties are unable to resolve a

discovery dispute themselves, the parties must write to the Court and

describe their dispute in a single, joint letter, filed on ECF as a “Motion”

for an informal discovery conference. See Local Civil Rule 37.2. The

letter shall begin with a brief statement of the claims and defenses at issue

in the case and must describe the parties’ efforts to confer and resolve the

dispute without court intervention as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(1).

Each party’s portion of the joint submission shall be limited to two pages.

If the parties’ dispute relates to a specific discovery request or requests, the

3 The parties may, but need not, submit a small number of especially significant exhibits

with their settlement statements. Digital media files may be submitted using the following

link: https://evidence.nyed.uscourts.gov/.

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parties should attach the request or requests to their joint letter. After

receiving the parties’ letter, the Court may schedule a conference.

3. Formal Discovery Motions. If the dispute cannot be resolved informally, the

Court may order the parties to brief a motion to compel or for a protective

order. Litigants are reminded that, for such motions, costshifting is

presumptively mandatory under Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(5).

B. Disputes During Ongoing Depositions. Parties encountering disputes

during depositions must make every effort to resolve the dispute before

contacting Chambers. If a dispute arises during a deposition that the parties

cannot resolve themselves despite their best efforts, the parties must contact

Chambers immediately by email and by telephone. The email should include

a brief description of the dispute and a callback number. The parties must

have the court reporter mark the transcript where the dispute arose and must

move on to other issues in the deposition until such time as the Court can call

to address the dispute. When the Court calls, the court reporter must be

present on the call to record any rulings. The parties must not discontinue the

deposition while waiting for the Court to return the call.

C. Confidentiality Orders. To assist the parties, the Court has provided a form

Confidentiality Order that the parties may submit to the Court for approval to

protect the confidentiality of information exchanged in discovery. 4 If

necessary, the parties may submit to the Court both a redlined version

identifying the proposed changes, the reason for the changes, and a clean

version of the proposed confidentiality order for the Court to adopt.

4 The Proposed Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order may be downloaded from this Court’s

website: https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/magistrate-judge-peggy-cross-goldenberg.

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IV. MOTION PRACTICE

A. Non-Dispositive Motions

Unless otherwise directed by the presiding District Judge, all non-dispositive

pretrial motions (e.g., motions to amend pleadings, stay discovery, conditionally

certify a collective action, etc.) should be made to Judge Cross-Goldenberg.

Parties should generally make such applications as letter motions in

compliance with Local Civil Rule 7.1(e). If necessary, after submission of the letter

motion, the Court may advise the moving party to file a formal motion pursuant to

Local Civil Rules 6.1 and 7.1.

B. Dispositive Motions

Dispositive motions, such as motions to dismiss and motions for summary

judgment, must be made to the presiding District Judge, in accordance with the

District Judge’s Individual Practices and Rules, unless the parties have consented

to Judge Cross-Goldenberg’s jurisdiction in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(c)(1).

Where the parties have consented to Judge Cross-Goldenberg, the parties

may file their dispositive motions in compliance with the Federal Rules of Civil

Procedure and the Local Civil Rules. The moving party need not request a pre-

motion conference or hold motion papers until all papers are complete (i.e., Judge

Cross-Goldenberg does not follow a “bundling rule”). Memoranda of law should

conform to the length and formatting requirements of Local Rule 7.1.

V. PRETRIAL PROCEDURES

The parties must file a joint proposed pretrial order in the format prescribed

by the presiding District Judge on or before the deadline set by the Court or as set

forth in the presiding District Judge’s Individual Practices and Rules.

Where the parties have consented to have Judge Cross-Goldenberg preside

over the trial, the Court will set a firm trial date after the close of discovery and file

a Scheduling Order containing instructions for the parties’ Proposed Joint Pretrial

Order at that time.

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