Hon. Taryn A. Merkl — Individual Rules of Practice

Individual Rules & Practices of

U.S. Magistrate Judge Taryn A. Merkl

United States District Court

Eastern District of New York

225 Cadman Plaza East

Brooklyn, New York

Courtroom

13D South Courtroom Deputy:

Chambers

1420 South Kaity Chan

(718) 613-2560 (718) 613-2564

Email: Merkl_Chambers@nyed.uscourts.gov Kaity_Chan@nyed.uscourts.gov

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York is a

teaching court. The Court encourages opportunities for law students and junior

attorneys to appear and to argue in Court, accompanied and supervised by a more

experienced attorney. 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.

1. Communications with Chambers. Parties should primarily communicate with the

Court via ECF. Each attorney of record must file a Notice of Appearance and will

receive notification of all Court orders electronically.

2. Motion Practice. No courtesy copies should be submitted except for dispositive

motions submitted in cases where the parties have consented to magistrate judge

jurisdiction (see Section 2.B below).

A. Non-Dispositive Motions. Except as provided below, parties are directed to

comply with the individual rules of the assigned District Judge, the EDNY Local

Rules, and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, for all motion practice. Motions

for extension of time must indicate whether they are on consent.

B. Dispositive Motions in Consent Cases Under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).1 Other than in

cases involving a pro se litigant, in all cases in which the parties have consented

to magistrate judge jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), a pre-motion conference

letter is required before filing a motion pursuant to Rules 12 or 56 of the Federal

Rules of Civil Procedure; any motion for a change of venue; or a motion to

amend the pleadings.

1. To request a pre-motion conference, the moving party must submit a letter

(not docketed as a motion) of no more than three pages, setting forth the

1 Should all parties consent to magistrate judge jurisdiction, the consent form is

available at the link below. The form must be signed by all parties and filed on ECF.

http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/FormsAndFees/Forms/AO085.pdf.

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bases for the anticipated motion. Any response, of no more than three pages,

must be filed and served within three days.

2. After the pre-motion conference, the Court will approve a briefing schedule.

The parties may not file their motion papers via ECF until the motion is fully

briefed.

3. One courtesy copy of dispositive motions, together with any marked exhibits,

should be submitted to Chambers.

3. Discovery Disputes.

A. Discovery Motions Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 Through 37. Parties must make a

good faith effort to resolve disputes before making any discovery motion. See

Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(1); E.D.N.Y. Local Civil Rule 37.3(a) (requiring the parties to

confer in person or by telephone in a good faith effort to resolve disputes).

No motion under Rules 26 through 37, inclusive, of the Federal Rules of Civil

Procedure will be heard unless counsel for the moving party has first requested

an informal conference with the Court.

To request a conference, the parties may write to the Court and describe their

dispute in a joint letter of no more than five pages. See Local Civil Rule 37.3(c).

The parties must confer as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(1) prior to filing the

letter, and must describe their efforts to confer in the joint letter. After receiving

the parties’ letter, the Court may schedule a conference. If the dispute cannot be

resolved during the conference, the Court may order briefing.

B. Deposition Disputes. Parties encountering disputes during depositions must

make every effort to resolve the dispute before contacting Chambers.

In the event the parties are unable to reach a resolution, the parties are directed

to contact Chambers immediately by telephone with all counsel on the line. The

Court will either resolve the matter or instruct the parties to move on to other

issues in the deposition until such time as the Court can address the dispute.

The parties should continue the deposition while waiting for the Court to

address the areas in dispute. Under no circumstances should the parties

discontinue the deposition without first attempting to contact the Court and/or

waiting a reasonable amount of time if the Court is unavailable when the parties

first attempt to contact Chambers.

4. Settlement Statements. Once a settlement conference is scheduled before Judge

Merkl, parties are required to submit a settlement statement one week in advance of the

conference, submitted to the Chambers email address above. These statements are ex

parte, confidential, and subject to the protections of Fed. R. Evid. 408. The statements

must include the last offer and demand, and a frank assessment of the strengths and

weaknesses of each party’s case. The Court may schedule ex parte telephone calls with

counsel after review of the statements.

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