Hon. Henry J. Ricardo — Individual Rules of Practice

Revised

March 2, 2026

INDIVIDUAL PRACTICES IN CIVIL PRO SE CASES

HENRY J. RICARDO, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Pro Se Intake Unit

United States District Court

Southern District of New York

500 Pearl Street, Room 200

New York, NY 10007

(212) 805-0175

ProSe@nysd.uscourts.gov

I. Communications with Chambers

A. By a Pro Se Party. A pro se party must not send any document or

filing directly to Chambers. A pro se party should deliver all filings

and communications with the Court to the Pro Se Intake Unit located

at 500 Pearl Street, Room 200, New York, NY 10007 by mail, in-

person, or drop box (if outside of normal business hours). A pro se

party may also deliver filings and communications in PDF format by

email to ProSe@nysd.uscourts.gov. Submissions requiring immediate

attention should be hand-delivered to the Pro Se Intake Unit. 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. If any other party is not a user of the ECF

system (e.g., if there is another pro se party in the case), a pro se

party must send copies of any filing to the party and include proof of

service affirming that he or she has done so. Copies of correspondence

between opposing parties shall not be sent to the Court.

B. By Parties Represented by Counsel. Except as otherwise

provided below, communications with the Court by a represented

party shall be governed by Judge Ricardo’s Individual Rules and

Practices for Civil Cases.

II. Filing of Papers

A. Docketing of Letters. Absent a request to file a letter under seal,

the Court will docket any substantive letter on ECF, a publicly

accessible database.

B. Papers Filed by Pro Se Parties. A pro se party must send all

papers to be filed with the Court to the Pro Se Intake Unit conference

in conformance with the procedures in Section I.A above.

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Revised: March 2, 2026

C. ECF Filing by Pro Se Parties. Any nonincarcerated pro se party

who wishes to participate in electronic case filing (“ECF”) must file a

“Motion for Permission for Electronic Case Filing (for pro se cases)”,

available in the Pro Se Intake Unit or at

https://nysd.uscourts.gov/forms/motion-permission-electronic-case-

filing-pro-se-cases.

D. Consent to Electronic Service by Pro Se Parties. Any

nonincarcerated pro se party who wishes to receive documents in their

case electronically (by e-mail) instead of by regular mail may consent

to electronic service by filing a “Consent to Electronic Service (for pro

se cases)” form, available in the Pro Se Intake Unit or at

https://nysd.uscourts.gov/forms/consent-electronic-service-pro-se-

cases.

E. Service on Pro Se Parties. Except for cases in which the pro se

party has received permission to participate in electronic case filing or

has consented to electronic service, counsel in cases involving pro se

parties must serve the pro se parties with paper copies of any

document that is filed electronically or otherwise submitted to the

Court and must include a separate proof of service. Submissions

without such proof of service will not be considered.

III. Pretrial Procedures.

Each party must submit a Case Report and Proposed Case Management

Plan for Pro Se Cases by no later than two (2) business days before

the scheduled conference in conformance with the procedures in

Section I above. The parties shall use the Template for Case Report

and Proposed Case Management Plan template for Pro Se Cases

available at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/hon-henry-j-ricardo.

IV. Motions.

The procedures for filing motions, including regarding discovery disputes,

are governed by Section II of Judge Ricardo’s Individual Rules and Practices

for Civil Cases, available at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/hon-henry-j-ricardo.

V. Artificial Intelligence.

If any pro se litigant uses an artificial intelligence tool in preparing any

filing, the filing must include a signed certification (i) explaining how the tool

was used, (ii) stating whether the litigant personally reviewed the filing for

accuracy of cited legal authorities and factual assertions, and (iii) if so,

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Revised: March 2, 2026

describing in detail the steps taken to verify the accuracy of all legal

authorities and factual assertions generated by the tool. Pro se litigants

remain individually responsible for verifying the accuracy of any output

produced by an artificial intelligence tool, and a litigant’s failure to review an

artificial intelligence-generated filing for accuracy, or to provide the required

certification, violates this Rule. The Court may strike any filing that fails to

comply with this Rule.

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