Hon. Jessica G. L. Clarke — Individual Rules of Practice

JANUARY 2026

INDIVIDUAL RULES AND PRACTICES IN CIVIL CASES

Jessica G. L. Clarke, United States District Judge

Chambers Courtroom

United States District Court 300 Quarropas Street, Courtroom 320

Southern District of New York

Charles L. Brieant Jr. Courthouse Courtroom Deputy

300 Quarropas Street Sophia Tran

White Plains, NY 10601 (212) 805-0246

ClarkeNYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov

Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, these Individual Rules apply to all civil matters

before Judge Clarke.

1. Guidelines for All Submissions

a. Electronic Case Filing (“ECF”). In accordance with the S.D.N.Y. Electronic

Case Filing Rules and Instructions, except as otherwise expressly provided, all

documents filed with the Court must be filed electronically.

b. Text-Searchable Submissions. All written submissions and supporting materials

must be text-searchable to the extent practicable.

c. Submission of Large Electronic Files. The Court has a file transfer protocol for

the safe electronic transmission of large files. If a party needs to submit large files

by email (as opposed to ECF), the party should email the Court (at

ClarkeNYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) requesting a link to be used for such

transfer. The email should include the name and docket number of the case as well

as the nature and size of the materials to be submitted electronically. The

Government may use USAfx.

d. No Courtesy Copies. Unless the Court orders otherwise, parties should not

submit courtesy copies of any submissions.

e. Amended or Corrected Filings. Any amended or corrected filing, including

amendments as a matter of course pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

15(a)(1), shall be filed with a redline showing all differences between the original

and revised filing. Any motion to amend a pleading shall similarly be filed with a

redline showing all differences between the operative pleading and the proposed

amended pleading.

f. Artificial Intelligence. Any attorney using Generative Artificial Intelligence

(“GAI”) in connection with the filing of a pleading, motion, or paper in this Court

or the serving/delivering of a request, response, or objection to discovery must

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comply with Rule 11(b) and Rule 26(g) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,

and any other relevant rule, including all applicable ethical rules.

2. Communications with Chambers

a. Letters and Letter-Motions. Except as otherwise provided below,

communications with Chambers shall be by letter filed on ECF. Letters seeking

relief (if consistent with Local Civil Rule 7.1) should be filed as letter-motions on

ECF, not ordinary letters. Any opposition shall be filed on ECF within three

business days of the filing party’s letter-motion. This provision does not alter the

joint letter requirement for discovery disputes set forth in Individual Rule 4(k).

Letters may not exceed 1,050 words in length (exclusive of exhibits or

attachments) without prior permission from the Court.

For any emails to Chambers permitted under these Rules, counsel should include

in the subject line: (1) the case caption, (2) docket number and (3) a brief

description of the party’s request. Parties shall not include substantive

communications in the body of the email, only in the attached letter.

Copies of correspondence between counsel shall not be sent to the Court or filed

on ECF except as exhibits to an otherwise properly filed document.

b. Telephone Calls. Telephone calls to Chambers should be reserved for urgent

matters. In such situations, call the Clerk’s Office at (212) 805-0136. You may

request to be transferred to Chambers from there.

c. Faxes. Faxes to Chambers are not permitted without express prior permission,

and only in cases of unforeseeable emergencies.

d. Hand Deliveries. Hand-delivered mail should be left with the Court Security

Officers at the Charles L. Brieant Jr. Courthouse, 300 Quarropas Street, White

Plains, New York, NY 10601. If the hand-delivered letter is urgent and requires

the Court’s immediate attention, ask the Court Security Officers to notify

Chambers that an urgent package has arrived that needs to be retrieved by

Chambers staff immediately.

e. Requests for Adjournments or Extensions of Time. All requests for

adjournments or extensions of time must be made in writing and filed on ECF as

letter-motions in accordance with Section 2(a) of these Rules, not as ordinary

letters. The letter-motion must state: (1) the original date and the new date

requested; (2) the number of previous requests for adjournment or extension; (3)

whether these previous requests were granted or denied; (4) the reason for the

extension or adjournment; (5) whether the adversary consents and, if not, the

reasons given by the adversary for refusal to consent; and (6) the date of the

parties’ next scheduled appearance before the Court.

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If the parties are requesting an adjournment of a conference, they must also

provide three mutually agreeable alternative conference dates. If the requested

adjournment or extension affects any other scheduled dates, a proposed Amended

Civil Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order must be attached.

Absent an emergency, any request for extension or adjournment shall be made as

early as possible, and at least 48 hours prior to the deadline or scheduled

appearance. Requests for extensions will ordinarily be denied if made after the

expiration of the original deadline.

f. Related Cases. After an action has been accepted as related to a prior filing, all

future court papers and correspondence must contain the docket number of the

new filing as well as the docket number of the case to which it is related.

3. Conferences

a. In Person Conferences. Conferences may be held remotely or in person. Unless

ordered otherwise, in person conferences will be held in Courtroom 320 of the

Charles L. Brieant Jr. Courthouse, 300 Quarropas Street, White Plains, NY. This

general rule also applies to cases designated to the Manhattan courthouse (cases

with case numbers that start with “1:”).

b. Remote Conferences. Absent permission of the Court, no more than one attorney

shall speak on behalf of either party except as otherwise provided by Individual

Rule 3(f).

c. Initial Pretrial Conference. The Notice of Initial Pretrial Conference, scheduling

a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16 conference, will be filed on ECF. The Notice

will direct the parties to file on ECF, approximately one week prior to the

conference, a joint letter as well as a joint proposed Civil Case Management Plan

and Scheduling Order attached as an exhibit to the joint letter. The parties shall

use the form Proposed Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order available at

the Court’s website.

i. Diversity Jurisdiction Cases. In any action in which subject matter

jurisdiction is founded on diversity of citizenship pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

§ 1332, the party asserting the existence of such jurisdiction shall, prior to

the Initial Pretrial Conference, file a letter to the Court on ECF no longer

than 700 words explaining the basis for that party’s belief that diversity of

citizenship exists. Where any party is a corporation, the letter shall state

both the place of incorporation and the principal place of business. In

cases where any party is a partnership, limited partnership, limited liability

company or trust, the letter shall identify and state the citizenship of each

of the entity’s members, shareholders, partners and/or trustees.

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d. Post-Fact Discovery Joint Status Letter. No later than one week after the close

of fact discovery, counsel for all parties must meet for at least one hour to discuss

settlement and file a joint letter updating the Court on the status of the case,

including but not limited to, confirming that the one-hour settlement discussion

occurred and stating whether all parties consent to mediation or a settlement

conference to be held before the designated Magistrate Judge. The letter should

not identify, explicitly or implicitly, any party that has declined to consent.

In a case without expert discovery, the letter shall also set forth a proposed

briefing schedule for any dispositive motions.

e. Post-Expert Discovery Joint Status Letter. No later than one week after the

close of expert discovery, counsel for all parties must file a joint letter setting

forth a proposed briefing schedule for any dispositive motions and motions to

exclude testimony of experts pursuant to Federal Rules of Evidence 702–705 and

the Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993) line of

cases.

f. Participation by Junior or Less Experienced Attorneys. The Court encourages

the participation of junior attorneys and attorneys seeking additional experience in

federal court, particularly where the attorneys played a substantial role in drafting

the underlying filing or in preparing the relevant witness. To facilitate this

provision, the Court is amenable to permitting more than one attorney to argue or

present for one party.

g. Authority Consistent with Proceeding. All attorneys appearing before the Court

must have authority to bind the party they represent consistent with the

proceedings (for example, by agreeing to a discovery resolution or briefing

schedule).

h. Pronouns and Honorifics. The parties and counsel are encouraged to advise the

Court if they would like to be addressed with a particular pronoun and/or

honorific – such as Ms., Mx. or Mr. – so that the Court may address them

respectfully. People appearing before this Court may do so when appearing for

conferences, hearings or trials by speaking to the courtroom deputy. All parties

and counsel shall address each other in all written documents and court

proceedings by pronouns and/or honorifics previously identified.

4. Motions

a. Pre-Motion Letters and Conferences in Civil Cases. Pre-motion letters and

conferences are not required, except for disputes concerning discovery, which are

governed by Section 4(k) of these Rules.

b. Memoranda of Law. Motion papers must conform to Local Civil Rule 11.1.

Memoranda of law in support of and in opposition to motions are limited to 8,750

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words and reply memoranda are limited to 3,500 words. Memoranda of 3,500

words or more shall contain a table of contents and table of authorities, neither of

which shall count against the word limit. Surreply memoranda are not allowed

(unless specifically permitted in extraordinary situations for good cause). This

provision does not alter the word count limits for motions for reconsideration set

forth in Local Civil Rule 6.3.

c. Unpublished Cases. The parties need not provide copies of unpublished cases if

the case is available on Westlaw or LexisNexis.

d. Oral Arguments on Motions. The Court rarely holds oral argument. But a party

may request oral argument on a motion by indicating “ORAL ARGUMENT

REQUESTED” on the cover page of its memorandum of law. If a party believes

that the Court would benefit from oral argument for a particular reason not

obvious from the parties’ briefing, the party may file a letter explaining the reason

– not a letter-motion – on ECF. The Court will determine whether argument will

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

e. Motion to Dismiss and Amended Complaints. If a motion to dismiss is filed,

the non-moving party shall, within 10 days of receipt of the motion, notify the

Court and its adversary by a letter filed on ECF whether (1) it intends to file an

amended pleading and when it will do so; or (2) it will rely on the pleading being

attacked. Non-moving parties are on notice that declining to amend their

pleadings to respond to a fully briefed argument in the motion to dismiss may

well constitute a waiver of their right to use the amendment process to cure any

defects that have been made apparent by the briefing. This provision does not

alter the time to file a response in the Federal Rules or the Local Civil Rules.

If the non-moving party amends, the opposing party must, within 21 days of such

amendment: (1) file an answer; (2) file a new motion to dismiss; or (3) file a letter

stating that it relies on the initially filed motion to dismiss. If the moving party

files an answer or a new motion to dismiss, the Court will deny the original

motion to dismiss as moot.

This provision does not alter the requirement to seek leave of the Court to file

amended pleadings not as of right pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15.

f. Summary Judgment Procedures

i. Discouraged in Non-Jury Cases. Summary judgment motions are

discouraged in non-jury cases.

ii. Rule 56.1 Statements. Any party represented by counsel that moves for

summary judgment shall provide all other parties with an electronic copy,

in a standard word processing format, of the moving party’s Statement of

Material Facts Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 56.1 (“Rule 56.1 Statement”).

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Opposing parties must reproduce each entry in the moving party’s Rule

56.1 Statement and set out the opposing party’s response directly beneath

it. If the opposing party wishes to file their own, additional statements of

material fact, it shall begin numbering each entry where the moving party

left off.

To streamline the summary judgment briefing process, the Court requires

the parties to also negotiate and submit, prior to or along with the

movant’s Rule 56.1 Statement, a joint Rule 56.1 Statement setting out all

facts on which the parties agree.

Each factual assertion in Rule 56.1 Statements must be followed by a

citation to the portion(s) of the evidentiary record relied upon. Each

memorandum of law must include a statement of facts and may not simply

incorporate by reference the entirety of a party’s Rule 56.1 Statement.

iii. Deposition Transcripts. Deposition transcripts that are supplied in

connection with a summary judgment motion, whether in whole or in part,

should be text-searchable and include an index.

g. Motions to Exclude Testimony of Experts. Unless the Court orders otherwise,

motions to exclude testimony of experts, pursuant to Federal Rules of Evidence

702–705 and the Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579

(1993) line of cases, must be made by the deadline for dispositive motions and

should not be treated as motions in limine.

h. Default Judgment. A party seeking a default judgment must proceed by filing a

motion for default judgment on ECF pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

55(b)(2) and Local Civil Rule 55.2(a)(2). A party seeking a default judgment

should not proceed by order to show cause. The motion must be supported by the

following papers:

1. A Certificate from the Clerk of Court stating that no answer has been filed (if

failure to answer is the basis for the default);

2. a memorandum of law setting forth the basis and legal authority for:

a. why each element of the causes of action has been satisfied and why

default judgment should be entered;

b. why service was proper;

c. why an inquest into damages would be unnecessary;

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d. whether, if the default is applicable to fewer than all of the defendants,

the Court may appropriately order a default judgment on the issue of

damages prior to resolution of the entire action; and

e. the proposed damages and the basis for each element of damages,

including interest, attorney’s fees and costs.

3. an affidavit or declaration setting forth:

a. the items specified in Local Civil Rule 55.2(a)(1);

b. a description of the method and date of service of the summons and

complaint; and

c. the procedural history beyond service of the summons and complaint,

if any.

4. a proposed default judgment.

The plaintiff must serve the motion for default judgment and supporting

paperwork on the party against whom the default judgment is sought and file an

affidavit of service on ECF within 14 days of filing the motion for default

judgment. If more than 14 days are required to complete service of the motion for

default judgment and supporting papers, the plaintiff should file a letter on ECF

explaining why additional time is necessary and when the plaintiff anticipates

service will be completed.

i. Applications for a Temporary Restraining Order. A party must confer with

their adversary before making an application for a temporary restraining order

unless the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(b) are met. As soon

as a party decides to seek a temporary restraining order, that party must file a

letter on ECF (under seal if proceeding ex parte) and state clearly whether: (1) it

has notified its adversary and whether the adversary consents to temporary

injunctive relief; or (2) the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(b)

are satisfied and no notice is necessary.

The moving party must email ClarkeNYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov giving

notice of the filing and the time frame requested for Court action. The moving

party should then file a Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order, supporting

documents and a proposed order on ECF in accordance with ECF procedures.

Where the motion is made on notice to the other parties, the moving party should

simultaneously serve the documents on any party that will not receive electronic

service via ECF. If the matter is time sensitive and Chambers does not respond

within two hours, the movant may call the Clerk’s Office before the end of the

business day at (212) 805-0136. You may request to be transferred to Chambers

from there.

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If a party’s adversary has been notified but does not consent to temporary

injunctive relief, the party seeking a restraining order must file the application at a

time mutually agreeable to it and the adversary, so that the Court may have the

benefit of advocacy from both sides in deciding whether to grant temporary

injunctive relief.

j. Proposed Orders and Stipulations. Proposed orders to show cause, temporary

restraining orders, stipulations, consent orders and proposed judgments are to be

filed electronically on ECF as explained in the SDNY Electronic Case Filing

Rules and Instructions. Counsel should also email an electronic courtesy copy of

any proposed order to Chambers, in both Microsoft Word and PDF formats.

k. Discovery Disputes. Parties must follow Local Civil Rule 37.2 with the following

modifications. Any party wishing to raise a discovery dispute with the Court must

first confer in good faith with the opposing party, in person, virtually or by

telephone, in an effort to resolve the dispute. If this meet-and-confer process does

not resolve the dispute, counsel shall promptly file on ECF a single letter-motion,

jointly composed, no longer than 1,750 words, explaining the nature of the

dispute and, if applicable, requesting an informal conference. Separate and

successive letters will not be read. The letter must state (1) the position the parties

started with at the beginning of the meet and confer; (2) each party’s final

proposed compromise; and (3) why the opposing side finds the compromise

position insufficient. Any letter-motion that fails to include this information

will be denied.

Strict adherence to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a)(1), the “meet and

confer” rule, is required, and should be described in the joint submission as to

time, place and duration, naming the counsel involved in the discussion. The joint

letter shall set forth, with specificity, the requested discovery that each dispute

involves and the respective position of each party, citing the applicable authority

that the respective parties claim for support. If an opposing party refuses to

participate in writing a joint letter or does not provide its portion of a joint letter

within 72 hours of a party’s request, a party may submit a letter without the

opposing party’s contribution and shall attach a copy of the correspondence

seeking the opposing party’s contribution.

The Court will seek to resolve discovery disputes quickly, by order (based on the

letter alone) or in a conference. Counsel should seek relief in accordance with

these procedures in a timely fashion; if a party waits until near the close of

discovery to raise an issue that could have been raised earlier, the party is unlikely

to be granted the relief that it seeks or more time for discovery.

5. Redactions and Filing Under Seal.

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a. Privacy Policy. The parties are referred to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2

and the S.D.N.Y. ECF Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”). The parties should not

include, unless necessary, the five categories of “sensitive information” in their

submissions (i.e., social security numbers, names of minor children [use the

initials only], dates of birth [use the year only], financial account numbers and

home addresses [use only the City and State]).

b. Redactions Not Requiring Court Approval. Without Court approval, parties

may redact the five categories of “sensitive information” and the six categories of

information requiring caution (i.e., personal identifying number, medical records,

treatment and diagnosis, employment history, individual financial information,

proprietary or trade secret information and information regarding an individual’s

cooperation with the government), as described in the Privacy Policy.

c. Redactions and Sealed Filings Requiring Court Approval. Except for

redactions permitted by the eleven categories of information identified in the

Privacy Policy, all redactions or sealing of public court filings require Court

approval. To be approved, any redaction or sealing of a court filing must be

narrowly tailored to serve whatever purpose justifies the redaction or sealing and

must otherwise be consistent with the presumption in favor of public access to

judicial documents.

d. Procedure for Filing Documents with Redactions. Any party seeking to file a

document with partial redactions must follow the following three steps:

i. Meet and Confer. The party seeking leave to file redacted materials should

meet and confer with any opposing party (or any third party seeking

confidential treatment of the information) in advance to narrow the scope of

the request. When a party seeks leave to file a document in redacted form on

the ground that an opposing party or third party has requested it, the filing

party shall notify the opposing party or third party that it must file on ECF,

within three business days of the filing party’s letter-motion seeking leave to

file in redacted form, a letter explaining the need to redact the document.

ii. Filing a Letter-Motion Seeking Leave to File with Redactions. If the party

is seeking leave of the Court to redact the document (i.e., if the redactions are

not among the categories of redactions that can be made without Court

approval), the party should simultaneously file on ECF a letter-motion

seeking leave to file the document with those redactions in accordance with

Standing Order 19-MC-583 and Section 6 of the S.D.N.Y. Electronic Case

Filing Rules and Instructions. The letter-motion itself shall be filed in public

view and should not include confidential information. The letter-motion must

explain the purpose of the redactions, and why the redactions are consistent

with the standards set forth in Section 5(c) above.

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iii. ECF Filing of Redacted Document(s). At the same time, the party shall: (1)

publicly file on ECF and electronically relate to the letter-motion a copy of

the document with the proposed redactions; and (2) file under seal on ECF

(with the appropriate level of restriction) and electronically relate to the

motion an unredacted copy of the document with the proposed redactions

highlighted.

e. Procedure for Filing Sealed Documents. Any party seeking to file a document

under seal must follow the following three steps:

i. Meet and Confer. The party seeking leave to file sealed materials should meet

and confer with any opposing party (or any third party seeking confidential

treatment of the information) in advance to narrow the scope of the request.

When a party seeks leave to file a document under seal on the ground that an

opposing party or third party has requested it, the filing party shall notify the

opposing party or third party that it must file on ECF, within three business

days of the filing party’s letter-motion seeking leave to file under seal, a letter

explaining the need to seal the document.

ii. Filing a Letter-Motion Seeking Leave to File Under Seal. The party shall

electronically file a letter-motion seeking leave to file a document under seal on

ECF in accordance with Standing Order 19-MC-583 and Section 6 of the

S.D.N.Y. Electronic Case Filing Rules and Instructions. The letter-motion itself

shall be filed in public view, should explain the reasons for seeking to file the

document under seal and should not include confidential information.

iii. ECF Filing of Sealed Document(s). The proposed sealed document(s) shall be

separately and contemporaneously filed under seal on ECF (with the appropriate

level of restriction) and electronically related to the motion (or to the relevant

Court order, if the Court previously granted leave to file the document under

seal). Note that the summary docket text, but not the document itself, will be

open to public inspection and, thus, should not include confidential information

sought to be filed under seal.

f. Submission by Email. Any party unable to comply with the requirement for

electronic filing under seal on ECF, or who believes that a particular document should

not be electronically filed at all, shall file a letter-motion by email, seeking leave of the

Court to file in a different manner. Such letter-motions may be emailed to

ClarkeNYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov as text-searchable PDF attachments, with

copies simultaneously delivered to all counsel. In the subject line, the cover email

should state clearly: (1) the caption of the case, including the lead party names and

docket number; and (2) a brief description of the nature of the request. Parties shall not

include substantive communications in the body of the email. The letter-motion must

explain why sealing or redaction is justified in light of the standards discussed in

Section 5(c) above. If the party believes that the letter-motion itself should be sealed or

redacted, the letter-motion should so state and should provide the justification therefor.

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Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, letter-motions seeking leave to file in a

different manner shall not exceed 1,050 words. The Court will include instructions for

filing sealed or redacted versions of the document and accompanying letter-motion, if

necessary, in any order disposing of the motion to seal.

If the Court grants leave to submit by email, the party should email to

ClarkeNYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov: (1) a clean (i.e., unredacted) copy of the

document; (2) a copy of the document highlighting the information that has been

redacted in the ECF filing; and (3) an unredacted copy of the letter-motion described

in Rules 5(e)(iii)-(iv), should the party also be seeking leave to file that letter-motion

with redactions or under seal.

g. Opposition to Requests to Seal or Redact. Any opposition shall be filed on ECF

within three business days of the filing party’s letter-motion seeking leave to file

under seal or with redactions.

6. Other Pretrial Guidance

a. Settlement Agreements. As soon as the parties reach an agreement to settle, the

parties must alert the Court by promptly filing a joint letter. The Court will not retain

jurisdiction to enforce confidential settlement agreements. If the parties request that

the Court retain jurisdiction to enforce the agreement, the parties must place the terms

of their settlement agreement on the public record. The parties may request that the

Court endorse the settlement agreement or include the terms of their settlement

agreement in their stipulation of settlement and dismissal.

b. Policy on Use of Electronic Devices. Attorneys’ use of personal electronic devices

(including mobile phones) and general purpose computing devices (such as laptops

and tablets) within the Courthouse and its environs is governed by Standing Order

M10-468. When Court permission is required under the Standing Order, attorneys

seeking to bring electronic devices to the Court should email a completed Model Court

Order to ClarkeNYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov no later than five business days

before the relevant trial or hearing. Upon the Court’s approval, Chambers will

coordinate with the District Executive’s Office to issue the order and forward a copy to

counsel. The order must be presented upon bringing the electronic device(s) into the

Courthouse. If permitted by the Standing Order, mobile telephones are permitted inside

the Courtroom, but they MUST be kept turned off at all times.

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