Hon. Fidel Gomez — Part IA-31 Rules

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

COUNTY OF BRONX (12TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT)

851 Grand Concourse Boulevard

Bronx, New York 10451

PART 31 - PART RULES

HON. FIDEL E. GOMEZ, J.S.C.

(Effective August 31, 2026)

Contact Information:

Chambers: 6M-16

Courtroom: 403

Principal Law Clerk: Mary Ann Amodeo, Esq.

Assistant Law Clerk: TBD

Chambers Tel.: (718) 618-1667

Part Clerk: Nicole Hicks

Tel.: (718) 618-1203

Email: BxSupCiv-IA32@nycourts.gov

! The Uniform Civil Rules For the Supreme Court & The County

Court, 22 NYCRR 202 et seq., are incorporated herein by

reference, subject to minor modifications described below.

! Where appropriate, the Part Rules reference certain portions

of 22 NYCRR 202 et seq. to emphasize the importance of the

same.

! Pursuant to 22 NYCRR 202.5-bb, all newly filed actions must

be e-filed on NYSCEF.

INQUIRIES/CORRESPONDENCE

Telephone calls to Chambers are not permitted unless in cases of

true emergencies and/or where resolution by the methods described

below have has been unsuccessful.

All inquiries concerning a case before the Court, including

scheduling, appearances, adjournments, and case/motion status

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shall be directed to the Part Clerk by filing a letter on NYSCEF.

Unless it is a true emergency or where an inquiry remains

unanswered for seven days or longer, the parties should refrain

from calling the Part.

All inquiries/correspondence to the Court must indicate that a

copy was sent to all other parties simultaneous with transmittal

to the Court.

CALENDARS

All matters on the Court’s calendar will be called at 10am sharp.

All parties must endeavor to be present when their case is called

and generally, as a courtesy, the Court will second-call an

action if a party has checked-in but has left the courtroom when

his/her case is called.

Any party not checked-in by 10:30 is subject to being defaulted.

Upon default, the Court may dismiss an action and/or schedule an

inquest.

CONFERENCES

Unless the Court directs otherwise, all conferences in this Part

will be held in-person.

In accordance with 22 NYCRR 202.1, counsel who appear before the

Court must be familiar with the case on which they appear and be

fully prepared and authorized to discuss and resolve the issues

which are scheduled to be the subject of the appearance. Failure

to comply with this rule may be treated as a default for purposes

of 22 NYCRR 202.27 and/or may be treated as a failure to appear

for purposes of 22 NYCRR 130-2.1.

Adjournment of Conferences

A request to adjourn a conference must be made by letter filed on

NYSCEF at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of the

scheduled conference. The request must be sent to all parties.

All applications for adjournment must state: (1) the reason for

the adjournment request; (2) whether the request is being made on

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consent of all of the parties; and (3) the length of the

adjournment sought.

The Court will advise the parties by email and or via NYSCEF

whether the requested adjournment has been granted.

Preliminary Conference

At least seven (7) days prior to the Preliminary Conference, the

parties must jointly submit a completed Preliminary Conference

Order by filing the same on NYSCEF. The parties must use this

Part’s standard form Preliminary Conference Order, which is

available on the Bronx County Supreme Court’s webpage.

Upon receipt of the completed Preliminary Conference Order, the

Court will cancel the scheduled Preliminary Conference unless the

parties indicate at the time of submission of the completed

Preliminary Conference Order that there is a discovery dispute

requiring Court intervention.

Parties are advised that the Court may alter the deadlines set by

the parties, schedule a Compliance Conference, and/or prescribe a

Note of Issue filing date. An executed copy of the Preliminary

Conference Order will be filed on NYSCEF.

At the Preliminary Conference, the parties must be prepared to

discuss the topics listed in NYCRR 202.11.

Failure to provide a completed Preliminary Conference Order may

result in the adjournment of the Conference.

Compliance Conference

At least seven (7) days prior to the Compliance Conference, the

parties must jointly submit a completed Discovery/Compliance

Conference Form by filing the same on NYSCEF. The parties must

use this Part’s standard form Discovery Conference Form, which is

available on the Bronx County Supreme Court’s webpage.

Upon receipt of the completed Discovery/Compliance Conference

Form, the Court will cancel the scheduled Compliance Conference,

unless the parties indicate at the time of submission of the

completed Discovery/Compliance Conference Form that there is a

discovery dispute requiring Court intervention.

Parties are advised that the Court may alter the deadlines set by

the parties, schedule a Settlement Conference, and/or prescribe a

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Note of Issue filing date. An executed copy of the

Discovery/Compliance Conference Form will be filed on NYSCEF.

Failure to provide a completed Discovery/Compliance Conference

Form may result in the adjournment of the Conference.

Pursuant to CPLR § 3216, every Compliance Conference Order

contains language indicating that the failure to file the Note of

Issue as prescribed therein will result in dismissal of the

action for failure to prosecute.

Settlement Conference and Pretrial Conference

The parties may request a settlement conference with the Court

prior to filing a Note of Issue. However, a Settlement

Conference will be scheduled after the date directed by the Court

for the filing of the Note of Issue.

Counsel attending the Settlement Conference must be fully

familiar with the action and authorized to discuss all factual

and legal issues presented by the litigation, settlement demands

or offers. Counsel must be authorized to enter into binding

settlement. Counsel are advised that, in an effort to foster

open settlement discussions, the Court may meet with counsel

separately during the discussions. Counsel are presumed to have

consented to the Court doing so unless an objection is made

beforehand.

After more than one unsuccessful Settlement Conference, the Court

will schedule a Pretrial Conference after which the case will be

referred to the Trial Assignment Part (TAP) for trial assignment.

Persistent Failure to Abide by Discovery Orders

Generally, an action should be placed on the trial calendar after

the Compliance Conference is held and pursuant to the schedule

within the Compliance Conference Order. When parties fail to

abide by the discovery schedule prescribed within the Preliminary

Conference and Compliance Conference Orders, it is presumed that

the failure to comply is willful and contumacious. Accordingly,

when the Court must issue a discovery order subsequent to issuing

a Compliance Conference Order, said order will contain

conditional preclusion language and/or language conditionally

striking the pleadings of the any party who has failed to comply

with the Court’s prior orders and whose conduct has protracted

the discovery process.

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DISCOVERY DISPUTES

In the spirit of 22 NYCRR 202.20-f(a), discovery motions made

prior to a conference with the Court will be held in abeyance

until such conference is held. Accordingly, pursuant to 22 NYCRR

202.20-f(b), before seeking judicial intervention, the parties

must first consult with one another in a good faith effort to

resolve all discovery disputes. If a dispute cannot be resolved

after such good faith effort, the parties must follow the

protocol prescribed by Commercial Division Rule 14 (202 NYCRR

202.70), which, inter alia, requires that the party seeking

judicial intervention submit a letter requesting a conference and

advising the Court of the nature of the dispute and the efforts

made to resolve it. The request must be filed on NYSCEF.

SEALING/REDACTION OF DOCUMENTS

Parties may not stipulate to seal or redact documents or

information beyond those permitted by Redaction Rules (22 NYCRR

202.5[e] [i.e., date of birth, social security number, and

account numbers]). The Court will consider an application for

additional sealing or redaction of documents only by order to

show cause. An application to seal or redact documents shall set

forth the nature of the document, the reason for the request, and

must establish “good cause” pursuant to 22 NYCRR 216.1. All

documents to be sealed shall be clearly identified in the moving

papers, including by the specific NYSCEF Doc. No.

If the Court permits additional sealing or redaction of a

document in whole or in part, the parties shall e-file both the

redacted copy publicly and the unredacted copy of the document

under seal. Working copies of both the redacted and unredacted

papers shall be delivered to the Court, with a designation

clearly indicating on the cover page whether the papers are

redacted or unredacted.

MOTION PROCEDURE

All motions made before the Court must contain official citations

rather than unofficial Westlaw or Lexis citations.

E-Filing

Papers submitted by e-filing shall comply with the Bronx Supreme

Court Filing Rules for E-filed Motions. The Filing Rules are

available at:

http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/12jd/BRONX/civil/filingrules-

efile.shtml.

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Working hard copies of all motion papers, including opposition

and reply papers (“Working Copies”), shall be submitted to

Chambers by mail, with proof of e-filing, no later than the

return date of the motion. Working copies of exhibits are not

necessary. E-filed motions that are submitted without Working

Copies shall be denied without prejudice.

General Motion Rules

All papers must comply with CPLR §§ 2101, 2103 and 2214.

All submissions to this Part (applicable only to Working copies):

1. Shall comply with 22 NYCRR 202.5(a)(1);

2. Shall be fully and securely bound, with all text legible

and viewable without having to remove staples or binding;

3. Shall, not be double-sided;

4. Shall not exceed the word count set forth in 202.8-b

absent leave of court; and

5. Shall have the Motion Sequence Number to which they are

related placed on the front page.

Motions which do not adhere to the foregoing rules shall be

denied without prejudice.

Pursuant to CPLR § 3212(a), a motion for summary judgment shall

be made no later than thirty (30) days after the filing of the

Note of Issue, except with leave of court on good cause shown.

This rule supercedes any order to the contrary within any prior

orders issued by another Justice of the Court.

Unless an order indicates otherwise, CPLR § 3214(b) is expressly

rendered inapplicable to motions to dismiss (CPLR § 3211),

motions for summary judgment (CPLR § 3212), and motions for

summary judgment in lieu of complaint (CPLR § 3213).

Accordingly, the filing of the foregoing motions does not

automatically stay discovery pending resolution of any such

motions.

Statements of Material Facts pursuant to 22 NYCRR 202.8-g are not

required for motions seeking summary judgment.

No sur-replies shall be submitted absent leave of court.

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When submitting proposed orders or judgments in connection with a

motion, the same shall be submitted as a separately bound

document. Proposed orders or judgments incorporated within motion

papers will be considered as exhibits and will be disregarded.

Where the Court issues a Bench Decision and a party desires a

written Decision and Order, the party may submit a proposed Order

to the Court, together with the transcript of the proceedings at

which the Bench Decision was rendered to be “So Ordered”.

Orders, judgments, counter-orders and/or counter-judgments

submitted for signature on notice will not be signed unless an

affidavit of service and notice of settlement for a date

designated in accordance with 22 NYCRR 202.48 has been included.

Failure to appear at a calendar call will result in the denial of

any motion made by the non-appearing party and the granting of

any motion on default when the opposing party fails to appear.

The parties must advise the Court in writing by filing a letter

on NYSCEF as soon as practicable if any submitted motions have

been resolved, withdrawn, or if the motion is moot because the

case has been settled.

Motions Brought by Notice of Motion

E-filed Motions: Motions are returnable five (5) days a week.

All opposition and reply papers must be e-filed by the return

date of the motion. Opposition and reply papers will not be

accepted after the return date.

Non-E-filed Motions: Motions are returnable five (5) days a week

in the Motion Support Office, Room 217. All opposition and reply

papers must be submitted to the Motion Support Office by the

return date of the motion. Opposition and reply papers will not

be accepted after the return date.

All motions will be deemed submitted on the return date.

There shall be no oral argument or personal appearance required

on any motion brought by notice of motion unless directed by the

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Court.

Motions Brought by Order to Show Cause

22 NYCRR 202.8-d is strictly enforced and an application brought

by Order to Show Cause that fails to demonstrate that exigent or

urgent relief is required will be not be signed.

All Orders to Show Cause are returnable on Wednesdays, except for

court holidays, unless otherwise indicated. Appearances are

required.

E-Filed Motions: Proof of service must be e-filed by 9:00 a.m. on

the return date. Non-compliance may result in a denial of the

order to show cause.

Non-E-Filed Motions:

1. Orders to Show Cause must comply with 22 NYCRR 202.7(d)

and be brought to the Motion Support Office, Room 217.

2. Orders to Show Cause must include a fax number or an

email address to permit a conformed copy of the signed Order

to be sent to the movant.

3. Proof of service must be emailed to the Part Clerk by

9:00 a.m. on the return date. Non-compliance may result in a

denial of the order to show cause.

If a Temporary Restraining Order is sought within an Order to

Show Cause, the papers must comply with 22 NYCRR 202.8-e and the

parties must appear on the date the Order to Show Cause is filed

to argue the necessity of a Temporary Restraining Order. The

foregoing is also true is a party seeks a stay (22 NYCRR

202.7(f).

Adjournment of Motions

E-filed Motions: Stipulations of adjournment, compliant with 22

NYCRR 202.8(e)(1), shall be e-filed prior to the return date of

the motion. A party seeking to adjourn an already submitted

motion shall also follow the foregoing protocol.

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Non-E-filed Motions: Stipulations of adjournment, compliant with

22 NYCRR 202.8(e)(1), shall be emailed to the Part Clerk prior to

the return date of the motion.

All Motions: In accordance with 22 NYCRR 202.8-a(c), absent leave

of court, no motion may be adjourned on consent more than three

times or for a cumulative total of more than sixty (60) days.

Applications seeking an adjournment shall only be made upon the

failure to procure an adjournment on consent of all parties.

A request to adjourn a motion must be made in writing by filing a

letter on NYSCEF at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of

the motion’s return date. The request must be copied to all

parties.

All applications for adjournment must state: (1) the reason for

the adjournment request; (2) the attempts made to adjourn the

motion on consent; and (3) the length of the adjournment sought.

The Court will advise the parties by email whether the requested

adjournment has been granted.

SUBPOENAS

The Court will only so-order the subpoenas that require the

Court’s signature as prescribed by the CPLR. Significantly, the

CPLR only requires that a subpoena be issued by the Court when,

it seeks “production of an original record or document where a

certified transcript or copy is admissible in evidence, or to

compel attendance of any person confined in a penitentiary or

jail” (CPLR 2302[b]), or where the same is “served upon a

library, or a department or bureau of a municipal corporation or

of the state, or an officer thereof, requiring the production of

any books, papers or other things” (CPLR 2307). Accordingly,

please do not submit any subpoenas for signature, which do not

fall within the ambit of the foregoing statutes.

Any subpoenas submitted for the Court’s signature should be

accompanied by a statement detailing the relevance of the

information sought.

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TRIALS

All cases in the Bronx County Supreme Court that are ready for

trial are forwarded to TAP. The Judge presiding in TAP then

assigns trials to any one of the trial judges in the Bronx County

Supreme Court.

Cases will be forwarded to TAP once all dispositive motions have

been decided and when it is clear that the action cannot be

settled. All parties should keep in mind that if a case cannot be

settled by the Court or through mediation, it must be tried as

soon as possible.

Due to the Court’s conference and motion calendars, there shall

be no trials on Wednesdays.

Pre-Trial Conference

When a case is assigned to this Part for trial, the Court will

hold a Pre-Trial Conference prior to jury selection. The parties

must be prepared to:

1. Alert the Court to any scheduling concerns and issues.

2. Alert the Court to all anticipated issues of fact and law

and provide the Court with the relevant law.

3. Apprise the Court of any anticipated/pending motions in

limine. If a motion in limine concerns jury selection, it is

to be made orally prior to jury selection. If a motion in

limine does not concern jury selection, it is to be made

orally prior to the commencement of or during the trial. The

parties are not required to submit any motions in limine in

writing, unless otherwise directed by the Court.

4. Alert the Court to any anticipated missing witness or

document charge.

5. Alert the Court to the existence of any defaulting

parties or any culpable non-parties against whom liability

is sought to be apportioned.

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6. Stipulate to undisputed facts and the admissibility of

clearly admissible documents.

7. Provide the Court with any subpoenas it wishes the Court

to so-order.

8. Make any special requests, such as requests for an

interpreter, blackboards, media equipment, and etc.

9. Prior to jury selection, counsel must ascertain the

availability of all witnesses and subpoenaed documents.

Counsel shall request the subpoenaed records and the Court’s

file as soon as practicable.

10. The parties shall e-file and submit hard copies to the

Court of the following documents on the date jury selection

begins or within 1 (one) day thereafter:

1. A copy of the marked pleadings; proposed verdict

sheets and requested jury instructions; all expert

exchanges and reports; a procedural history; and all

transcripts to be used during the trial. Portions of

any depositions to be read into evidence on a party’s

case in chief must be disclosed in advance and the

Court and all parties must be provided with all page

and line numbers for the portions to be read.

Jury Selection

There shall be no time limits imposed upon the jury selection

process, but it is expected that the attorneys will select a jury

as expeditiously as possible.

During the Trial

None of the attorneys, witnesses, or parties are to have any

communication with the jurors.

Speaking objections are prohibited. An objection shall be made by

standing, stating “objection”, and succinctly stating the basis

for the objection. If the objection requires elaboration, parties

should request a sidebar.

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Requests to approach the bench during a trial should be kept to a

bare minimum.

Any item which is sought to be shown to a witness must first be

shown to opposing counsel.

Do not interrupt witnesses during examination, unless the answer

is completely unresponsive and only then upon seeking a ruling

from the Court.

While opportunity to preserve and make a record may not always be

allowed when requested, all attorneys shall ultimately be granted

ample opportunity to make a record.

Be prepared and organized. Be punctual and professionally

attired. Be civil to the Court and to one another.

Exhibits

Within seven (7) days of the conclusion of trial, the parties

shall e-file a list of the exhibits that were admitted into

evidence and file the hard copies with the Part Clerk.

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