Hon. Cenceria P. Edwards — Part 8, FRP-1, COMM-2 Rules

Hon. Cenceria P. Edwards

Commercial Part 2 – Practices and Procedures

360 Adams Street, Courtroom 756

Brooklyn, New York 11201

Part Clerk/Courtroom Phone

(347) 296-1590

Part Email

KSCCVCOMM2@nycourts.gov

Principal Law Clerk

Vernon Hutchinson, Esq. (718) 675-7741

Assistant Law Clerk

Sarah Hinton, Esq. (718) 675-7742

Part Clerk

Nicole M. Jones

Updated

February 2, 2026

Preferred method of communications:

Email is the preferred method of communications.

All parties must be included on communications

email or phone.

Ex Parte Communications are impermissible.

No email or phone calls regarding court appearances- relevant information is in E-Courts . ECourts Instructions | NYCOURTS.GOV

General phone hours are 12:00pm-1:00pm and 3:30-4:30.

GENERAL RULES:

Litigants must ensure they comply with 22 NYCRR §202 Rules of the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court.

All litigants must upload/e-file all documents/correspondence into the New York State Courts Electronic Filing system (NYSCEF).

Self-represented litigants may contact the Kings County Court Clerk for assistance with filings.

Litigants shall not leave any documents with the Clerk or Chambers: they will not be accepted and will be discarded if left.

All litigants must ensure their contact information, including email, is included in correspondence to the Court.

Co-Counsel appearances are subject to the rules of 22 NYCRR §202.1[f].

Written Affirmation of Engagement pursuant to Part 125 Uniform Rules must be complied with.

All cell phones must be turned off in the court room unless permission is granted by the Judge.

Audio/video recording or picture taking in the physical or virtual courtroom is strictly prohibited without exception.

Parties Papers Substantial use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) beyond spelling, grammar corrections, sentence structure in court submissions must be disclosed to court in a separate letter. Parties must ensure case cites and propositions are accurate and based on real cases.

Papers must contain hyperlinks to case law cited, NYSCEF DOCUMENTS referenced.

Proposed Orders are required for Injunctive relief, Dispositive Motions (Summary Judgment, Motion to Dismiss, Default Judgment), Change of Venue, and Attorney withdrawal, with analysis of law and facts and references to applicable Exhibits properly labeled.

Non-Appearance: Failure to a appear at calendar call, any scheduled conference, in-person or virtual, or failure to comply with Court Orders will be deemed a default at the discretion of the Court.

CALENDAR APPEARANCES

Motions: Wednesdays . Parties MUST appear in person. Calendar Call begins at 10:00 am sharp .

There are no second calls. Failure to appear timely at calendar call may result in default and moving

papers marked off or opposition denied.

PC/Status/Settlement Conferences: Tuesdays 11:00 am sharp. Parties MUST appear in person. There are no second calls.

MANDATORY SETTLEMENT CONFERENCES

A settlement conference MUST be scheduled within Fourteen days after the first dispositive motion return date with attorneys and their clients (with settlement authority) to appear in PERSON as determined by the Court.

Motions shall not be marked fully submitted prior to the settlement conference or while settlement discussions are pending.

Attorneys and litigants must meet at least three days prior to the settlement conference date and make a good faith effort to settle the matter or be ready to inform the Court of their differences during the settlement conference.

Parties must comply with 22 NYCRR §202.26 and attorney must be lead attorney in case, if not co-counsel must have the authority to settle the case.

MOTIONS

All parties appearing on the motion calendar must submit either a business card indicating the calendar number and party represented or fill out the information slip found in the court room and have same ready when your case is called.

Order Show Cause (OSC) : Maybe subject to VIRTUAL conference at the court’s discretion prior to its signing. Movant MUST seek injunctive or provisional relief, a stay or qualify as an emergency pursuant to a statutory provision or (22 NYCRR 202.8-d).

Motion Adjournments: non-emergency requests must be made in writing to Chambers Email at least five days prior to the return date. Motions that are on for the first time may be adjourned via stipulation with email to Chambers and NYSCEF upload 3 business days prior to return date .

Memoranda of law required and must comply with 22 NYCRR 202.8-b, including word limits

and certifications of compliance by counsel.

Motion Sequence number must be included on the first page of motion paper (notice of motion, opposition, reply, exhibits, etc.)

All supporting documents, contracts, depositions, transcripts (especially of the court proceeding), and other relevant documents must be separately uploaded in NYSCEF as an Exhibit and properly labeled.

All pages and Exhibit pages must be sequentially numbered and correctly filed as such.

The Court will not search through documents to substantiate the litigants’ papers filed.

All transcripts must be upload into NYSCEF. The motion will not be marked submitted, and the court will not issue a written decision, until the requisite transcript is e-filed.

Adjournments: Motions on the calendar for the first time may be adjourned by stipulation of the parties or upon application to the court. Do not choose an adjourn date longer than 30 days without consent of court. All further adjournments must be sought by application to the court.

Motion Sequence Numbers must be typed on all motion papers, supporting attachments and correspondence to the Court.

CONFERENCES

Pre-Trial Conferences: will be scheduled no more than 15 days prior to the trial date.

The court expects compliance with Commercial Division Rules 27 and 28 which directs that parties, ten days prior to such conference: (1) make all motions in limine; and (2) agree upon the exhibits that will be offered into evidence without objection and pre-mark same (i.e. Plaintiff’s exhibits identified by number and Defendant’s exhibits identified by letter).

Settlement Conferences: A settlement conference must be scheduled twenty days prior to trial date with litigants and attorneys to appear in person or virtually as determined by the Court.

Scheduling: Court permission is needed to adjourn any scheduled appearance other than first time on motion return date . Requests shall be e-filed and emailed to Chambers no later than three (3) business days in advance of the scheduled appearance.

DISCOVERY

Discovery Disputes. Parties are to abide by Commercial Division Rules 14 and 14-a, (22 NYCRR 202.7[a]) and make good faith effort to resolve discovery disputes.

Rule 14 conference- all disputes/issues shall be summarized in a letter to the Court, bullet points in three pages or less, and e-filed in NYSCEF at least 10 days prior to requesting a conference with the Court.

Prior to the filing Discovery Motions moving party shall have satisfied Commercial Division Rules 14 and 14-a, (22 NYCRR 202.7[a]) and request a Virtual Conference with Court no more than 5 days after dispute letter uploaded in NYSCEF.

If a discovery motion is filed movant must comply with 22 NYCRR 202.7[c]) and Commercial Division Rules 35, 36, 11-c and Rule 8-b).

Trial Rules

All trials, jury and bench are in person.

Litigants must submit a trial package sixty (60) days prior to the trial date .

Motions in limine shall be filed by OSC unless otherwise directed by the court, motions in limine shall be filed at least 45 days prior to commencement of trial. Motions in limine not timely filed are deemed waived .

Bench Trials: Within 20 days of the conclusion of trial, or as directed by the court, the parties shall exchange and e-file all post-trial memoranda, mandatory statements of proposed findings of facts, and the Trial Exhibit Chart. Post-trial Memoranda shall include proposed conclusions of law supported by citations to only evidence admitted at trial. Do not cite to statements of proposed Findings of Facts as support for any fact or conclusion in legal memoranda; cite the record only.

Memoranda in response shall be served and filed not more than 30 days after receipt of the motion (or as directed by the court).

Proposed findings of fact shall be supported by citation(s) to evidence (exhibits and/or testimony) admitted and used at trial, with pin-point citations to the applicable Document Numbers for each exhibit or trial transcript. Transcripts shall be cited using “page number: Line(s).” This shall not be combined with conclusions of law. All filings shall be OCR-searchable. Trial Transcripts: Shall be efiled in the VER in OCR-searchable format at the conclusion of trial.

Removing Trial Materials: Exhibits must be collected at the conclusion of trial or within 30 days after post-trial motions or an order is entered regarding a reserved decision. Failure to notify the court of exhibit collection may result in the disposal of same.