Hon. Carol Sharpe — Part 52 Rules

HON. CAROL SHARPE, J.S.C.

City Part, Part 52

111 Centre Street, Room 1045, New York, NY 10013

Principal Law Clerk

Jolene McAuley, Esq.

Assistant Law Clerk

Stephanie Niles

Chambers email

sfc-Part52@nycourts.gov

Part 52 Clerk: sfc-part52-clerk@nycourts.gov

Courtroom Telephone

(646) 386-3742

PART 52 RULES

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT CHAMBERS TO SCHEDULE OR REQUEST

ADJOURNMENTS OF MOTIONS OR CONFERENCES.

For motion submission procedure, applications, or adjournments, refer to the Motion Submission Part

protocol at: https://ww2.nycourts.gov/courts/1jd/supctmanh/motions_on_notice.shtml

1. CONFERENCES: All preliminary conferences, status conferences, and compliance conferences in

Part 52 are conducted in the Differentiated Case Management (“DCM”) Part located at 80 Centre

Street, Room 103.

a. To request an adjournment of a conference in the DCM Part or address any other calendar

issues related to a DCM appearance, please call the DCM Clerk at (646) 386-3683. Do not

contact chambers regarding DCM appearances.

b. Stipulations to adjourn conferences must include a reason for the adjournment and should be

sent to the DCM Clerk at sfc-city-dcm@nycourts.gov.

c. If all parties believe a settlement conference with the Court would be productive, they may,

at any time and with all parties copied, email the Part 52 Clerk to request that a settlement

conference be scheduled. The attorneys appearing at the conference must have settlement

authority and be fully familiar with the case.

2. EX PARTE COMMUNICATIONS: THERE SHALL BE NO EX PARTE

COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE JUDGE OR CHAMBERS (except as allowed under Part

52 of the Rules of the Chief Judge (Ex Parte Requests for Judicial Accommodations). Do not

contact chambers unless all parties to the action are included in the communication. Please be advised

that the Court does not receive correspondence uploaded to NYSCEF. If something is filed that

requires immediate attention please e-mail the Part 52 Clerk to advise of the filing.

3. MOTION PRACTICE

a. Filing Motions: Part 52 is a mandatory e-filing part. Other than a pro-se litigant or a showing

of undue hardship, all motions must be electronically filed with the General Clerk’s Office.*

Unrepresented litigants who are not licensed attorneys in New York are highly encouraged

to e-file (it is the best way to obtain easy access to court filings, to keep up to date on the

matter, and to serve other parties). Click here for instructions on e-filing as an unrepresented

litigant:

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https://iappscontent.courts.state.ny.us/NYSCEF/live/unrepresented/UnrepresentedHomePag

e.html.

For further NYSCEF instructions, please contact the e-filing Resource Support Center at

(646) 386-3033 or https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/HomePage.

b. Submission of Proposed Orders: Each motion submitted for decision should include a

proposed order as the final attachment to the motion. No compliance conference, stipulation,

or order shall direct any party to submit records or other evidence to the Court for an in-

camera review without the Court’s approval.

c. Discovery Motions: Discovery motions shall not be filed without prior approval from the

Court. Prior to making any request to file a discovery motion, the parties must first request a

discovery conference with the DCM Part. If this conference proves unsuccessful, the moving

party may seek approval from the Court to file the discovery motion. Parties filing motions

relating to discovery must include a separate good faith affirmation (22 NYCRR 202.7). The

affirmation must include the times and dates the parties conferred in person, virtually, or by

telephone, to resolve the discovery dispute. Discovery motions filed without permission or

without a showing of good faith efforts attempted to resolve the matter will generally be

denied. Email communication between the parties as a sole representation of good faith is not

sufficient.

d. Summary Judgment Motions: All summary judgment motions must be e-filed* no later

than 120 days after filing the Note of Issue. Any exhibit to the motion must be e-filed as a

separate document and must be given an identifying label (e.g., Notice of Claim, Bill of

Particulars, etc.). All exhibits should be paginated, and reference to any voluminous exhibit,

including deposition testimony, must include pinpoint citations. Absent good cause,

discovery between the parties shall continue while a motion for summary judgment is

pending. A party wishing a stay of discovery must request a conference with the Court by

letter. The letter is to be submitted by email and include when the summary judgment motion

was filed, the sequence number of the motion, and briefly state the reasons why discovery

should be stayed.

e. No Courtesy Copies: Please do not send any courtesy (paper) copies of any motion papers

or related documents directly to the Part or Chambers, unless requested by the Court.

f. Oral Arguments: Oral arguments on motions are held at a time certain on Wednesdays, in

person, at 111 Centre Street, Room 1045, commencing at 9:45am and subject to default

fifteen (15) minutes after the scheduled calendar call. Motions are scheduled for oral

argument at the Judge’s discretion. Requests for oral arguments shall be included in the

Notice of Motion or in the Opposition papers. After review, the Court will notify the parties

only if the application for oral argument is granted. If the Court has not scheduled a motion

for oral argument and counsel wishes to follow up on its initial request, a letter must be

submitted by e-mail to Chambers with all parties copied. When appearing for oral arguments,

the parties are expected to talk to each other before the matter is called to see if a resolution

on the motion can be reached. A stipulation form can be requested from the Part Clerk. Please

write legibly when filling it out, and full names should be printed below any signatures.

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g. Adjournments - Motions scheduled for oral argument may be adjourned for no more than

thirty (30) days from the original argument date without leave of Court, and upon consent of

all sides. Stipulations of adjournment however, must contain a reason for the adjournment(s)

and must be e-filed, with a copy e-mailed to the Part Clerk, no later than 11:00AM on the

Friday before the Wednesday argument date. Any additional adjournments beyond 30 days

must be “So-Ordered” by the Court and must include a specific reason for the adjournment,

the number of prior adjournment requests, and the current status of the case.

h. Settlement Authority – Counsel appearing for scheduled oral arguments are expected to

have knowledge of the procedural history and substantive issues of the case, and must have

settlement authority.

4. NOTIFYING COURT OF SETTLEMENT OR RESOLUTION: When a motion has been

withdrawn or the case has been settled, the parties shall e-file a Stipulation reflecting same on

NYSCEF and notify the Part Clerk and Chambers by e-mail. Please note that e-filing alone does not

alert the Court.

5. JUDICIAL SUBPOENAS: Parties seeking a judicial subpoena must state in the subpoena what

materials/witnesses are being requested and include an affirmation stating the reasons why a judicial

subpoena is necessary. The documents must be emailed to the Part Clerk and Chambers with all

parties in the action copied.

6. TRIALS: After a trial is assigned to Judge Sharpe, counsels shall contact the Court to address any

trial-specific issues, including in limine motions, pre-marking exhibits, scheduling, requests for

audio/visual technology, or any other accommodations. Parties are encouraged to present a proposed

schedule of witnesses to the Court. In addition, counsel for each party is expected to have settlement

authority.

7. RESPECT FOR ALL: All parties are expected to conduct themselves with the utmost respect for

the Court, its staff, and all parties and witnesses – whether the appearance is in person, by telephone,

or virtually. Speaking disrespectfully, interrupting, yelling, using profanity, or otherwise abusing

anyone during the proceedings will not be tolerated and may result in a finding of contempt and/or

sanctions, as appropriate. Parties are also expected to arrive on time for all appearances and should

notify the Part Clerk of any delays as soon as possible.

*Self-represented parties are not required to e-file unless they choose to do so. Any communication to

the Court by a self-represented party which would otherwise require e-filing should be in the form of a

letter to the Court and sent via email to sfc-Part52@nycourts.gov, unless otherwise instructed. All emails

sent must copy all parties in the action and the subject line must include the purpose of the email, the

index number, and case name. Except in the case of an emergency, emails sent to the Court not following

these instructions, or email threads such as replies between the parties that are not directly addressed to

the Court, are not permitted and will not receive a response.

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