Hon. Phaedra Perry-Bond — Part 35 Rules

HON. PHAEDRA F. PERRY-BOND

Supreme Court, New York County - IAS Part 35

60 Centre Street, Courtroom 252

New York, NY 10007

SFC-Part35@nycourts.gov

Part Clerk: Thomas Gilmore SFC-Part35-Clerk@nycourts.gov

Principal Law Clerk: Brendan A. Gilmartin, Esq. bgilmartin@nycourts.gov

Assistant Law Clerk: Fabiano D. Chaves, Esq. fchaves@nycourts.gov

E-Filing: The court strongly encourages all paper cases convert to e-filing. The form to convert a case to

e-filing is available here.

1. BE PROMPT AND PREPARED

Motions, hearings, and trials shall begin as scheduled. Cell phone numbers of respective counsel should

be provided to opposing counsels and the Court when there is a hearing or trial expected to proceed for

more than one day. In the event of an unavoidable delay, it is expected that counsel contact opposing

counsel and the Court as soon as possible. Failure to appear on time, without good cause, may result in

sanctions. Jury trials involve the coordination of numerous witnesses, and any unnecessary delays are

inherently unfair to the jurors, litigants, counsel, other litigants awaiting trial, and the Court.

2. COURT DECORUM

The pressures of the courtroom are well-known and will be considered by the Court. However, all

attorneys and parties are expected to treat each other, court personnel and the Court with civility and

respect. Anything less will not be tolerated. Good advocacy is not incongruent with the highest

aspirations of the profession and good manners. Attorneys and clients are expected to always dress

appropriately. Attorneys should provide business cards to the Part Clerk when checking in, and be

prepared to discuss the case fully, and to have settlement authority.

3. COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE COURT

Questions about adjournments, appearances, or the status of decisions on motions should be directed to

the Part Clerk. Please only call Chambers in the event of an emergency.

Ex parte communications, of any kind, with the court regarding substantive matters are strictly prohibited.

Disputed issues will not be litigated via letter or email.

Letters: Correspondence with the judge shall be by letter uploaded to NYSCEF, with copies

simultaneously emailed to all counsel, self-represented parties, and Part 35.

Counsel must notify the court as soon as practicable of any settlement, or resolution, of active cases or

pending motions. Parties may provide notification by filing either a letter or stipulation, on NYSCEF, and

simultaneously email a copy to Part35 and Part Clerk.

Email: Correspondence with the Part Clerk and Law Clerks must include all counsel and self-represented

parties.

The following should be emailed to the Part Clerk and Part35:

• Proposed orders for Preliminary Conference (PC) and other case management orders.

• Stipulations and notices withdrawing/resolving motions or actions.

• Requests to schedule discovery or settlement conferences.

4. CONFERENCES

A. Conferences are Reserved for Serious Discovery Disputes and are Otherwise Scheduled

for the Submission of a Proposed Case Management Order Only

All discovery conferences will be scheduled for 9:30am on Tuesdays. Conference dates are generally for

the submission of a proposed order only. Do not appear unless specifically instructed to do so.

If the parties have a serious discovery dispute requiring a Court conference, they must advise the Court

via e-mail and letter correspondence detailing the nature of the dispute so that the Court can schedule an

in-person conference to resolve the dispute. If parties are scheduled for an in-person appearance, and one

or both parties fail to appear by 10:45, that party may, in the Court’s discretion, be held in administrative

default.

B. Discovery Motions

If a discovery motion is filed, the subject of the motion will be conferenced with the law clerks, unless, in

the Court’s discretion, the Court decides to hear oral argument or believes the issue is not one that can be

conferenced. Parties must meet and confer in good faith prior to filing a motion and must conference the

issue prior to filing a motion. Failure to provide an affirmation detailing the good faith efforts taken to

avoid motion practice will result in the motion being denied, without prejudice.

C. Discovery Extensions

It has come to the Court’s attention that updated discovery stipulations have been prepared and agreed to

but that many months of inaction pass and when parties conference again, there has been little if any

progress on discovery. Please pay attention to the dates set at your Court appearances – cases marked

“Final Extension” will need to submit an Affidavit stating compelling reasons for the delay in requesting

additional time to complete discovery. As a general matter, the Court has begun marking index numbers

dated 2022 and older that have appeared in Part 35 multiple times as receiving a “Final Extension”.

The affidavit shall explain certain procedural nuances or any other difficulties which has prevented

discovery from occurring. Examples may include, but are not limited to, impleader of a new party, family

emergency, illness, etc. An affidavit merely stating “discovery is not complete” is not a compelling reason.

Failure to abide by these rules may result in discovery related sanctions at the discretion of the Court.

Remember justice delayed is justice denied.

5. MOTIONS

A. Submission date and Oral Argument

All motions will be decided on submission, unless otherwise directed. Parties may request oral argument

on a motion by filing a letter on NYSCEF prior to the motion return date. If the Court decides oral

argument is necessary, the parties will be advised of the oral argument date well in advance of the

scheduled date.

B. Orders to Show Cause

Motions made via order to show cause are reserved for emergencies only. This generally means motions

seeking to be relieved as counsel, motions seeking a stay or to vacate a stay, motions seeking to vacate a

default judgment, or motions that require interim relief, including a temporary restraining order, pending

their determination.

The Court will, in its discretion, decline to sign proposed orders to show cause which seek non-emergent

relief which may be sought via ordinary notice of motion.

C. Stipulations vs. Motions

Parties are encouraged to resolve discovery and other disputes and enter stipulations without court

intervention to the fullest extent possible. If there is no opposition. certain forms of relief may be sought

by so-ordered stipulation instead of via motion (e.g. consolidations, caption amendments, etc.).

D. Summary Judgment

Absent good cause for late filing, a late motion may be denied, even if your adversary does not object.

The submission of a motion for summary judgment does NOT automatically stay discovery, unless

directed by the court. The deadline to file motions for summary judgment is 120 days after the note of

issue is filed.

E. Withdrawing Motions

If you wish to withdraw a motion pending in the Submissions Part, e-file the stipulation or letter from the

movant to withdraw the motion under the appropriate motion sequence number. For further inquiries,

notify the Submissions Part (60 Centre Street, Room 130, 646-386-3030) and/or contact the e-filing

resource center at the same number or efile@nycourts.gov.

If you wish to withdraw a motion that is pending in Part 35 (after submission in room 130, whether or not

oral argument has been scheduled), please e-file the stipulation or letter from the movant withdrawing the

motion and advise the Part 35 Clerk in writing immediately.

6. TRIALS

A. Scheduling

All trials are scheduled for a date and time certain. Once a trial or hearing is scheduled, adjournments will

only be granted upon unforeseen extraordinary circumstances. Although the Court will work with all

parties to schedule a mutually convenient hearing date, it is counsel’s responsibility to come to the

conferences with full knowledge of when they, their clients, and their witnesses will be available.

All counsel must be aware of the schedules of their respective witnesses. Counsel shall alert the Court of:

(1) any scheduling conflicts; (2) the need for an interpreter; (3) any other special needs, e.g., easels,

blackboards, shadow boxes, or television, subpoenaed material, etc.; (4) necessary Court-Ordered

subpoenas; (5) any evidentiary issues that ought to be addressed before jury selection; and (6) a list of the

witnesses they intend to call and the order, including expert witnesses.

B. Pre-Trial submissions

The Court will hold a pre-trial conference as soon as possible after a trial is assigned to Part 35. Please

bring marked pleadings to be marked as Court Exhibits to the pre-trial conference.

Counsel shall submit motions in limine and trial memoranda in writing to the Court as directed, but in

any event, not later than the first day of jury selection. Counsel are encouraged to provide written

memoranda of law in support or in opposition to motions in limine.

If a motion in limine is filed on the eve of opening statements, the Court, in its discretion, may summarily

deny the application based on tardiness and violation of the part rules.

Unless otherwise directed, the deadline to submit proposed PJI charges and interrogatory verdict sheets

is at least two weeks prior to trial. All proposed jury charges and proposed verdict sheets shall be emailed

to the Court in editable MS Word (.doc) format.

If any changes to the PJI are suggested, then the customized proposed charge shall be set forth and called

to the Court’s attention. When a requested charge calls for added information, modification, or the

addition of a statute, please provide that information to the Court in your request to charge. Citations to

appropriate statutory or common law authority shall be given in support of suggested non-PJI jury charges

or suggested PJI modifications.

Parties shall cooperate in good faith to submit joint PJIs and verdict sheets, to the fullest extent possible.

C. Evidence and Objections

Counsel shall stipulate to undisputed facts and to the admissibility of clearly admissible documents and

records.

A copy of depositions intended to be used at trial should be furnished to the Court at the commencement

of the trial.

It is the responsibility of the attorneys to ensure that subpoenaed records have arrived in the Subpoenaed

Records Room.

No speaking objections are allowed. If you raise an objection during the course of the hearing or trial,

please stand and use one word to describe the grounds for the objections (i.e. “objection – relevance”,

“objection – hearsay”, “objection – no foundation”). Never argue in front of jurors; if further discussion

is warranted, the Court will have a ‘sidebar.’