Hon. Richard Tsai — Part 21 Rules

HON. RICHARD TSAI, A.J.S.C.

PART RULES

(last updated May 5, 2026)

Part 21 Courtroom 80 Centre Street, Room 280

& Mailing Address New York, NY 10013

Part 21 Telephone No. 646-386-3738

Part 21 Email SFC-Part21-Clerk@nycourts.gov

Court conference days Thursdays

Motion argument days At the Direction of the Court

Principal Court Attorney: Justin Mahony, Esq.

Chambers Telephone: 646-386-5251

Chambers Email: SFC-Part21@nycourts.gov

These part rules incorporate by reference the Uniform Rules for the Supreme

Court and the County Court (22 NYCRR 202.2 et seq.) and the Uniform Rules of

the Justices of Supreme Court, New York County (Local Rules). Where the Local

Rules differ from the Part 21 rules, these part rules control.

CONTACTING THE COURT

Matters of administration and scheduling should be directed to the Part 21

Clerk. Appearance dates and times of court appearances are available on eTrack.

Proposed judicial subpoenas to be so-ordered should be emailed to the Part 21

Clerk and CC’d to all other parties who have appeared. The proposed subpoena

should not be e-filed. The party submitting the subpoena must include an attorney

affirmation explaining the relevance of the materials sought and the need for a

judicial subpoena.

The parties should promptly notify the chambers of any settlement, any

bankruptcy filing or any death of a party, or death of a party’s counsel, or

suspension of a party’s counsel from the practice of law.

Ex Parte Communications to the Judge and to Chambers Staff are not

permitted. Any email or letter sent to the judge or to his chambers staff must

also be sent to the opposing party/parties. The email or letter must reflect that the

opposing party has been “CC’d” on the communication. A party who wants to

call the chambers must arrange a conference call with their adversary before

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calling the chambers.1 The court will take no action on any communication that

appears to be an ex parte communication.

Except as mentioned in the part rules, letters and emails may not be submitted to

the chambers in lieu of a formal motion.

DISCOVERY CONFERENCES

Discovery conferences are held on Thursdays. Morning conferences are

scheduled for 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., and 11:30 a.m. Afternoon conferences are

scheduled for 2:15 p.m. and 3 p.m.

All discovery conferences are in-person, unless court permission to appear

virtually has been granted due to the particular circumstances of a case, e.g.,

as an ADA accommodation.

A default may be taken against a party that fails to appear within 45 minutes of

the scheduled conference, pursuant to 22 NYCRR 202.27.

ADJOURNMENTS OF DISCOVERY CONFERENCES

Absent an emergency, a request to adjourn a scheduled discovery conference must

be approved by the court, even if the adjournment is on consent. Without prior

court approval, any failure to appear may be considered a default pursuant to 22

NYCRR 202.27.

Requests to adjourn must be emailed to SFC-Part21-Clerk@nycourts.gov and to

the opposing parties’ counsel, no later than two (2) business days before the

scheduled conference. The request must include a reason for the adjournment.

Consent adjournment: the party seeking the adjournment should also attach a

stipulation of adjournment to the email request.

If the adjournment request is approved, the parties should check eTrack for the

new appearance date and time.

Contested adjournment: the party opposing the adjournment must promptly reply

to the email adjournment request to the Part Clerk stating that they oppose the

adjournment. The parties’ counsel must be prepared to be available for a

conference on MS Teams either to resolve the adjournment dispute, or for the

contested application to be heard on the record.

If the contested adjournment request is granted, the court will inform the parties

of new date and time before the conclusion of the MS Teams meeting.

1 If you are unable to get opposing counsel to join the call and time is of the essence, please email

chambers with opposing counsel CC’d to memorialize the issue.

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HOW CONFERENCES ARE CONDUCTED

Counsel appearing for a scheduled conference should check-in with the Part

Clerk upon arrival in courtroom 280.

For e-filed cases, the Part Clerk will then provide the parties’ counsel with a pre-

printed discovery order which bears a bar code and case-specific information,

which are designed to facilitate high-volume e-filing. Using any other generic,

blank court order may result in delays and errors in entry of the conference

order.

The parties must then confer with each other to agree upon clear deadlines for

discovery and to agree upon what specific discovery remains outstanding.2 Once

the parties have agreed to all the discovery deadlines and outstanding discovery,

they should submit the completed discovery order to the Part Clerk or Court

Officer for the case to be called for a conference before the court.

If the parties fail to agree upon the discovery, they should submit the pre-printed

conference order to the Part Clerk or Court Officer, informing them that the

parties were unable to agree.

All parties must be present when the case is called for a court conference, so that

they are either available to answer to any substantive questions from the court

about the case, or be present to hear their adversary’s responses. A default might

be taken against an attorney who has left the courtroom when the case is called,

even if the parties had agreed upon the discovery.3

In the event of a discovery dispute, the parties are highly encouraged to seek

a ruling from the court at a discovery conference in lieu of making a formal

motion.

The party making the application for a ruling must still show compliance with a

good faith effort to resolve the discovery dispute (see 22 NYCRR 202.7 [a], [c];

22 NYCRR 202.20-f [b]) and bring to the discovery conference any supporting

documentation that would have been included as exhibits on a formal discovery

motion. The party making the application should inform their adversary that a

ruling will be sought at the discovery conference.

Upon completion of discovery, a scheduled discovery conference is canceled only

if:

(1) plaintiff files the note of issue at least two (2) business days

2 Please avoid use of the phrase “To the extent not already provided,” as it is neither

sufficiently specific nor clear as to whether there was any discovery non-compliance.

3 If an attorney must leave the courtroom to appear in another part, the attorney may leave

their contact phone number with the Part Clerk so that they can be reached when the case

is ready to be conferenced.

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beforehand;

(2) plaintiff emails their adversary and the Part Clerk at least two (2)

business days before the discovery conference that the note of issue

was filed; and

(3) no one replies to the email within those two (2) business days with an

objection to the note of issue.

If an objection is made, the scheduled discovery conference is not canceled. If the

next scheduled conference is more than 20 days away from the date of the filing

of the note of issue, then defendant must timely file a motion to vacate the note of

issue to preserve their objection.

ADJOURNMENT OF DISCOVERY DEADLINES

Parties may consent to adjourn court-ordered discovery deadlines without court

approval, as long as the discovery is completed prior to the next scheduled

discovery conference.

However, court approval is required where there has been two (2) prior instances

of non-compliance with court-ordered discovery deadlines for the specific

discovery at issue, even if the adjournment is on consent. Such court approval to

extend/adjourn a discovery deadline must be requested by email to the Chambers

no later than two (2) full business days (i.e., 48 hours) before the discovery

deadline.

If the extension/adjournment of a discovery deadline is opposed, the parties’

counsel must be prepared to be available for a conference either by telephone or

on MS Teams either to resolve the adjournment dispute, or for the contested

application to be heard on the record.

EXTENSION OF THE NOTE OF ISSUE DEADLINE

If all discovery (including non-party discovery) is complete, but the deadline to

file the note of issue has passed, the parties may submit a stipulation to extend the

note of issue deadline to the chambers to be so-ordered, in lieu of requesting a

discovery conference.

Such stipulations must clearly state, without any reservation, that all discovery is

complete, and the stipulation must provide a specific date when the note of issue

must be filed (e.g. “3/15/24” or “March 11, 2024”). The parties are free to agree

upon any specific date that is no later than 35 days from the date of the

stipulation.

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MOTIONS4

Except for litigants who are self-represented, Part 21 is a “paperless” e-filing part;

all motion papers must be e-filed through NYSCEF. 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.

WORD LIMITS, FORMAT, FONT SIZE

All motion papers must comply with the formatting requirements set forth in 22

NYCRR 202.5 and the word limits set forth in 22 NYCRR 202.8-b (e.g., 7,000

words for moving papers and opposition papers, and 4,200 words for reply

papers).

Requests for permission to submit an oversize submission exceeding the word

limit may be submitted by a letter application, on notice to all the parties, via

email to the chambers before the motion is e-filed. Absent court permission, the

court may reject any noncompliant papers.

Notwithstanding the above, if the attorney affirmation for a party is used solely as

an index of exhibits and/or a discussion of procedural history, then the word limit

for that party’s memorandum of law in support of, or in opposition to the motion,

is increased to 10,000 words. The word limit for reply papers is unchanged.

Each affirmation, affidavit, memorandum of law, or exhibit should be e-filed as a

separate NYSCEF Document, under its own document number.

An entire motion that is scanned as one document and e-filed under a single

document number may be returned for correction to be re-filed or denied

with leave to renew.

References to any exhibit must include pinpoint citations to the exact page within

the exhibit.

The court encourages the e-filing of text searchable documents for motion papers.

Motion papers that are not text searchable may result in delays of the decision on

the motion.

ADJOURNMENTS OF MOTIONS

For all motions pending in the Submissions Part (60 Centre Street, Room 130),

please follow Section C of the Submission Part’s rules regarding adjournments,

scheduling, and withdrawals.

4 These rules apply to all motions, cross motions, opposition, reply, and all other motion

papers however denominated that are served on or after February 13, 2024. Motion

papers served prior to February 13, 2024 are governed by the part rules of the prior

presiding judge.

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When submitting a stipulation or application of adjournment to the Motion

Submissions Part through NYSCEF, please double-check that the document

type selected contains the words “IN SUBMISSIONS PART – RM 130” so

that the stipulation will be routed to the appropriate court staff in charge of Room

130. A stipulation that is incorrectly e-filed under another document type will

likely not be processed correctly, and the motion might be marked as submitted.

Stipulations of adjournments extending beyond 60 days from the original return

date that need to be so-ordered may be emailed to the chambers, no later than 3

p.m. on the day before the return date in Room 130.

Once a motion is marked fully submitted, the court will not consider any further

submissions unless expressly authorized by the court.

DISCOVERY MOTIONS

In the event of a discovery dispute, the parties are highly encouraged to seek

a ruling from the court at a discovery conference in lieu of making a formal

motion.

Unless a ruling was previously sought at a discovery conference, a discovery

motion will be scheduled for a discovery conference or adjourned to the next

scheduled discovery conference.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTIONS

All summary judgment motions must be filed within 120 days after the filing of

the note of issue.

Uniform Rule 202.8-g, which had required statements of material facts if directed

by the court, was repealed effective July 7, 2025.

ORAL ARGUMENT ON MOTIONS

Oral argument is granted if all appearing parties request oral argument (see 22

NYCRR 202.8 [d]; 22 NYCRR 202.8-f). Otherwise, oral argument is generally

not granted, except in limited cases where the court would like the parties to

address particular issues raised in the motion papers. Virtual appearance for oral

argument is granted only in cases where all the appearing parties consent to

appearing virtually, and they have all participated in e-filing.

Oral argument will be scheduled after the motion is fully submitted.

ORDERS TO SHOW CAUSE

An order to show cause should be brought only when there is genuine urgency

(e.g., applications for provisional relief or for a stay), or when required by

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statute (e.g. withdrawal of counsel) (22 NYCRR 202.8-d). The court may decline

to sign any proposed order to show cause lacking genuine urgency.

Please refer to the Supreme Court of New York County’s website for the

procedure for filing proposed orders to show cause. Any questions regarding the

procedure for filing proposed orders to show cause should be directed to the Ex

Parte Office (60 Centre Street, Rm. 315) at 646-386-3125.

Any party seeking temporary injunctive relief (e.g., a TRO or a stay) in an order to

show cause must comply with 22 NYCRR 202.8-e and submit an affirmation of

such compliance.

Unless otherwise directed in the signed order to show cause, reply papers are not

permitted on orders to show cause.

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TRIALS

The parties are strongly encouraged to meet and confer in good faith to agree

upon the exhibits that will be offered into evidence at trial without objection. All

exhibits intended to be offered into evidence at the trial shall be pre-marked in

accordance with 22 NYCRR 202.34.

Once a trial is assigned to Part 21, the court will conduct a pre-trial conference.

At the pre-trial conference, plaintiff must provide all marked pleadings and all

bills of particulars. Each party must also provide:

• A written list of proposed witnesses they intend to call in the order

in which they shall testify, and the estimated length of time for their

direct testimony. The list should identify whether a witness needs a

language interpreter, along with the required language and dialect,

if any. The list should identify whether a witness is a fact witness

or an expert witness.

• A copy of any statutory provision in effect at the time the cause of

action arose by the party who intends to rely upon such statute

• Copies of deposition testimony intended for use at trial for any

purpose

• CPLR 3101(d) disclosures for any expert witness

• Any prior decisions on any motion for summary judgment,

including any appellate decisions;

• Any motions in limine, which must be in writing

• Two (2) business cards for each parties’ counsel

On the first day of a jury trial, the parties must submit via email to the chambers

and in hard copy:

• Proposed jury verdict sheets, as a Word document (.docx);

• Proposed PJI charges, as a Word document (any PJI charges that

may be read verbatim “as is” may be listed by its PJI number).

Any proposed deviations from PJI charges should be highlighted and

explained, with case law citations where appropriate.

Counsel shall retrieve any trial exhibits from the courtroom within 30 days of the

close of the trial.

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