Hon. John J. Andrews — Part 44 Rules

State of New York

UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM

SUFFOLK COUNTY

SUPREME COURT

COMMERCIAL DIVISION

Cromarty Court Complex – Part 44

210 Center Drive

Riverhead, New York 11901

(631) 852-2781

Chambers Email: sufandrews@nycourts.gov

HON. JOHN J. ANDREWS JAMES FAGAN, ESQ.

Justice of the Supreme Court Principal Law Clerk

Commercial Division

KATHLEEN HALL

Secretary to Judge

PART 44 – PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES

Revised 05/2025

RULES

Counsel/Litigants must familiarize themselves with, and strictly abide by, the Part 44

Rules and the Rules of the Commercial Division, 22 NYCRR 202.70.

COURT COMMUNICATION

Communications with the Court shall be via email at sufandrews@nycourts.gov.

Counsel/Litigants should endeavor to keep such communication brief and limited to matters of

scheduling, and all parties to an action must be copied on any emails sent to the Court or its staff.

No party shall send correspondence to chambers without first contacting their adversary

and attempting to resolve the problem. If the issue ultimately requires the attention of the Court,

the parties may request court permission, via email, to send a more detailed letter to the Court.

Letters to the Court shall be limited to a recitation of the parties’ efforts to resolve the issue

among themselves and a short summary of the issue to be resolved. Letters shall not exceed 2

pages in length and shall not contain exhibits and substantive argument. Correspondence in

violation of this rule will not be considered by the Court. Letters falling under this rule shall be

e-filed and the Court shall be notified of same via email to sufandrews@nycourts.gov.

Neither Justice Andrews nor any of the court attorneys assigned to the part will speak to

any litigant or counsel ex parte.

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ADJOURNMENT REQUESTS - CONFERENCES

Parties should first address questions regarding scheduling appearances or adjournments

to the Part Clerk at (631) 852-2139 or email sufandrews@nycourts.gov.

Counsel/Litigants must obtain Court permission to adjourn a status conference.

Adjournment requests less than two business days prior to a scheduled appearance will not be

entertained except in the case of an emergency.

Counsel/Litigants shall make every effort to obtain consent to an adjournment from all

adversaries in the matter and be prepared to communicate that consent to the Court. If counsel is

unable to get consent, counsel must send a brief email to the Court, with a copy to all

adversaries, explaining the circumstances necessitating the adjournment and why consent could

not be obtained. Counsel/Litigants must wait at least 24 hours to allow for the adversary to

respond to the request before contacting the Court.

PRELIMINARY CONFERENCES – RULE 11 [A]

Pursuant to Commercial Division Rule 11 [a] plaintiff(s), and any counterclaimants, are

directed to produce a document, not to exceed 5 pages without permission of the Court, clearly

and concisely stating the issues in their respective cases or claims prior to the preliminary

conference, as well as stating the elements of each cause of action asserted along with the facts

needed to establish their case. Please provide this document to the Court via email at least one

week prior to the scheduled conference date.

MOTION PRACTICE

Other than motions by order to show cause seeking emergency relief, or a pre-answer

motion to dismiss, a pre-motion conference is required prior to the filing of any motion unless

waived by Chambers. The movant must send an email to the Court, on notice to all adversaries,

requesting that a pre-motion conference be scheduled.

Pursuant to Rule 19, motions shall be brought by order to show cause only when there is

genuine urgency, a stay is required or a statute mandates so proceeding. Absent advance

permission from the Court, reply papers shall not be submitted on orders to show cause.

Counsel/Litigants are directed to contact chambers of the assigned justice to schedule when a

proposed Order to Show Cause will be presented.

If a motion to dismiss is filed and it results in some but not all of the causes of action

being dismissed, the prevailing counsel/litigants are directed to revisit the documents produced

pursuant to Rule 11 [a] and again produce a document, not to exceed 5 pages without permission

of the Court, clearly and concisely stating the remaining issues in their respective cases or

claims, as well as stating the elements of each remaining cause of action asserted along with the

facts needed to establish their case.

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Part 44 motions are to be made returnable on Thursdays. Motions that are not in

compliance with this rule will be administratively adjourned to the next available Thursday.

Adjournments of motions will be governed by 22 NYCRR 202.8 (e). All proposed

adjournment dates for motions must fall on a Thursday. Adjournment requests for motions,

whether on consent or without consent, shall follow the same procedure as that for requesting an

adjournment of a conference.

Discovery is NOT stayed by the filing of a dispositive motion unless otherwise directed

by the Court.

No statement of material facts shall be annexed to a motion for summary judgment unless

it is a joint statement of material facts agreed upon by all counsel/litigants.

SETTLEMENT AND WITHDRAWN MOTIONS

Counsel/Litigants shall notify the Court immediately when a case is settled or if there is a

settlement or withdrawal of any motion or any portion of any motion pending before the Court.

DISCOVERY

Discovery motions are not encouraged. Counsel/Litigants are directed to meet and confer

with each other, preferably in person or by video or telephone conference, if necessary, and work

collaboratively to meet all discovery obligations as set forth under Rule 11 of the Commercial

Division Rules.

Should counsel/litigants be unable to settle a discovery dispute after meeting multiple

times, they shall notify the Court via letter requesting an in-person discovery dispute conference

at least two weeks prior to the next scheduled status conference. The letter shall enumerate the

date, time, location and duration of each conference held between the parties in their attempt to

resolve the dispute. Counsel/Litigants shall prepare a joint discovery dispute chart in advance of

the discovery dispute conference, which will list the items sought by each party, why they are

material and necessary in the prosecution or defense of the action, and the legal basis for why the

responding party is unable or unwilling to provide them.

APPEARANCES

As per Rule 1 of the Commercial Division Rules, only counsel fully familiar with the

case and fully authorized to enter into agreements, both substantive and procedural, on behalf of

their clients are permitted to appear. Virtual appearances may be held via Microsoft Teams at the

discretion of the Court.

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