Hon. Michael A. Gajdos, Jr. — Part 54 Rules

HON. MICHAEL A. GAJDOS, JR.

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

One Court Street, Courtroom 229-A

Riverhead, New York 11901

Telephone: (631) 740-3883

Chambers Email: SufGajdos@nycourts.gov

AMANDA E. SPINNER, ESQ. KARINA ELCO

Principal Law Clerk Secretary to Judge

IAS/TRIAL PART 54 - RULES AND PROCEDURES

Effective: January 1, 2026

Unless otherwise directed by the Court, the following rules shall govern practice in Part 54, in

addition to the Uniform Rules for New York State Trial Courts and the Local Rules of Court:

I. ADJOURNMENTS

a. Conferences, Motions, and Submission:

i. All proposed adjournment dates must fall on a Tuesday for all general civil matters

and on a Monday for all matrimonial matters.

ii. All applications for adjournments shall be made by contacting chambers via email at

sufgajdos@nycourts.gov, no later than 3:00 p.m. on the business day prior to the

scheduled conference or motion return date. All applications shall be made after

consultation with all attorneys/parties on the matter and ON CONSENT of all sides.

All applications shall be copied to all parties and include the case name and index

number.

iii. If the consent of all attorneys/parties cannot be obtained, an application for an

adjournment shall be made to the Principal Law Clerk via email at

sufgajdos@nycourts.gov, no later than 3:00 p.m. on the day prior to the scheduled

conference or motion return date. The Court may direct a conference call or virtual

conference to be held to address the adjournment request; however, the Court in its

discretion may grant the adjournment over objection without the need for a

conference.

iv. If the application for an adjournment is based upon counsel’s actual engagement on

another matter, an Affirmation of Actual Engagement in conformity with 22 NYCRR

125 shall be submitted via email at sufgajdos@nycourts.gov and uploaded to

NYSCEF.

v. All requests to adjourn a divorce packet submission shall be made via email at

sufgajdos@nycourts.gov. Failure to submit a request for an adjournment may cause

the matter to be dismissed for failure to abide by the submission order.

vi. Adjournment requests are not to be considered granted until a response from chambers

has been received specifically granting the request. If an adjournment request is denied

and the parties fail to appear, the Court in its discretion may dismiss the matter or

impose sanctions.

II. MOTIONS

a. Return Dates/Submissions:

i. All motions shall be calendared for a Tuesday when the Part is in session. All motions

and orders to show cause made returnable on any day other than a Tuesday, shall be

administratively adjourned to the Court’s next available Tuesday submission date.

ii. Unless adjourned by the Court, all motions appearing on the Court’s motion calendar

shall be marked submitted.

iii. Appearances are NOT required on any motion UNLESS oral argument has been

requested AND granted or otherwise ordered by the Court. All requests for oral

argument shall be made in accordance with 22 NYCRR 202.8(d).

iv. Working copies are not required for matters filed on The New York State Courts

Electronic Filing System (NYSCEF).

v. Timely filing of all papers in accordance with the CPLR is required, as the Court will

not consider the merits of ANY PAPERS, (including opposition, cross-moving or

reply), which have been filed in an untimely manner. All non e-filed motion papers

must be submitted through Special Term. Movant shall submit a proposed Order with

the motion papers when applicable.

vi. There is no right to submit a Reply for applications brought by Order to Show Cause

and leave of the Court must be obtained prior to the submission of a Reply.

b. Settled or Withdrawn Motions:

i. The Court is to be advised immediately, via email at sufgajdos@nycourts.gov, of the

settlement or withdrawal of any motion or any portion of any motion sub judice and/or

the settlement of any underlying case with motions sub judice. The failure to do so

may result in the imposition of sanctions as permitted by law.

c. Discovery Motions:

i. With respect to cases already assigned to this Court, in the event of a discovery dispute,

no motion with respect to the dispute shall be made without a prior conference with

the Court. Said conference may be obtained by submission of a letter application on

NYSCEF, not exceeding one page in length to the Court and copied to all parties.

ii. Failure to request a discovery conference may result in the denial of the motion. The

Court strongly urges that prior to requesting a conference, counsel discuss the issues

and make a bona fide attempt to resolve them without judicial intervention.

d. Orders to Show Cause:

i. Any Order to show cause seeking injunctive or emergency relief, including a stay or

TRO, must be made in accordance with 22 NYCRR 202.7(f).

III. COURT APPEARANCES

a. All Court appearances, unless otherwise specifically stated, are in person appearances.

All appearances shall be calendared for a Tuesday for all general civil matters and on

a Monday for all matrimonial matters when the Part is in session.

b. Appearances shall be made by the attorney of record or an attorney acting in an “Of

Counsel” capacity. In either case, attorneys must be fully familiar with the facts of the

case and have full authority to settle and/or enter appropriate stipulations. Non-

Appearances will not be countenanced by the Court and may subject the non-appearing

party to one or more of the sanctions attendant with defaults (see, 22 NYCRR 202.27;

22NYCRR Part 130-2).

c. Due to the time limitations imposed on various stages of civil cases within the purview

of the Comprehensive Civil Justice Program and its cornerstone, the Differentiated

Case Management system, adjournments of conferences will not be granted lightly.

Applications for adjournments of conferences are governed by the same procedures

applicable to adjournments of motions [see above]. Appearances are thus required

unless the Court has granted an adjournment on the consent of counsel for all parties

and received a written confirmation, via NYSCEF not less than one day prior to the

scheduled conference.

d. Preliminary Conferences:

i. Preliminary conferences will be scheduled by the Court in accordance with 22

NYCRR 202.12 and 202.19. All matters, including those raised by pending motions

and those contemplated by 22 NYCRR 202.19, shall be undertaken at the preliminary

conference.

ii. Counsel are directed to comply with all Discovery, Certification and Note of Issue

dates. Unless counsel otherwise agree in a written, signed Stipulation, to be provided

to the Court, discovery dates will not be extended. In the event counsel cannot agree,

counsel are urged to contact the Court by conference call prior to making any formal

motion. Certification and Note of Issue dates may not be extended absent approval of

the Court.

e. Pre-trial Conferences:

i. No pre-trial conference shall be adjourned when a Note of Issue has not been filed and

a calendar number issued.

f. Compliance Conferences & Pre-trial Conferences:

i. These conferences will be scheduled in accordance with the provisions of 22 NYCRR

202.19.

IV. TRIALS

a. Jury Trials:

i. A conference with the Court shall be held immediately prior to the commencement of

all jury trials. At said conference, counsel shall supply the Court with marked

pleadings, amendments thereto, all bills of particulars, deposition transcripts of

witnesses to be called at trial, CPLR 3101(d) notices served and all prior Court

decisions. Counsel shall further provide the Court with a list of proposed jury charges

and all motions in limine. Counsel shall further advise the Court of the identity and

number of witnesses to be called, and if any will be experts.

b. Non-jury Trials:

i. Non-Jury trials will be governed by the same procedures and requirements set forth

above for Jury Trials. In addition thereto, for Non-Jury trials, counsel shall submit a

proposed order framing the issues to be tried. The parties shall be required to provide

a transcript of the trial. The filing of a note of issue is a condition precedent to the

commencement of any trial.

V. MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS:

a. Compromise Applications:

i. All applications for Court approval of a proposed compromise of an infant or other

disabled party’s claim must be submitted through the Special Term office, with proof

of service on all remaining parties or NYSCEF. Compliance with the provisions of

CPLR 1207, 1208 and 22 NYCRR 202.67 and a proposed distribution of amounts to

be recovered by the disabled plaintiff that is consistent with the provisions of CPLR

1206 is required. The Court will not accept medical reports/affidavits executed more

than six months prior to the submission date. The report must indicate whether the

injured plaintiff has fully recovered, and if not, the nature and extent of the injuries

and course of future treatment. Since the Court may direct that notice of the

application be given to all persons who possess claims against the proceeds

recoverable under the compromise, including those with statutory liens, the names and

addresses of all such persons and the amount of their respective claims must be set

forth in the petition. If no person has asserted such a claim, the petition must so state.

Once the submissions are complete, an appearance date will be scheduled by the

Court.

b. Hearings/Inquests:

i. All hearings and/or inquests from cases in the inventory of IAS Part 54 shall be

scheduled by the Court. The filing of a note of issue is a condition precedent to the

commencement of any hearing or inquest.

c. Judgments/Orders:

i. All proposed Orders and/or Judgments shall be submitted with a copy of the Court

minutes or decision ordering its submission, if applicable.

VI. COMMUNICATION WITH CHAMBERS

a. All communication with chambers by NYSCEF, letter, or email shall be copied to all

sides and shall include the title of the action, the full names of the parries, the date the

matter next appears on the Court's calendar, and the index number. If all parties have

consented to utilize NYSCEF, all communication to the Court shall also be uploaded

to the NYSCEF case file.

b. Any ex parte communications with the Court are strictly prohibited. The Court will

not consider any ex parte communication on any issue. All communication to the Court

should be on notice to all counsel or parties.