INDIVIDUAL MOTION PRACTICES OF
JUDGE NINA GERSHON
United States District Court
225 Cadman Plaza East
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Telephone: 718-613-2655 (Victor Joe, Case Manager)
[email protected]
Hours: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM (Monday - Friday)
Motions Returnable: Set by the Court
Revised as of 11/4/22
Unless otherwise ordered by the Judge in a specific case, matters before Judge Gershon
shall be conducted in accordance with the following practices:
1. Electronic Case Filing (ECF) For Civil and Criminal Cases.
A. All documents in civil and criminal actions shall be filed electronically.
B. Orders will be posted electronically, and parties not registered on ECF will not receive
them.
C. Hard copies of all motion papers, including exhibits, filed electronically must be
provided to chambers. All such papers must be clearly marked ACourtesy Copy,@ and
AOriginal Filed by ECF.@ The document number that ECF assigns to the document should
be indicated on the lower right corner of the courtesy copy. It is unnecessary to provide
chambers with hard copies of other electronically filed documents, such as letters and
stipulations.
D. Parties filing voluminous and non-text exhibits that are impracticable to file
electronically, should, if possible, submit a Portable Document Format (PDF) or Microsoft
Word version by email to the Court. Counsel should contact chambers to obtain an email
address to which the files may be sent. For exhibits that cannot be electronically filed, or
submitted in PDF or Microsoft Word, submit the original to Clerk=s Office for filing, and
a courtesy copy to chambers. The motion papers should indicate in what manner the
exhibits have been filed.
E. Pro se parties are automatically exempt from mandatory electronic filing. However,
parties represented by counsel must file documents electronically, even in Pro Se cases.
F. Requests by attorneys for an exemption to the mandatory policy will be considered for
good cause hardship reason only, and will be reviewed on an individual basis by the
assigned United States Magistrate Judge. But no request will be granted until the attorney
has sought ECF training. ECF training may be scheduled by calling 718-613-2312.
2. Communications With Chambers
A. Letters. Except as provided below, communications with chambers shall be by letter
filed on ECF. Copies of correspondence between counsel shall not be filed on ECF or
sent to the Court.
B. Telephone Calls. Except as provided in Paragraph 2(D)below, telephone calls to
chambers are permitted only in emergency situations requiring immediate attention. In
such situations only, call chambers at the number listed above.
C. Faxes. Faxes to chambers are not permitted.
D. Docketing, Scheduling, and Calendar Matters. For docketing, scheduling, and
calendar matters, call the contact listed above during the hours specified.
E. Requests for Adjournments or Extension of Time. All requests for adjournments or
extensions of time must state: (1) the original date; (2) the number of previous requests for
adjournment or extension; (3) whether these previous requests were granted or denied; and
(4) whether the adversary consents, and, if not, the reasons given by the adversary for
refusing to consent. If the requested adjournment or extension affects any other scheduled
dates, a proposed Revised Scheduling order must be attached. If the request is for an
adjournment of a court appearance, absent an emergency it shall be made at least 48 hours
prior to the scheduled appearance.
3. Motions
A. Pre-Motion Conferences in Civil Cases. For discovery motions not assigned to a
magistrate judge, follow Local Civil Rules 6.4 and 37.3. For motions other than discovery
motions, in all cases where the parties are represented by counsel and in other than habeas
corpus/prisoner petitions and Social Security and Bankruptcy appeals, a pre-motion
conference with the court is required before making any dispositive motion, or motion for
a change of venue. Motions for reconsideration and motions described at Fed. R. App. P.
4(a)(4)(A) should be made without a pre-motion conference.
To arrange a pre-motion conference, the moving party shall serve and file a letter not to
exceed three (3) pages in length setting forth the basis for the anticipated motion. All
parties so served must serve and file a letter response, not to exceed three (3) pages within
seven (7) days from service of the notification letter. Service of the letter by the moving
party within the time requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 12 shall constitute timely service of
a motion made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12 (b).
B. Memoranda of Law. Unless prior permission has been granted, memoranda of law in
support of or in opposition to motions are limited to 25 pages, double-spaced, and reply
memoranda are limited to 10 pages, double-spaced. Use Times New Roman 12-point font
and one-inch margins. All memoranda 10 pages or longer shall contain a table of contents
and table of authorities.
Requests to file memoranda exceeding the page limits set forth herein must be made in
writing five days prior to the due date, except with respect to reply briefs, in which case
the written request must be made at least one day prior to the due date.
C. Filing of Motion Papers. Parties are to serve their motion papers on all parties, along
with a cover letter specifying the papers being served, in accordance with deadlines
specified in the briefing schedule. At the time of service, the movant shall file a copy of
the cover letter used to transmit the movant’s opening motion papers. The letter must be
filed as a letter, not as a motion.
Except for motions for reconsideration and motions described at Fed. R. App. P.
4(a)(4)(A), no motion papers shall be filed with the court until the motion has been fully
briefed, at which time the moving party shall file a complete set of all motion papers. If
waiting to file a fully briefed motion would result in the loss of an appellate or other right,
a party may, upon notice to the court and all parties, file a motion before briefing is
completed.
D. Briefing Schedule. Subject to court approval, the parties are to set up their own
briefing schedule. No changes in the approved schedule may be made without court
approval. Approval may be given at the pre-motion conference or by subsequent letter.
No party is to serve any motion papers prior to obtaining court approval for the schedule.
E. Courtesy Copies. The original moving party shall be responsible for furnishing to
chambers a full set of courtesy copies of the motion papers together with a cover letter
specifying each document in the package. A copy of the cover letter shall be sent to the
assigned magistrate judge and to opposing counsel.
F. Oral Argument on Motions. Parties may request oral argument by letter at the time
their moving or opposing or reply papers are filed. The court will determine whether
argument will be heard and, if so, will advise counsel of the argument date.
4. Pretrial Procedures
A. Joint Pretrial Orders in Civil Cases. In civil cases, joint pretrial orders are due 60
days from the date of completion of discovery, unless otherwise ordered by the Court or
unless at least one party seeks summary judgment by filing a pre-motion conference letter
in anticipation of such a motion. If at least one party files such a letter, the Court will set
a deadline for the filing of a joint pretrial order, if needed, after its resolution of the motion
for summary judgment.
The joint pretrial order shall include the following:
i. The full caption of the action.
ii. The names, addresses (including firm names), and telephone and fax numbers of trial
counsel.
iii. A brief statement by plaintiff as to the basis of subject matter jurisdiction, and a
brief statement by each other party as to the presence or absence of subject matter
jurisdiction. Such statements shall include citations to all statutes relied on and relevant
facts as to citizenship and jurisdictional amount.
iv. A brief summary by each party of the claims and defenses that party has asserted
which remain to be tried, without recital of evidentiary matter but including citations to all
statutes relied on. Such summaries shall identify all claims and defenses previously
asserted which are not to be tried.
v. A brief statement of the categories and amounts of damages claimed or other relief
sought.
vi. A statement by each party as to whether the case is to be tried with or without a
jury, and the number of trial days needed.
vii. A statement as to whether or not all parties have consented to trial of the case by a
magistrate judge (without identifying which parties have or have not so consented.)
viii. Any stipulations or agreed statements of fact or law which have been agreed to by
all parties.
ix. A list of names and addresses of all witnesses, including possible witnesses who
will be called only for impeachment or rebuttal purposes and so designated, together with
a brief narrative statement of the expected testimony of each witness. Only listed witnesses
will be permitted to testify except when prompt notice has been given and good cause
shown.
x. A designation by each party of deposition testimony to be offered in its case in
chief, with any cross-designations and objections by any other party.
xi.
(1) A statement of stipulated facts, if any;
(2) A schedule listing exhibits to be offered in evidence and, if not admitted by
stipulation, the party or parties that will be offering them. The schedule will also
include possible impeachment documents and/or exhibits, as well as exhibits that
will be offered only on rebuttal. The parties will list and briefly describe the basis
for any objections that they have to the admissibility of any exhibits to be offered
by any other party. Parties are expected to resolve before trial all issues of
authenticity, chain of custody and related grounds. Meritless objections based on
these grounds may result in the imposition of sanctions. Only exhibits listed will be
received in evidence except for good cause shown; and
(3) All exhibits must be premarked for the trial and exchanged with the other
parties at least ten days before trial. Where exhibits are voluminous, they should
be placed in binders with tabs.
B. Filings Prior to Trial in Civil Cases. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, each
party shall file, 15 days before the date of commencement of trial if such a date has been
fixed, or 30 days after the filing of the final pretrial order if no trial date has been fixed:
i. On the Thursday before trial in jury cases, requests to charge and proposed voir dire
questions. Requests to charge should be limited to the elements of the claims, the damages
sought and defenses. General instructions will be prepared by the Court. When feasible,
proposed jury charges should also be submitted in Microsoft Word or PDF format.
Counsel should contact chambers to obtain an email address to which the files may be sent.
ii. In non-jury cases, a statement of the elements of each claim or defense involving
such party, together with a summary of the facts relied upon to establish each element;
iii. In all cases, motions addressing any evidentiary or other issues which should be
resolved in limine; and
iv. In any case where such party believes it would be useful, a pretrial memorandum.
