The S.D.N.Y. and E.D.N.Y. Issue New Local Rules

At a Glance

• The new joint civil rules of the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York are effective as of July 1, 2024.
• A clear trend of the new rules is to promote efficiency — whether through categorical privilege logs, remote depositions or streamlined statements of fact in support of summary judgment. This is further evident by the rules’ contemplation that the parties will cooperate to reach agreement on discovery matters that further efficiency.

On June 17, 2024, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York released updated joint local civil rules. The new rules are effective in all pending and new matters as of July 1, 2024, except that if a pending deadline is within 14 days of the new rule implementation date, then the old rules apply. Many of the changes are stylistic, consistent with the general trend to use clearer language that is more easily understood by lawyer and layperson alike.

There are, however, some substantive changes of note as well. What follows are some highlights of the more significant changes of which practitioners should be aware.

• Local Civil Rule 1.4. Notice of Appearance; Withdrawal or Displacement of Attorney of Record: This rule has been updated to specify the information required in a notice of appearance — the attorney’s name, firm affiliation, business address, telephone number, email address, and identification of the represented party. The rule also removes the former requirement of providing an affidavit specifying the reasons for withdrawal when other counsel who have already appeared in the case continue to represent the client or when new counsel is substituted by stipulation, recognizing “that the affidavit serves no useful purpose in these circumstances.”
• Local Civil Rule 6.3. Motions for Reconsideration: The updated rule (which dispenses with the “reargument” nomenclature) adds page limits to motions for reconsideration. The memorandum in support and in opposition cannot exceed 10 pages, while a reply may not exceed five pages.
• Local Civil Rule 7.1. Motion Papers: The updated rule specifies that only applications for extensions or adjournments, applications for a pre-motion conference, “and similar non-dispositive matters” may be brought by letter motion, unless otherwise authorized by the judge’s individual practices or order.
• Local Civil Rule 15.1. Amendment of Pleadings: This new rule formally adopts what was already good practice: motions to amend pleadings must include as an exhibit both a clean copy of the proposed amended pleading as well as a redline showing the proposed changes. The new rule also clarifies that granting the motion does not render the previously filed exhibit an operative pleading. Rather, litigants are to file the amended pleading within seven days of the order granting the motion.
• Local Civil Rule 26.2. Assertion of Claim of Privilege: The amended rule brings the S.D.N.Y./E.D.N.Y. local rules in line with the modern trend of categorical privilege logs. The replacement of a document-by-document log has been gaining traction as electronic discovery expands to include thousands of “documents” that need to be reviewed and logged. The rule specifically states that it is presumptively proper to provide a categorical privilege log as opposed to a document-by-document log. It also allows parties to create a “metadata log” generated by review systems to provide the information necessary to sustain a privilege claim. “[A] party cannot object to a privilege log solely on the basis that it is a categorical log or metadata log, but may object if the substantive information required by this rule has not been provided in a comprehensible form.”
• Local Civil Rule 30.1. Counsel Fees on Taking Depositions More Than 100 Miles From Courthouse: The amendments delete this rule, which allowed a party to seek expenses (including counsel fees) for the attendance of one attorney at a deposition conducted more than 100 miles from the courthouse. This rule was rarely invoked and is obsolete given today’s availability of remote depositions.
• Local Civil Rule 37.2. Discovery Disputes: Previously, the Southern and Eastern districts had their own procedures for raising discovery disputes. The amendments now contain a single, consolidated rule for both districts, which requires litigants to ask for a pre-motion discovery conference by letter motion prior to bringing a discovery motion. The updated rule also specifies that Rule 45 motions for subpoena enforcement are subject to this procedure since “such motions are best understood as discovery motions.”
• Local Civil Rule 56.1. Statements of Material Facts on Motion for Summary Judgment: This rule was updated to require an interlineated response to statements of material facts supporting summary judgment motions in cases where all parties are represented by counsel. To facilitate this response, moving parties are required to provide a soft copy of their statement of material facts in a standard word-processing format that allows the opposing party to easily insert her responses. This updated rule formalizes what many judges’ individual rules already required.

In Conclusion

A clear trend of the new rules is to promote efficiency — whether through categorical privilege logs, remote depositions or streamlined statements of fact in support of summary judgment. This is further evident by the rules’ contemplation that the parties will cooperate to reach agreement on discovery matters that further efficiency. But as always, the devil is in the details; and counsel should familiarize themselves with the relevant rules when litigating in the Southern and Eastern districts.