Three months ago very few of us regularly communicated by virtual videoconferencing. Today, it’s fast become a daily routine, and in all likelihood will become a more permanent part of our practice. Who would have guessed that by May 2020, we would be comfortably conducting mediations, hearings, court conferences and even trials by Skype, Zoom or other videoconferencing platform, from home nonetheless? The adjustment has not been easy for all involved. Prior to the pandemic, many justices had not permitted emails. However, when the cases were limited to those deemed “essential” and attorneys were not able to use New York State Courts Electronic Filing (“NYSCEF”) for filing, there was simply no way to contact many of the judges. However, as Plato recognized over 2,300 years ago, “necessity is the mother of invention”. That’s when the courts decided to publish rules and/or set up Part emails.
As we embrace our new world, the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association has prepared a Virtual Courts Contact List based on preferences expressed by each Commercial Division Justice. So we’re here to share the list with you (at the bottom of this post) and hope you find it helpful in navigating through the “work at home” routine. Caution to all however: counsel should, of course, check (a) the temporary part rules, if any, on the website for the assigned Commercial Division Justice (see, e.g., https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/courts/comdiv/NY/PDFs/Part-54-Temporary-Rules.pdf) and (b) the website for the relevant county or judicial district’s Supreme Court to see if there are specific rules, procedures or forms to be used in requesting conferences. For example, Nassau County Justice is using the attached form: http://ww2.nycourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/files/2020-04/Email%20Request%20For%20Conference%20Form.pdf
And a Big Thanks go out to Kathy Kass, Esq., Counsel in the Commercial Division Support Office, for providing us with specific links to the Commercial Division Justices in New York County:
~Justice Borrok – requests for conferences in Part 53 may be made via email to sfc-part53@nycourts.gov
~Justice Cohen – requests for conferences in Part 3 may be made via email to sfc-part3@nycourts.gov
~Justice Friedman – see https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/courts/comdiv/NY/PDFs/Part-60-Temporary-Rules.pdf
~Justice Masley – see https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/courts/comdiv/NY/PDFs/Part48-Temporary-Rules.pdf
~Justice Ostrager – requests for conferences in part 61 – sfc-part61@nycourts.gov
~Justice Scarpulla – requests for conferences in Part 39 may be made via email to part-39@nycourts.gov
~Justice Schecter – https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/courts/comdiv/NY/PDFs/Part-54-Temporary-Rules.pdf
~Justice Sherwood – see https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/courts/comdiv/NY/PDFs/part49-temporary-rules.pdf
In addition, see there is also a conference request email for all NY Supreme Civil parts, https://www.nycourts.gov/legacypdfs/courts/1jd/supctmanh/PDF/Remote-Conference-Protocol.pdf
| County/ Judicial District | Justice | Best Remote Contact as of April 17th 2020 |
| Albany County | Hon. Richard Platkin | Email: PlatkinChambers@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| Kings County / Brooklyn | Hon. Lawrence Knipel |
Email: lknipel@nycourts.gov Law Clerk: Aaron Blinder |
| Kings County / Brooklyn | Hon. Larry D. Martin |
Email: ldmartin@nycourts.gov Law Clerk: David C. Pepper Assistant Law Clerk: Dorichael Rodriguez |
| Kings County / Brooklyn | Hon. Leon Ruchelsman |
Email: lruchels@nycourts.gov Law Clerk: Mark Kagan |
| Nassau County | Hon. Stephen A. Bucaria |
Attorneys may request a priority conference with the Court on pending matters by sending a standardized email request form to each Judge’s Chambers. A group email address for each Judge’s Chambers has been established for this purpose as provided below. Attorneys and unrepresented parties will indicate the reason for the requested conference. Chambers shall then determine whether a conference is necessary or appropriate and direct the manner of the conference, i.e., by telephone or video. judgebucariaremote@nycourts.gov |
| Nassau County | Hon. Vito M. DeStefano |
Attorneys may request a priority conference with the Court on pending matters by sending a standardized email request form to each Judge’s Chambers. A group email address for each Judge’s Chambers has been established for this purpose as provided below. Attorneys and unrepresented parties will indicate the reason for the requested conference. Chambers shall then determine whether a conference is necessary or appropriate and direct the manner of the conference, i.e., by telephone or video. judgedestefanoremote@nycourts.gov |
| Nassau County | Hon. Timothy S. Driscoll |
Attorneys may request a priority conference with the Court on pending matters by sending a standardized email request form to each Judge’s Chambers. A group email address for each Judge’s Chambers has been established for this purpose as provided below. Attorneys and unrepresented parties will indicate the reason for the requested conference. Chambers shall then determine whether a conference is necessary or appropriate and direct the manner of the conference, i.e., by telephone or video. judgedriscollremote@nycourts.gov |
| Nassau County | Hon. Jerome Murphy |
Attorneys may request a priority conference with the Court on pending matters by sending a standardized email request form to each Judge’s Chambers. A group email address for each Judge’s Chambers has been established for this purpose as provided below. Attorneys and unrepresented parties will indicate the reason for the requested conference. Chambers shall then determine whether a conference is necessary or appropriate and direct the manner of the conference, i.e., by telephone or video. judgemurphyremote@nycourts.gov |
| New York County | Hon. Andrew Borrok | Email: SFC-Part53@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| New York County | Hon. Joel M. Cohen | Email: sfc-part3@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| New York County | Hon. Marcy Friedman | Until further notice, communications with the Court should be directed to the Part 60 email Eamil: SFC-PART60@nycourts.gov. Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| New York County | Hon. Andrea Masley | Email: sfc-part48@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| New York County | Hon. Barry Ostrager | Email: SFC-PART61@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy all parties |
| New York County | Hon. Saliann Scarpulla | Email: Part-39@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| New York County | Hon. Jennifer G. Schecter | All requests for conferences should be made by contacting Justice Schecter’s Principal Law Clerk Michael Rand by email at mrand@nycourts.gov, copying all counsel and setting forth the reason for and nature of the conference requested. |
| New York County | Hon. O. Peter Sherwood |
To schedule a conference, the attorneys should email the clerk assigned to their case. Cases with even index numbers (excluding the year) are generally assigned to Ms. Crasson [scrasson@nycourts.gov]. |
| Onondaga County | Hon. Deborah H. Karalunas | Email: Judge-Karalunas-Chambers@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| Onondaga County | Hon. Anthony J. Paris | Email: Judge-Paris-Chambers@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| Onondaga County | Hon. Donald A. Greenwood | Email: Judge-Greenwood-Chambers@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| Queens County | Hon. Marguerite A. Grays | Email: QNSCDPTB@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| Queens County | Hon. Leonard Livote | Email: QNSCDPTA@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| Queens County | Hon. Joseph Risi | Email; QNSCDPTC@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| Suffolk County | Hon. Elizabeth Hazlitt Emerson | Emails have been created for each Judicial Part. These Part emails may be utilized by the bar to request a conference with the Court. Contact via email @ Sufemerson@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| Suffolk County | Hon. Jerry Garguilo | Emails have been created for each Judicial Part. These Part emails may be utilized by the bar to request a conference with the Court. Contact via email @ Sufgarguilo@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| Suffolk County | Hon. James Hudson | Emails have been created for each Judicial Part. These Part emails may be utilized by the bar to request a conference with the Court. Contact via email @ Sufhudson@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| Westchester County | Hon. Gretchen Walsh | The best means to request a conference call is through assistant court attorney Ryan Wintermute rjwinter@nycourts.gov. Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| Westchester County | Hon. Linda S. Jamieson | Communication via email by contacting assistant court attorney, Joseph Hadala: jhadala@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| 7th Judicial District | Hon. J. Scott Odorisi | The Court is available to conduct conferences – via either Skype for Business or the telephone. If you would like to schedule a conference, e-mail Maureen Ware at mware@nycourts.gov on notice to all parties. |
| 8th Judicial District | Hon. Emilio Colaiacovo | Emaill: ecolaiac@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |
| 8th Judicial District | Hon. Timothy J. Walker | Email: tjwalker@nycourts.gov Law Clerk: Darryl J. Colosi, Esq. Email: dcolosi@nycourts.gov Email requests for conference should copy counsel for all parties |