NYCLA Federal Court Committee Comments to Proposed Changes to EDNY – SDNY Joint Local Rules

Robert Rogers
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Counsel to the Clerk of Court
Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse 500 Pearl Street
New York, New York 10007-1312 September 17, 2024

Re: NYCLA Federal Court’s Committee Comments on the Proposed Changes to EDNY-SDNY Joint Local Rules

Dear Mr. Rogers,

The New York County Lawyers Association’s Federal Courts Committee (“Committee”) supports the passage of the Proposed Changes to the EDNY-SDNY Joint Local Rules noticed on July 8, 2024.

In particular, the Committee wants to highlight its strong support for Proposed Local Civil Rule 1.4. The Proposed Changes to Local Civil Rule 1.4 allow for limited-scope representation of pro se litigants in civil cases and, as a result, enable attorneys to appear as counsel on behalf of otherwise unrepresented parties for a limited purpose, such as mediation, filing a particular motion, or some aspect of discovery. The Committee believes that the rule change promotes the laudable goal of facilitating recruitment of counsel to assist unrepresented parties in civil litigation. The Committee agrees with the Committee Notes that these changes will enhance access to justice for unrepresented parties, and it therefore strongly supports Proposed Revised Local Civil Rule 1.4.

The Committee also wants to highlight its strong support for Proposed New Local Criminal Rule 49.2. This proposed new rule prohibits represented criminal defendants from making pro se filings and establishes a procedure in the event that such a filing is made that includes forwarding the filing to the defendant’s attorney of record under seal and ex parte. In addition to standardizing the practice for addressing filings of this nature, the Committee believes that the new rule commendably establishes a process for addressing the issues raised in any pro se submission that protects the defendant to the greatest extent possible. The Committee agrees with the Committee Notes that the new rule protects defendants against making incriminatory statements that could be later used against them in the proceeding and disclosing privileged communications with defense counsel, and properly involves current counsel in the process of addressing any issues.

And finally, The Committee is also strongly supportive of the changes to Local Civil Rule 7.1, which shift to a word count limitation, rather than a page count limitation. We feel this rule change will minimize confusion and opportunities for gamesmanship and harmonize the the practice of the District Courts with that of the Second Circuit, which already uses word count limitations.

Respectfully submitted,

New York County Lawyers Association
Michael B. Eisenkraft and Scott B. Klugman
Co-Chairs, Committee on the Federal Courts

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The views expressed are those of the Committee on Federal Courts only and approved for dissemination by the President; these views have not been approved by the New York County Lawyers Association Board of Directors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Board. For more information on NYCLA please visit nycla.org.