Judge Sean H. Lane

Staff Information

300 Quarropas Street
White Plains, NY 10601-4140
Chambers: (914) 467-7241

Courtroom Deputy: Liza Ebanks
(914) 467-7090

Law Clerk: Christine Azzaro
(914) 467-7240

Law Clerk: Alana Lyman
(914) 467-7251

Law Clerk: Sean Johannsen
(914) 467-7089

Orders submitted by email for Chapter 7, 11 and 15 cases should be sent to shl.orders@nysb.uscourts.gov.

Judge Tabs

Chambers' Rules

Unless otherwise ordered, matters before Judge Lane shall be conducted in accordance with any Case Management Order entered in the case and, to the extent not inconsistent, the following practices:

Scheduling

Pursuant to Local Rule 5070-1, a moving party or applicant must contact Chambers to obtain a hearing date prior to filing and serving a motion, cross-motion, application or any other request for relief requiring a hearing. All scheduling requests should be directed to Courtroom Deputy Liza Ebanks at shl.orders@nysb.uscourts.gov.
Judge Lane is no longer handling the Chapter 13 calendar for White Plains. For scheduling of Chapter 13 matters, parties should contact the Chambers of Judge Cecelia Morris.

Requests for relief requiring a hearing that are filed without first obtaining a hearing date will not be scheduled for hearing on the Court’s calendar until the movant contacts Chambers for a hearing date.

Parties may not grant extensions of time on briefing without prior consent from Chambers. Such extensions should be sought at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance of the applicable deadline.

Adjournments require advance approval from Chambers, which normally will be granted if agreed to by all parties seeking and opposing the relief in question. To seek an adjournment, the requesting party must email a request for adjournment to Chambers. If the request is not consented to by all interested parties, the email must state the basis for the request and be copied to all interested parties.

Requests for adjournment should be made no later than 12 noon on the business day before the scheduled hearing; requests made after that time will be granted only where good cause exists for the untimely request.

All adjournments that have been approved by Chambers must be noticed on the docket with a “Notice of Adjournment” prior to the original hearing date. A hearing will not be officially adjourned until the Notice of Adjournment is filed on the Electronic Case Filing (ECF) System.

Remote and In-Person Proceedings

Access by parties, parties in interest and the public to proceedings before Judge Lane will be in accordance with the revised policy, effective September 22, 2023, of the Judicial Conference of the United States concerning the public’s remote access to civil and bankruptcy proceedings and as set forth below. Information about the policy can be found here.
Attorneys seeking to participate remotely or in person must be admitted to the Court or admitted pro hac vice. (See Local Rule 2090-1).
Any person wishing to participate in or listen to a remote proceeding is required to register 24 hours in advance, as described below.
Any person wishing to attend a proceeding in person or to participate in a proceeding in person should also register 24 hours in advance.

Applicability of these Procedures

The procedures described below are of general application and are not meant as limitations on other rules that may be applicable and that may limit access to proceedings or to portions of proceedings, including without limitation Section 107 of the Bankruptcy Code, Rule 9018 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and Rule 615 of the Federal Rules of Evidence.

Courtroom Access

The courtroom will be open to all parties, parties in interest and the public for access to all hearings and trials, including access in the courtroom to testimony and/or argument that is presented either remotely or in person.

Remote Access to Non-Evidentiary Hearings

Attorneys who represent parties in non-evidentiary hearings, conferences, and other routine matters may participate in such matters by remote video access through Zoomgov, unless the Court directs otherwise.
Any creditor or other party in interest (as that term is used in the Bankruptcy Code and the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure) may also obtain remote video access to such matters through Zoomgov, but members of the public (including the media) may only obtain remote audio access through Zoomgov.
All persons using Zoomgov must register their appearances using the eCourt Appearance tool on the Court’s website: https://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/ecourt-appearances. Applicable Zoomgov hearing procedures are available here. Participation in Zoomgov hearings is free of charge for all parties.

Evidentiary Hearings and Trials

Evidentiary hearings and trials will be held in person in Judge Lane’s courtroom unless the Court orders otherwise. Ordinarily the participants in an evidentiary hearing or trial will be expected to be present in the courtroom. For cause shown, however, including under Fed. R. Civ. P. 43(a) where applicable, the Court may authorize that a particular evidentiary hearing or trial, or a portion thereof, be made accessible via remote means for parties, their attorneys, witnesses, and interpreters.
Creditors and other parties in interest (as that term is used in the Bankruptcy Code and the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure) that are not active participants in evidentiary hearings and trials will be permitted to obtain remote video access through Zoomgov to the portions of such proceedings that do not involve testimony. Members of the public (including the media) may have remote audio access to the portions of such proceedings that do not involve testimony.
Unless otherwise approved by the Court for cause shown, no one may have remote access to portions of a hearing that involve actual testimony. Parties should attend in-person in the courtroom if they wish to view live testimony.

First Day Hearings

Due to the expedited nature of such hearings, the Court will proceed with First Day Hearings by Zoomgov. Creditors and other parties in interest (as that term is used in the Bankruptcy Code and in the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure) will be permitted to have remote video access to such First Day Hearings through Zoomgov. Members of the public (including the media) may have remote audio access to the portions of such First Day Hearings that do not involve testimony.

Registering Appearances

Any person wishing to participate in or listen to a remote proceeding or to participate in a proceeding in person must register 24 hours in advance using the eCourt Appearance tool on the Court’s website: https://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/ecourt-appearances.
For those parties participating in or listening to a remote proceeding, Outlook invitations for the hearing will be sent after 4:00 PM the business day before the hearing.
Applicable Zoomgov hearing procedures are available here. Participation in Zoomgov hearings is free of charge for all parties.

Orders to Show Cause

Parties must contact Chambers upon the filing an order to show cause or motion to shorten time. (See Local Rule 9077-1(a)). Counsel should be prepared to submit the following documents by email for the Court’s review: (i) a copy of the underlying motion, (ii) proposed order to show cause (in Word format only), and (iii) a supporting affidavit.

Any request for an order to show cause should be filed on the Electronic Case Filing (ECF) system at the same time that the documents are submitted to Chambers. Orders to show cause will not be considered by the Court until the relevant documents have been filed on ECF and submitted to Chambers by email for review. Upon consideration of the requested relief, the Court will contact the movant regarding the disposition of the requested order to show cause.

Injunctive relief will not, except in a demonstrated emergency, be granted without the party against whom relief is sought being given an opportunity to be heard.

Notices of Presentment

Parties wishing to move by notice of presentment should consult Local Bankruptcy Rule 9074-1 to determine what matters may be handled on presentment. The rule also describes the notice and filing requirements when submitting a motion or application by presentment. If you have a question regarding whether a matter may be heard on presentment, please contact Chambers.

Motions for relief from the automatic stay will not be considered on presentment. Additionally, relief that is likely to be opposed should not be sought by presentment.

Parties do not need to contact Chambers to schedule a date and time for presentment but must contact the Courtroom Deputy for a hearing date if an objection is filed.

After the applicable objection deadline has passed, but prior to the scheduled date and time for presentment, the underlying motion, a certificate of service, and an electronic version of the proposed order in Word format should be emailed to Chambers at shl.orders@nysb.uscourts.gov. The transmittal email must represent that (i) the movant sought relief by notice of presentment and (ii) the objection period has passed and no objections have been filed.

Submission of Orders

Proposed orders must be filed as an exhibit to moving papers. If prior to a hearing on a motion, the movant anticipates seeking approval of a modified version of its original proposed order, it should file a redlined version to ensure that interested parties and the Court have notice of the modified proposed order that the movant wishes to have approved.

If no timely objection is filed, the movant must file a Certificate of No Objection as promptly as practicable in accordance with Local Rule 9075-2, and preferably no later than seventy-two (72) hours before the scheduled hearing. If such a certificate is filed, the Court will determine whether the hearing needs to go forward, and, if it determines that no hearing is required, it may enter an order resolving the motion and/or cancelling the scheduled hearing.
Unless otherwise provided by the Court, proposed orders must be submitted by e-mail in Word format, with any exhibits or attachments in PDF format, to shl.orders@nysb.uscourts.gov after: (i) any hearing on the matter, (ii) the passage of a presentment date with no objections filed, or (iii) any cancellation of a scheduled hearing as to a motion to which no objections were filed. When submitting a proposed order to Chambers for entry when there has not been a hearing, the underlying motion with all exhibits, a certificate of service and a certificate of no objection should be attached to the email in addition to the proposed order. In all cases, if the proposed order differs from the proposed order that was initially submitted with the motion, the submitting party must provide a separate redlined version showing differences between the originally proposed order and the final version.
Do not email any proposed order to individual members of Chambers or the Clerk’s Office unless you are instructed to do so.
All proposed orders submitted to the Court by email should be accompanied by a cover email that contains the following information:
- The name, telephone number and email address of the person submitting the order;
- The case name and docket number and the ECF document numbers of the relevant motion papers; and
- If the relief was granted by the Court, a representation that the relief was granted and the date on which it was granted.

2004 Orders

Requests for Bankruptcy Rule 2004 orders may be submitted ex parte on presentment, but the Court in its discretion may require notice and a hearing.

If a party anticipates that a request for a 2004 order will be opposed, such request must be scheduled for a hearing on appropriate notice.

Sealing Orders

Requests for filing and maintaining information under seal may be submitted ex parte and must indicate the grounds for sealing and (if applicable) for proceeding ex parte. The requesting party must provide a proposed order. A party requesting sealing must submit to Chambers both a copy of: (i) the relevant document in proposed redacted form for filing on the docket and (ii) an unredacted copy of the same document, labeled “confidential” and with each proposed redacted portion highlighted.

Every proposed order requesting sealing must provide: (i) that the unredacted version of the sealed document[s] shall not be made available to any party without the consent of the party that submitted the document; (ii) that it is without prejudice to the rights of any party in interest, or the United States Trustee, to seek to unseal the document[s] or any part thereof; (iii) that the movant shall submit an unredacted copy of each sealed document[s] to the Clerk of the Court under seal in an envelope, marked to indicate that the same has been filed under seal by order of this Court, unless at the time of the motion the Court has adopted different procedures for the submission of sealed documents; and (iv) that upon the passing of forty-five (45) days after the final disposition of the bankruptcy proceedings, any party that has filed materials under seal shall reclaim all documents filed under seal or, alternatively, the Office of the Clerk of the Court shall be authorized to destroy said documents in a manner consistent with the need to preserve confidentiality.

Parties should follow the Court’s Interim Under Seal Filing Procedures, available at: https://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/general-orders-and-guidance-created-covid-19.

Pursuant to the Court’s Interim Under Seal Filing Procedures, courtesy copies of redacted, under seal or highly sensitive documents that are related to motions to seal or motions to treat a document as highly should only be sent by postal mail to the White Plains Divisional Office.

Conferences

Requests for conferences should ordinarily be made by letter emailed to shl.orders@nysb.uscourts.gov, together with a follow-up call to Liza Ebanks, Courtroom Deputy. The letter requesting the conference should ordinarily be filed on the Electronic Case Filing (ECF) System. The letter should include the reason for the conference request and must be no longer than two (2) pages in length.

If the request for a conference is granted and the conference is being conducted off-the-record, parties should submit a conference call-in number and passcode to Chambers. If the conference is to be conducted on-the-record, parties will be instructed by Chambers to participate by Zoomgov.

Form and Content of Briefs

Unless ordered otherwise, briefs and motions with embedded argument and citations shall be submitted in text searchable format and include a table of contents, headings, and a table of authorities.

Except as otherwise permitted by the Court, moving and responsive briefs shall be no more than forty (40) pages in length. Reply briefs shall be no more than twenty (20) pages exclusive of the table of contents and table of authorities.

Copies of Pleadings

Parties must provide two copies of every pleading, with exhibits, to Chambers at the time of filing and service. Courtesy copies of all documents should be sent to the White Plains Divisional Office.

Two sets of hearing binders should be provided two days prior to a scheduled hearing. Hearing binders should be sent to the White Plains Divisional Office.

UNDER SEAL/CONFIDENTIAL FILINGS

Courtesy copies of redacted, under seal or highly sensitive documents that are related to motions to seal or motions to treat a document as highly sensitive should only be sent by postal mail or hand delivery to the White Plains Divisional Office.

Parties should follow the Court’s Interim Under Seal Filing Procedures, available at: https://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/general-orders-and-guidance-created-covid-19

"First Day" Motions

Parties wishing to schedule hearings on “first day” motions in Chapter 11 cases should contact Chambers on the date of filing to discuss scheduling of the hearing. The Court will not ordinarily schedule a hearing on “first day” motions until the second day of a case. All “first day” hearings will be conducted using Zoomgov.

It is expected that Debtor’s counsel will have consulted with the United States Trustee in advance regarding all relief to be requested at the “first day” hearing.

Two sets of binders for all all “first day” motions should be provided to Chambers at the White Plains Divisional Office in advance of the hearing.

Evidentiary Hearings and Trials

Written direct examinations or proffers may be used for evidentiary hearings and trials at the direction of the Court, or at the request of the parties unless the Court orders otherwise. Where such written direct examinations or proffers are used, the witness should be available for cross-examination and redirect.

Unless otherwise provided by the Court, the parties shall exchange pre-marked exhibits no less than fourteen days before trial of any matter.

Parties in adversary proceedings should be prepared at the first pretrial conference to discuss the scheduling of discovery and to submit a joint pretrial scheduling order. Judge Lane’s form of pretrial scheduling order can be found here.

Parties in adversary proceedings are required to submit to the Court a joint pretrial order at least seven days before the trial date unless the Court orders otherwise. Judge Lane’s form of joint pretrial order can be found here.

Motions in limine with respect to the exclusion of proposed evidence that will materially affect the conduct of the trial must be filed at least five days before trial, with responses due at least two days before trial.

During the COVID pandemic, the method for proceeding with trial (whether live or by Zoomgov or other means) will be discussed at the final pretrial conference.

Discovery Disputes

Pursuant to Local Rule 7007-1(b), discovery motions may not be filed until the parties have (a) conferred among themselves to resolve the dispute and (b) participated in a conference with the Court. Parties should contact Chambers to schedule a discovery conference, which will be conducted by Zoomgov in most cases.

Prior to any request for a conference on a discovery issue, the party requesting the conference is required to make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute with opposing counsel consistent with Local Rule 7007-1(a).

Letters regarding discovery disputes are discouraged prior to a conference with the Court. During the discovery conference, the Court will determine whether written submissions and/or motion practice is necessary.

Case Management Orders

Case Management Orders are often entered in cases where significant activity is foreseeable. Parties are expected to check the docket to ascertain whether a Case Management Order has been entered (or amended), and to comply with Case Management Order requirements. In the event of any conflict between these Chambers Rules and the requirements of any Case Management Order, the Case Management Order will control.

Technology in Judge Lane's Courtroom

The use of technology in the Hon. Charles L. Brieant, Jr. Federal Courthouse is governed by Standing Order M10-468 of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. A copy of the standing order can be found here. Attorneys appearing before Judge Lane should review the standing order to determine the technology that may be brought into the Courthouse and by whom.

An order approved by Judge Lane is required for attorneys to bring personal electronic devices and general purpose computing devices (including cellphones) into the Hon. Charles L. Brieant, Jr. Federal Courthouse for use during a trial or proceeding before Judge Lane. A link to a sample order can be found here. Attorneys are encouraged to submit an order to Judge Lane’s Chambers for approval as soon as possible before the hearing in question and, in any case, no later than two business days’ prior to the hearing. Failure to do so may result in the inability to bring technology (including cellphones) into the Courthouse.

All requests for access to Wi-Fi in the Hon. Charles L. Brieant, Jr. Federal Courthouse must be directed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The instructions to make a request to the District Court for Wi-Fi access can be found here.

Miscellaneous

Questions on all other issues should be directed to Chambers, either to Courtroom Deputy Liza Ebanks or the law clerk assigned to the case. However, counsel are urged to limit all communications with Chambers to matters that cannot be resolved without such direct communication.

Ex parte communications with members of Chambers regarding substantive issues before the Court are strictly prohibited.

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Profile

Sean H. Lane was sworn in as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York on September 7, 2010.

Judge Lane earned his B.A. from New York University College of Arts & Science in 1987 and his J.D. degree from New York University School of Law in 1991. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Edmund V. Ludwig, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, from 1991-92. Judge Lane also clerked for the Honorable Charles R. Richey, United States District Judge for the District of Columbia, from 1992-93. From 1993 through 1997, he practiced with the law firm of Baker Hostetler in Washington, D.C., and thereafter he served as a Trial Attorney in the Department of Justice, Civil Division, National Courts Section, until 2000. From 2000 until he was appointed to the bench, Judge Lane served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, including serving as the Chief of the Tax & Bankruptcy Unit of that Office. During his time in the US Attorney's Office, he was awarded the Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award in 2005 and the Henry L. Stimson Medal by the New York City Bar Association in 2008.

Judge Lane is a member of the Federal Bar Council. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at both New York University School of Law and Fordham Law School.

United States Bankruptcy Court

Southern District of New York

Honorable Martin Glenn, Chief Judge • Vito Genna, Clerk of Court

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Judge Sean H. Lane

Staff Information

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