Judge James L. Garrity, Jr.

Staff Information

One Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004-1408
Chambers: (212) 668-5632
Courtroom: 723

Courtroom Deputy: Willie Rodriguez
(212) 284-4097

Law Clerk: Michelle Saney
(212) 284-4057

Law Clerk: : Jonathan Fisher
(212) 284-4046

Law Clerk: Michael Sabino
(212) 284-4003

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Chambers' Rules

Unless otherwise ordered, including by any Case Management Order entered in the case, matters before Judge Garrity shall be conducted in accordance with 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 Willie Rodriguez, Courtroom Deputy.
Parties may grant extensions of time on briefing only with prior consent from Chambers; requests should be directed to the Courtroom Deputy.
Adjournments of hearing (including hearings on contested matters and status conferences), other than those requested at the hearing, will be granted (i) if agreed to by all parties and granted by the Court, or (ii) after consent is sought and denied, as granted by the Court after a request to Chambers, copied to the other side, and stating the basis for the request. In either case the moving party must contact the Courtroom Deputy to obtain the adjournment.
Requests for adjournment should be made no later than 12:00 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 must be noticed with the filing and service of a "Notice of Adjournment" prior to the original hearing date. A hearing will not be officially adjourned until the Notice of Adjournment has been filed on the Electronic Case Filing (ECF) System.

Orders to Show Cause

Parties must contact Chambers prior to filing an order to show cause or a motion to shorten notice. (See Local Rule 9077-1(a)). Counsel should be prepared to submit the following documents for the Court's review: a copy of the underlying motion that the party seeks to have heard on an expedited basis, a proposed order to show cause (in Word or WordPerfect format only) and a supporting affidavit.
If the request for an order to show cause or motion to shorten notice is granted, the underlying motion and supporting affidavit must be filed on the Electronic Case Filing (ECF) system. The Court will contact the movant regarding the disposition of the requested order.

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 presenting a motion or application by presentment.
Motions for relief from stay will not be considered on presentment.
Parties do not need to contact Chambers to schedule a date and time for presentment but do need to contact the Courtroom Deputy for a hearing date in the event there is an objection.
The underlying motion and an electronic version of the proposed order in Word or WordPerfect format should be submitted to Chambers prior to the scheduled date and time for presentment.

Submission of Orders

Proposed orders must be filed as an exhibit to moving papers.
Proposed orders must be submitted by e-mail (in Word or WordPerfect format) to garrity.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov either when the courtesy copies of the moving papers are sent to Chambers or after a hearing on the matter.
Do not email any proposed order to individual members of Chambers or the Clerk's Office, unless you are instructed to do so.

2004 Orders

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

Sealing Orders

Requests for filing and maintaining information under seal may be submitted ex parte and must indicate the grounds for sealing. A party requesting sealing must submit to Chambers a copy of the relevant pleading clearly labeled as confidential.
- the pleading must be in unredacted form, highlighting the portions proposed to be redacted.
- redactions should be the minimum necessary to protect information that is truly confidential.
- if redactions are excessive, the motion will be denied in its entirety.
After the sealing order has been entered, the requesting party must provide to the Office of the Clerk of Court:
- the signed sealing order with the docket entry number of the order;
- one paper copy of the unredacted document to be sealed;
- a CD or flash drive which contains a "pdf" version of the unredacted document
Wherever possible a proposed order requesting sealing should set a date by which the confidential treatment of the sealed material will end and the material may be filed in the public docket. The order may reserve the right of the requesting party to extend the period under which the relevant material remains under seal.
Every proposed order requesting sealing must provide for the movant to unseal or dispose of the confidential information at the conclusion of the matter unless it has already been moved to the public docket.
Every proposed sealing order must provide, in substance, that it is without prejudice to the rights of any party in interest, or the UST, to seek to unseal the document or any part of it.

Conferences

Requests for conferences should ordinarily be made by letter, and emailed to garrity.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov, together with a follow-up call to the 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 pages in length.
If a telephonic conference is granted, parties should submit a conference call-in number and passcode to Chambers.

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.

Copies of Pleadings

Parties must provide 2 hard copies of every pleading, with exhibits, to Chambers at the time of service. Chambers copies of pleadings should be printed single-sided.

"First Day" Motions

Parties wishing to schedule first day hearings in Chapter 11 cases should contact the Courtroom Deputy on the date of filing to discuss scheduling of the hearing. Two copies of first day motions, printed single-sided, should be provided to Chambers in advance of the hearing.
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.

Evidentiary Hearings and Trials

Parties in adversary proceedings should be prepared at the first pretrial conference to submit a joint pretrial scheduling order.

Parties are required to submit to the Court a joint pretrial order at least seven (7) days before the trial date unless the Court orders otherwise. Judge Garrity’s form of pretrial order may be found here.

Unless the Court orders otherwise, motions in limine must be filed at least fourteen (14) days before trial, with responses due seven days before trial.

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

Each side must provide the Court with two sets of pre-marked exhibits at least seven (7) days before the trial date. The exhibits should be bound in a loose-leaf and include a table of contents. Exhibits must be separated by exhibit tabs that identify the exhibit by number or letter. In addition, if the exhibits are voluminous, the parties should arrange to display the exhibits electronically on the monitors located in the courtroom.

Written direct examinations or proffers may not be used for evidentiary hearings and trials unless the Court orders otherwise.

Discovery Disputes

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

Telephonic Appearances

Unless the Court provides otherwise, parties wishing to participate in a hearing telephonically must register with Court Solutions. Attorneys seeking to participate must be admitted to the Court or admitted pro hac vice. (See Local Rule 2090-1). Information on how to register with Court Solutions can be found in General Order M-543.
Parties that wish to “listen in” on a hearing are not required to receive consent from Chambers prior to registering with Court Solutions, nor to be admitted to the court or to be admitted pro hac vice.
Parties that wish to make a "live" telephonic appearance in order to speak or make argument are required to receive permission from Chambers prior to registering with Court Solutions. Parties seeking permission to participate telephonically must send a written request by email to Garrity.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov at least two business days prior to the hearing, and should be prepared to provide the following information: Name of party that the attorney is representing, the motion on which the attorney intends to argue, and the reason that a telephonic appearance is necessary.
Counsel and pro se parties are not permitted to participate telephonically for any hearings of an evidentiary nature, including the examination of witnesses or the submission of evidence. The Court may make exceptions to this rule during the COVID-19 pandemic during which time all hearings are held telephonically.

Motions for Relief from Stay and Accompanying Orders

Motions for Relief from Stay and Accompanying Orders:

Motions for relief from the automatic stay will not be considered on presentment. All motions for relief from stay must have a hearing date and require an appearance by the moving party even if unopposed, unless the motion has been resolved by agreement prior to the hearing date and the Court has excused the need for an appearance.
Motions for relief from the automatic stay of any act against property of the estate should ordinarily be scheduled for an initial hearing within 30 days after the motion is filed. If a motion is scheduled for an initial hearing beyond the 30-day period, the moving party must file a letter waiving the provisions of § 362(e).
All orders granting relief from the automatic stay must state that the trustee will be notified of any surplus proceeds realized after a sale.
Attorneys' fees and costs for filing a motion for relief from the automatic stay may be recovered solely from the proceeds of sale of collateral. Fees and costs will not be awarded unless the request for such fees and costs is included within the motion itself and stated orally by the moving party at the hearing on the motion. Fees and costs are limited to those orally granted by the Court at the hearing on the motion.
Requests to waive the provisions of Rule 3002.1 and/or Rule 4001(a)(3) of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure must be included within the motion itself and stated orally by the moving party at the hearing. An order granting relief from the stay may contain a waiver of those provisions only if the Court orally directs that the provisions be waived at the hearing.
A stipulation or conditional order resolving a motion for relief from the automatic stay will be approved by the Court only if the order provides, in the event of default under the order, for the filing of a notice of default on ECF, service on at least seven (7) days' notice to the Debtor and Debtor's counsel (if any), and entry of a separate order by the Court lifting the stay. Stipulations or conditional orders that provide for the stay to terminate automatically upon a default under the order will not be approved.
A stipulation or conditional order resolving a motion for relief from the automatic stay shall not condition the stay on the Debtor remaining current on future post-petition payments beyond those necessary to cure the arrears that exist as of the time the order is signed.

Miscellaneous

Questions on all other issues should be directed to Chambers, either to the Courtroom Deputy or the law clerks.

Calendars

Court Calendar

Opinions

Judge Garrity's Opinions

Profile

James L. Garrity, Jr. was sworn in as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York on February 17, 2015. Judge Garrity received a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross, a J.D. from St. John's University School of Law and an LL. M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law. At the time of his appointment, he was a partner in the law firm of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP and the co-head of the Bankruptcy & Restructuring group. Judge Garrity is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, a member of the American Law Institute and a member of the International Insolvency Institute. He is an adjunct professor at St. John's University School of Law's LLM in Bankruptcy Program.

United States Bankruptcy Court

Southern District of New York

Honorable Cecelia G. Morris, Chief Judge • Vito Genna, Clerk of Court

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Judge James L. Garrity, Jr.

Staff Information

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