Judge David S. Jones

Staff Information

One Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004-1408
Chambers: (212) 668-5660
Courtroom: 701

Courtroom Deputy: Lynda Calderon
(212) 284-4055

Law Clerk: Ye Eun Ahn
(212) 284-4054

Law Clerk: Marc Veilleux
(212) 284-4034

Law Clerk: Jack Manchester
(212) 284-4048

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Chambers' Rules

Unless otherwise ordered, matters before Judge Jones 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 by telephone or email to Courtroom Deputy Lynda Calderon at jones.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov.

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 absent leave of Court.

Parties may not grant extensions of time on briefing without prior consent from Chambers, except that parties may agree to modify deadlines without leave of Court so long as the reply deadline is not affected and any existing orders are adhered to. Extensions requiring Court approval should be sought at least 24 hours before the affected deadline.

Adjournments require advance Chambers approval, 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 that, if the request is not on consent of all interested parties, must state the basis for the request. The email request must be copied to all interested parties known to the requesting party.

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 prior to the original hearing date must be noticed on the docket with a “Notice of Adjournment” filed as promptly as possible, and prior to the original hearing date. The Notice of Adjournment must identify any deadlines that have been changed in conjunction with the adjournment. A hearing will not be officially adjourned until the Notice of Adjournment is filed on the Electronic Case Filing (ECF) System.

Orders to Show Cause

Parties must contact Chambers prior to filing an order to show cause. (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, a proposed order to show cause (in Word format only), and a supporting affidavit.
If the request for an order to show cause is granted, the papers must be filed on the Electronic Case Filing (ECF) system. The Court will contact the movant regarding the disposition of the requested order to show cause.

Remote and In-Person Proceedings

In compliance 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, hearings before Judge Jones will be conducted as set forth below. Information about the policy can be found here.

Evidentiary Hearings and Trials

Evidentiary hearings and trials will be held in-person in Judge Jones’s courtroom unless the Court orders otherwise. For cause shown, including under Fed. R. Civ. P. 43(a) where applicable, the Court may authorize that the evidentiary hearing or trial be made accessible via Zoom for Government or other remote means for certain parties-in-interest, their attorneys, witnesses, and interpreters. Pursuant to the Judicial Conference’s remote access policy, public attendees, including members of the media, generally may not access evidentiary hearings and trials via remote means and should attend in-person in the courtroom.

Non-Evidentiary Hearings

Non-evidentiary hearings, conferences, and other routine matters will be conducted remotely via Zoom for Government unless the Court orders otherwise. Any person wishing to attend the remote hearing must register their appearance using the eCourt Appearance tool, which is available here, by 4:00 p.m. the business day before the hearing or conference. Pursuant to the Judicial Conference’s remote access policy, public attendees, including members of the media, may only receive remote audio access to the hearing. Upon prior request by any person, the Court will consider conducting the proceeding in a hybrid format that will permit unrestricted in-person observation of the proceeding in Judge Jones’s courtroom.

First Day Hearings

Due to the exigencies often associated with first day hearings in chapter 11 cases, unless the Court orders otherwise, such hearings will be conducted from Judge Jones’s courtroom in a hybrid format that will permit either in-person attendance or remote participation via Zoom for Government. The courtroom will be open to all parties and to the public for unrestricted access to the proceeding, including all testimony and/or argument that is presented either remotely or in person. Any person wishing to attend the first day hearing remotely must register their appearance using the eCourt Appearance tool, which is available here, when possible by 4:00 p.m. the day before the hearing, and no later than one hour before the scheduled hearing time. Pursuant to the Judicial Conference’s remote access policy, public attendees, including members of the media, may receive remote audio access only to the portions of the first day hearing not involving live witness testimony.

Remote Access Procedures

Parties and members of the public who wish to (i) participate “live” or (ii) listen to a hearing by audio feed may do so without requesting permission from Chambers. Anyone wishing to do so must register for an eCourt Appearance by the deadline set by these Chambers rules, ordinarily 4:00 p.m. the business day before the hearing. Procedures for doing so are available here.

Outlook invitations to persons who registered for remote access will be sent after 4:00 p.m. the business day before the hearing. Please do not contact Chambers before the 4:00 p.m. deadline to ask whether you have successfully registered. Once you have registered you will see a screen that states “Thank you for registering your appearance in [Case number/name].” This is confirmation that you have successfully registered.

Notices of Presentment

Parties wishing to move by notice of presentment should consult Local 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 must contact the Courtroom Deputy for a hearing date if there is an objection.
After the applicable objection deadline has passed, the underlying motion, a certificate of service, and an electronic version of the proposed order in Word format should be submitted to Chambers prior to the scheduled date and time for presentment. The transmittal communication must represent that (i) the movant sought relief by notice of presentment and (ii) the objection period has passed and no objections were filed.

Submission of Orders

Proposed orders must be filed as an exhibit to moving papers. If practicable and if, prior to a hearing on a motion, the moving party 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 consistent with Local Rule 9075-2, and when possible no later than 72 hours before the scheduled hearing. If such a certificate is filed, the Court will determine whether the hearing needs to go forward. If the Court determines that no hearing is required, it will 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 dsj.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:
- a. The name, telephone number and email address of the person submitting the order;
- b. The case name and docket number and the ECF document numbers of the relevant motion papers; and
- c. 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 2004 orders may be submitted ex parte, although the Court prefers such applications to be made on notice to the affected parties, and the Court in its discretion may require notice and/or a hearing. An acceptable form of Rule 2004 order appears here

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 (a) the relevant document in proposed redacted form for filing on the docket and (b) an unredacted copy of the same document, labeled “confidential” and with each proposed redacted portion highlighted. Redactions should be kept to the minimum necessary to protect truly confidential information.
Every proposed order requesting sealing must provide (1) 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; (2) for the appropriate disposition of the sealed document[s] at the conclusion of the matter; (3) 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; and (4) that the movant shall submit an unredacted copy of each sealed document[s] to the Clerk of this 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.
Parties should refer to the Copies of Pleadings category below for instructions on how to submit highly sensitive documents to Chambers and should contact Chambers by email with any questions.
Parties should additionally refer to Local Rule 9018-1 for requests to file documents under seal.

Conferences

Requests for conferences should ordinarily be made by letter emailed to jones.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov, together with a follow-up call to Lynda Calderon, Courtroom Deputy. The letter requesting the conference should ordinarily be filed on the Electronic Case Filing (ECF) System. The letter must be no longer than three pages in length, and should explain (i) the reason for the conference request, (ii) whether a video or telephonic conference is sought, and (iii) whether the requesting party believes the conference should be on the record.

The Court prefers to conduct conferences on the record, usually via Zoom. Any party may request that a conference be conducted in person rather than remotely. If an off-the-record telephonic conference is scheduled, the requesting party should submit a conference call-in number and passcode to Chambers and to all call participants.

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 35 pages in length and reply briefs shall be no more than 15 pages, in each case exclusive of the cover and tables of contents and authorities.

Copies of Pleadings

Parties must provide a copy of every pleading, with exhibits, to Chambers at the time of filing and service, by email to jones.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov. Hard copies are not required unless specifically requested by Chambers. Should a party be unable to email a document due to its size, such party should contact Chambers by email.

With respect to a motion to seal, a party should email such motion to Chambers together with a Word version of the proposed order, but the party should not send via email a copy of the highly sensitive document that is the subject of the motion to seal. Such document should be sent to Chambers in hard copy only.

"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. Two copies of “first day” motions 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. Judge Jones’s form of pretrial scheduling order can be found here.
The Court anticipates that it will conduct evidentiary hearings and trials in person in Judge Jones’s courtroom absent a request for cause shown for a hybrid or fully remote proceeding. The parties to any evidentiary proceeding should confer and jointly propose an order setting forth applicable procedures no later than seven days before the proceeding. Those procedures necessarily will take into account the nature of the proceeding at issue. An example of an appropriate order can be found at In re KB US Holdings, Inc., No. 20-22962 (SHL), Dkt. No. 176 (Sept. 18, 2020).
Unless otherwise directed or authorized by the Court, sworn written direct examinations or proffers generally should be used for evidentiary hearings and trials. Judge Jones will permit brief overview or introductory direct testimony to be presented live if counsel believe that would aid in their presentation of the case. Where written direct examinations or proffers are used, the witness must be available for cross-examination and redirect. Such sworn written statements shall be exchanged by the parties and submitted to Chambers no later than seven days before the hearing or trial. Parties who wish to present oral direct testimony of any witness must provide seven days’ advance notice to their adversary and the Court.
Unless otherwise provided by the Court, the parties shall exchange pre-marked exhibits (other than those intended to be used for rebuttal or impeachment) no less than fourteen days before a contested evidentiary hearing or trial of any matter, and shall provide two indexed sets of exhibits to Chambers at least seven days before the evidentiary hearing or trial. Reasonable requests to modify the date for exchange of pre-marked exhibits generally will be granted if the parties agree and/or if the matter’s litigation schedule makes the fourteen-day requirement impracticable.
Parties in adversary proceedings must submit to the Court a joint pretrial order at least seven days before the trial date unless the Court orders otherwise. Judge Jones’s form of joint pretrial order can be found here.
Parties are encouraged to file motions in limine with respect to proposed evidence whose exclusion will materially affect the conduct of the trial. Such motions must be filed at least fourteen days before trial, with responses due at least seven days before trial.
Where relatively junior attorneys are familiar with a matter under consideration but have less in-court experience than a colleague, Judge Jones will welcome the junior lawyer’s active participation, and is amenable to allowing more than one attorney to speak during the proceeding. The ultimate decision of who speaks on behalf of a client rests with counsel, not the Court.

Discovery Disputes

Pursuant to Local Rule 7007-1(b), discovery motions may not be filed until the parties have (a) conferred to attempt to resolve the dispute and (b) participated in a conference with the Court. Parties should contact Chambers in writing to request a discovery conference, which may be telephonic.
Before 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).
Parties may contact Chambers by telephone regarding disputes that arise during depositions or in other situations requiring immediate judicial attention. Parties should attempt to avoid the need for such applications and must make a good faith effort to resolve a dispute before contacting Chambers.

Case Management Orders

Parties are expected to check the docket to ascertain whether a Case Management Order has been entered (or amended), and to comply with the requirements of any such order. In the event of any conflict between these Chambers Rules and the requirements of any Case Management Order, the Case Management Order will control.

Miscellaneous

Judge Jones aspires to promptly resolve all matters before him. Any party may alert Chambers of any application the party is concerned the Court may be overlooking by emailing jones.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov, copying all counsel and pro se parties who have appeared in the case, and referencing the case name and docket number, the motion or application about which the party is inquiring, and the date of the last relevant submission or argument. Judge Jones typically acts within three or fewer business days on conference requests and on orders submitted following presentment, a certificate of no objection, or an oral ruling. Parties also may notify Chambers if 45 days have passed following the later of a hearing or the last date of supplemental briefing on a motion or contested matter on which Judge Jones has reserved decision.
Questions on all other issues should be directed to Chambers, either to Lynda Calderon, Courtroom Deputy, 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.

Forms

1.   Scheduling Order
2.   Rule 2004 Order
3.   Joint Pretrial Order

Calendars

Court Calendar

Opinions

Judge Jones' Opinions

Zoom Hearings

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eCourt Appearances

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Chapter 13

Profile

David S. Jones was sworn in as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York on February 19, 2021.

Judge Jones received his A.B. magna cum laude from Brown University in 1985 and his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1990. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Morris E. Lasker, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, from 1990 through 1992. Judge Jones was in private practice in New York from 1992 through 1996. From 1996 until he was appointed to the bench, Judge Jones served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and at different times served as the Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Tax and Bankruptcy Unit; the Office’s Chief Civil Appellate Attorney; and Deputy Chief of the Civil Division. He received awards including the Justice Department’s Director’s Award and the New York City Bar Association’s Henry L. Stimson Medal. Judge Jones also served as an instructor at the National Advocacy Center, and an evaluator of U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the nation.

Judge Jones frequently speaks at bankruptcy professional conferences and law schools. He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. He also serves on the Federal Judicial Center's Committee on Bankruptcy Judge Education.

United States Bankruptcy Court

Southern District of New York

Honorable Sean H. Lane, Chief Judge • Vito Genna, Clerk of Court

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Judge David S. Jones

Staff Information

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