SchedulingPursuant 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 the Courtroom Deputy by emailing JPM.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. 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 existing orders are adhered to. Extensions requiring Court approval should be sought at least twenty-four (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 and, if the request is not on consent of all interested parties, the party 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. Remote and In-Person ProceedingsIn 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 Mastando 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 Mastando’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 Mastando’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 Mastando’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. Orders to Show CauseParties 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, 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. Notices of PresentmentParties 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 notify Chambers at JPM.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov for a hearing date in the event there is an objection. After the applicable objection period has passed, the underlying motion 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 cover must contain a representation that (i) the movant sought relief by notice of presentment and (ii) the objection period has passed and no objections were filed. Submission of OrdersProposed 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 JPM.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 OrdersRequests for 2004 Orders may be submitted to Chambers ex parte, although written notice given to the affected parties is preferred, but the Court in its discretion may require notice and a hearing. Sealing OrdersRequests 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) for the appropriate disposition of the sealed document[s] at the conclusion of the matter; (iii) 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 (iv) 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. ConferencesRequests for conferences should ordinarily be made by letter, and emailed to the Courtroom Deputy and the Law Clerks at JPM.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 BriefsUnless 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 permitted by the Court, moving and responsive briefs shall be no more than 30 pages in length. Reply briefs shall be no more than 15 pages exclusive of the table of contents and table of authorities. "First Day" MotionsParties wishing to schedule “first day” hearings 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 TrialsParties in adversary proceedings should be prepared at the first pretrial conference to submit a joint pretrial scheduling order. Judge Mastando’s form of pretrial scheduling order may be found here. Unless otherwise directed or authorized by the Court, sworn written direct examinations or proffers may be used for evidentiary hearings and trials, absent objection. Where such 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 5 days before the hearing or trial. 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 (14) days before a contested evidentiary hearing or trial. No less than five (5) days before the evidentiary hearing or trial, the parties shall have agreed on the admissibility of as many exhibits as possible and provide two complete sets of the exhibits to Chambers in indexed joint exhibit books. Reasonable requests to modify the date for exchange of pre-marked exhibits generally will be granted if the matter’s litigation schedule makes the fourteen (14) day requirement impracticable. Parties 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 Mastando’s form of joint pretrial order may be found here. Motions in limine must be filed at least fourteen days before trial, with responses due 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 Mastando 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 DisputesPursuant to Local Rule 7007-1(b), discovery motions may not be filed until the parties have (i) conferred to attempt to resolve the dispute and (ii) 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). If a conference is requested, the party requesting the conference may submit a writing of not more than two pages in length to the Court on notice to counsel for all affected parties, including opposing counsel, explaining why there is a need for a conference on a discovery issue. 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. MiscellaneousQuestions on all other issues should be directed to Chambers, either to the Courtroom Deputy or the law clerk assigned to the case via email at JPM.chambers@nysb.uscourts.gov.
