Eileen D. Millet,Counsel, Office of Court Administration

To:

From: Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association

Date: March 30, 2020

Re: Proposal to Revise Commercial Division Rule 31

The Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association

( “Section ”) is pleased to submit these comments in response to the Memorandum of Eileen D.

Millet, Counsel, Office of Court Administration, dated March 5, 2020, (“Memorandum”), which

propose revisions to Rule 31 (“Rule 31”) of the Rules of the Commercial Division (the “Rules”).

The propose revisions include: (1) requiring pretrial submissions in Microsoft Word instead

of WordPerfect format, (2) changing page limits on memoranda to word limits in order to be

consistent with Commercial Division Rule 17, and 3) setting forth procedures for submission of

pre-trial information in paperless parts.The current version of Rule 31 refers to an indexed binder of trial exhibits that parties shall

submit at a pre-trial conference. The proposed revised Rule 31 takes out many of the references tothe exhibit binder and includes a new section (d) to reflect that many Commercial Division justices

operate paperless parts and may prohibit paper submissions to the Court. The formal proposal by

the Commercial Division Advisory Committee (“CDAC”) is attached as Exhibit A.

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The CDAC’s proposal seeks to revise Rule 31 entitled, Pre-Trial Memoranda, TrialExhibits and Requests for Jury Instructions, to address that:

a) The Supreme Court of the State of New York is/has converted to Wordsoftware from WordPerfect software;

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b) The limit on memoranda in Rule 17 of the Commercial Division Rules wasconverted from a page limit to a word number limit and Rule 31 should beconsistent; and

Many Commercial Division justices are now entirely paperless, andspecifically prohibit paper copies of documents, pleadings, and othersubmissions to the Court. Revised Rule 31 now sets forth a procedure forsubmission of pre-trial information in paperless commercial division parts.

c)

II. PROPOSED NEW RULE

Rule 31. Pre-Trial Memoranda, Trial Exhibits and Requests for Jury Instructions

(a) If requested by the Court, counsel shall submit pre-trial memorandaat such time as the court may set. Counsel shall comply with CPLR2103(e). A single memorandum of no more than 7,000 words shall besubmitted by each side. No memoranda in response shall be submitted.

(b) At the pre-trial conference or at such other time as the court may set,counsel shall submit a copy of trial exhibits for each attorney’s and thecourt's use. Unless otherwise directed in the Court’s individual part rules,plaintiffs exhibits shall be tabbed numerically, and defendant's exhibitsshall be tabbed alphabetically.

(c) Where the trial is by jury, counsel shall, on the pre-trial conferencedate or such other time as the court may set, provide the court with case-specific requests to charge and proposed jury interrogatories. Where therequested charge is from the New York Pattern Jury Instructions—Civil, areference to the PJI number will suffice.

(d) In cases brought before paperless commercial parts, counsel shallsubmit the pre-trial memoranda, copy of trial exhibits and requests tocharge on a USB flash drive. In all other commercial parts, counsel shallsubmit the pre-trial memoranda and requests to charge in a Worddocument, 12-point type, and submit the copy of trial exhibits in an indexedbinder or notebook.

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III. COMMENTS

The Section views favorably the suggestions made by the CDAC and endorses its proposal

to revise Rule 31. Each proposed change reflects an acknowledgment that the courts of the

Commercial Division need to adapt, and, in fact, are adapting, to changes in technology in the

courtroom. The Rules need to be kept current and reflect this new reality. The revisions to Rule

31 seek to accomplish this task.

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OiOMtnnirM MEMORANDUM

March 5, 2020

AH Interested PersonsTo;

Eileen D. MilieuProm:

Request for Public Comment on a Proposed Revision of Rule 31 of the Rules ofthe Commercial Division

Re:

The Administrative Board of the Courts is seeking publiccomment on a proposal by the

Commercial Division Advisory Council to revise Rule 31 of the Rules ol the Commercial

Division (22 NYCRR § 202.70(g), Rule 31) (Exhibit A).The revisions include: 1) requiring pre-trial submissions in Microsoft Word instead of WordPerfect format.2) changing page limits onmemoranda to word limits in order to he consistent with Rule 17.and 3) setting forth proceduresfor submission of pre-trial information in paperless parts.Exhibit B is attached ma redime of theproposed changes.

The current version of Rule 31 refers to an indexed binder of trial exhibits that parties

shall submit at a pre-trial conference, five proposed revised Rule 31 takes out many of thereferences to the exhibit binder and includes a new section (d) to reflect that many Commercial

Division justices operate paperless parts and may prohibit paper submissions to the Court

Persons wishing to comment on the proposal should e-mail their submissions toruleconsaacrits@nyc0urts.gov or write to: Eileen Milieu.Esq..Counsel, Office of CourtAdministration.25 Beaver Street 11th FI.. New York.New York, 10004. Comments must bereceived no later than April 6, 2020.

All public comments wilt be treated as available for disclosure under the Freedom ofInformation Law and are subject to publication by the Office of Court Administration. Issuanceof a proposal for public comment should not be interpreted as an endorsement of that proposal bythe Unified Court System or the Office of Court Administration,

COUNStCS CM HQ. - i',B& AVi.* iTHtt*.MW TOBE.KLV," rP*K 10C-34 » PHONO 212- ASS 21SO « FAX 212-428-2155

EXHIBIT A

MEMORANDUM

TO: COMMERCIAL DIVISION ADVISt >RY COUNOL

FROM; n-CH NOLOG Y SUBCOMMITTEESUBJECT: PROPOSED REVISIONST( > COMMERCIAL DIVISION RULE M

IANUARY 24,3)30DATE:

Wc attach a proposed revised Rule 31 of the Rules of the Commercial Division

(Pre-Trial Memoranda, Trial Exhibits and Requests for Jury Instructions).Proposed Rule 31 has been revised to: require pre-trial submissions in Wordformat; set forth pre-trial submission rules for paperless commercial division parts;and convert pre-trial memoranda page limits to word count limits.These revisions reflect that:

a) The Supreme Court of the State of New York is/h&s converted to Word

software from WordPerfect software;

b) The limit on memoranda in Rule 17 of the Commercial Division Rules was

converted from a page limit to a word number limit. Rule 31 should beconsistent; and

e) Many Commercial Division justices are now entirely paperless, and

specifically prohibit paper copiesof documents, pleadings, and other

submissions to the Court. Revised Rule 31 now sets forth a procedure for

submission of pre-trial information in paperless commercial division parts.

For comparison,we have also attached a copy of unrevised Rule 31.

Current Rule 31

Rule 3L Pre-Trial Memoranda, Exhibit Book and Requests for JuryInstructions

(a) Counsel shall submit pre-trial memoranda at the pre-trial conference, or such othertime as the court may set.Counsel shall comply with CPLR 2103(e). A singlememorandum no longer than 25 pages shall be submitted by each side. No memoranda inresponse shall be submitted.

(b) At the pre-trial conference or at such other time as the court may set counsel shallsubmit an indexed binder or notebook of trial exhibits for the court's use. A copy for eachattorney on trial and the originals in a similar binder or notebook for the witnesses shallbe prepared and submitted Plaintiff's exhibits shall be numerically tabbed anddefendant’s exhibits shall be tabbed alphabetically.(c) Where the trial is by jury, counsel shall, on the pre-trial conference date or such othertime as the court may set, provide the court with ease-speeifie requests to charge andproposed jury interrogatories. Where the requested charge is from the New York PatternJury Instructions—Civil, a reference to the PJI number will suffice. Submissions shouldbe by hard copy and disk or e-mail attachment in WordPerfect 12 format, asdirected bythe court,

Proposed Revised Rule 31

Rule 31« Pre-Trial Memoranda, Trial Exhibits and Requests for JuryInstructions(a) If requested by the Court, counsel shall submit pre-trial memoranda at such time asthe court may set Counsel shall comply with CPLR 2103(e).A single memorandum ofno more than 7,000 words shall be submitted by each side. No memoranda in responseshall be submitted.(b) At the pre-trial conference or at such other time as the court may set, counsel shallsubmit a copy of trial exhibits for each attorney's and the court's use. Unless otherwisedirected in the Court’s individual part rules, plaintiff s exhibits shall be tabbednumerically, and defendant's exhibits shall be tabbed alphabetically,

(c) Where the trial is by jury, counsel shall, on the pre-trial conference date or such othertime as the court may set, provide the court with case-specific requests to charge andproposed jury interrogatories.Where the requested charge is from the New York PatternJury Inslructions-Civil.a reference to the PJI number will suffice.(d) In eases brought before paperless commercial parts, counsel shall submit the pre-trialmemoranda,copy of trial exhibits and requests to charge on a USB flash drive. In allother commercial parts, counsel shall submit the pre-trial memoranda and requests tocharge in a Word document, 12-pomt type, and submit the copy of trial exhibits in anindexed binder or notebook.

EXHIBIT B

Rule 31Rule 31. Pre-Trial Memoranda, KxhihlfrgeefcTrial Exhibits and Requests forJury Instructions(a) Cowwiff requested l>v the Conn, counsel shall submit pre-trial memoranda at thepa* triftt-coHlewoce. such tuber time as the court may set.Counsel shall comply withCPLR 2103(e), A single memorandum of no i^ngerrawe than 25-mtte>7.0( K) words shallbe submitted by each side. No memoranda in response shall be submitted.

(b) At the pre-trial conference or at such other lime as the court rnay set, counsel shallsubmit aw-indexed binder ornoiebooh-a copy of trial exhibits for each attorney's and thecourt’s use.A copy for eaeh attorney-on-trial and4he origimthiJniess otherwisedirected in a-snwlar binder ormH-ebook for (iw-wituf^shati be-pfepared- aitd-swhmiited:fthtbn.tfENlhe Conn's individual mrt rules, olnimilFs exhibits shall be nibbed numericallytabbed* and defendant’s exhibits shall be tabbed alphabetically.

(c) Where the trial is by jury, counsel shall, on the pre-trial conference date or such othertime as the court may set, provide the court with case-specific requests to charge andproposed jury interrogatories. Where the requested charge is from the New York PatternJury Instructions—Civil, a reference to the Pji number will suffice.- S«bnnj»HraKr«h

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From: Jack Hassid

Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 10:38 AM

To: rulecomments

Subject: Proposed Revisions to Rule 31 of the Rules of the Commercial Division

Dear Ms.Millett: I strongly oppose the proposed requirement that pre-trial submissions be made in Word rather than WordPerfect. WordPerfect is the original word processing system for lawyers and many of us still use it. For myself, I find Word almost impossible to use efficiently. The simplest things in WordPerfect--suppressing page numbers for instance and automatic paragraph numbering--are very difficult and time-consuming to achieve in Word. Of equal importance, especially for single practitioners,is the fact that one can no longer purchase Word outright such as one can with WordPerfect. One has to purchase an annual license for Word and incur this expense if one has only one case in the Commercial Division. For these reasons I suggest that counsel with cases in the Commercial Division be permitted to file papers either in Word or WordPerfect format. Jack Hassid Jack Hassid, Esq. 110 East 59th Street, 22nd Fl. New York, N.Y. 10022 (212) 421-4932 (212) 223-4911(fax) (917) 733-5833 (mobile)

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Katherine Helbig Thursday, March 12, 2020 12:10 PMrulecommentsChanges to the Commercial Division Rules

From:Sent:To:Subject:

Dear Sir or Madam:

I would object to the change in rule that would require attorneys to submit documents in Word format, and notWordPerfect. I use WordPerfect, as do many attorneys I know. It would be a hardship to use Word instead, as it is notas user friendly and I haven't used it regularly since law school.

Thank you for your time and attention!

Very truly yours,

Katherine Helbig, Esq.45 Page AvenueStaten Island, New York 10309(718) 987-5150 (T)(718) 964-9062 (F)

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