Judge Hector Gonzalez
Individual Rules, Standing Orders & Policies
Limits & Logistics
Document Limits
Courtesy Copies
Filings (>25 pages)
Required • Binding: Spiral
Filings (Indictment, Information, Complaint)
Required
Filings (Plea Agreement, Elements Sheet)
Required
Filings (Information)
Required
Filings (Exhibits)
Upon Request • Binding: Tabbed Three Ring
Adjournments
Must Include
- 1Original Date
- 2Number Of Previous Requests
- 3Previous Requests Granted Or Denied
- 4Adversary Position
- 5Affects Other Dates
- 6Proposed New Dates
- 7Reason For Request
Communication
Letter Ecf
Chambers
Chambers
Phone
Chambers
Chambers
Phone
Intake Unit
Detailed Drafting Rules
Written communications with Chambers must be filed as ECF letters, with simultaneous copy service on pro se litigants.
Except as provided below, communications with Chambers shall be by letter electronically filed with the Court, with copies simultaneously delivered or mailed to any pro se litigant.
Letter via ECF
Direct to: Chambers
Counsel may email Chambers for unresolved rules questions and scheduling/calendar matters.
For questions that cannot be answered by reference to these Rules or the E.D.N.Y. Local Rules, or for scheduling and calendar matters, counsel may email Chambers.
Urgent matters should be raised by phone to Chambers, with an initial email request for contact information.
For situations requiring immediate attention from the Court, counsel should call Chambers directly; in such situations, parties should first email Chambers requesting the Court’s contact information.
Phone
Direct to: Chambers
- Advance Notice Requiredparties should first email Chambers requesting the Court’s contact information
Written submissions and supporting materials must be text-searchable where practicable.
All written submissions and supporting materials must be text-searchable, to the extent practicable.
Proposed orders, jury instructions, and similar submissions must be provided in PDF format via ECF and email to Chambers.
Proposed orders, jury instructions, and other submissions for adoption by the Court shall be filed on ECF and emailed to Chambers in PDF and Microsoft Word format.
Non-pro-se parties must deliver one courtesy copy for ECF filings of 25+ pages, with required labeling, ECF stamp, and tabbed spiral binding.
Except for parties proceeding pro se, parties shall deliver to Chambers a courtesy copy of all written submissions filed on ECF that are 25 pages in length or more, inclusive of any exhibits or attachments. All courtesy copies must be clearly marked “Courtesy Copy,” and any documents that have been filed under seal must also be marked as “SEALED.” All courtesy copies must include the stamp generated when a document is filed via ECF (including the document number as listed on the docket). Courtesy copies should be spiral bound on the left side and use tabs to identify documents and exhibits in the submission.
Courtesy Copies Required
Logistics
Appearance
For very large courtesy-copy submissions, parties must email Chambers for format instructions, including possible CD submission with separately named PDFs.
If a courtesy copy is voluminous (i.e., more than two 2-inch binders), please email Chambers for instructions on whether to submit the courtesy copy in a digital format via compact disc containing separate and appropriately named PDF files for each item in the submission, including exhibits.
Direct to: Chambers
Civil discovery disputes require a single jointly composed pre-motion letter capped at five pages, and separate/successive letters are not accepted.
For discovery motions, follow Local Civil Rule 37.3. However, in lieu of separate letters by the parties, counsel must describe their dispute(s) in a single letter, jointly composed. The letter may not exceed five pages. Separate and successive letters will not be reviewed.
Pre-Motion Conference
A pre-motion conference is mandatory before filing. You must submit a letter first.
Letter Requirements
In cases with pro se parties, filing and service questions should be directed by phone to the Pro Se Office.
For questions about filing and serving documents in cases in which one or more parties are proceeding pro se, contact the Pro Se Office at (718) 613-2665.
A detailed pre-motion letter of up to three pages is required before filing non-discovery motions.
A pre-motion letter is required before a party may file any non-discovery motion, except for motions described in Section IV.A.2.a, below. The moving party shall submit a detailed letter not to exceed three pages in length setting forth the basis for the anticipated motion.
Pre-Motion Conference
A pre-motion conference is mandatory before filing. You must submit a letter first.
Letter Requirements
Exemptions
Pre-motion response letters are limited to three pages.
The response shall not exceed three pages.
Motion papers must be filed promptly and not held for bundling.
Motion papers shall be filed promptly. Do not hold motion papers until all papers are complete. In other words, the Court does not follow a “bundling rule.”
Filing Strategy
Bundling Policy
Motion papers must be filed promptly and not held until all papers are complete.
Support/opposition memoranda are limited to 25 pages and reply memoranda are limited to 10 pages unless prior permission is granted.
Unless prior permission has been granted, memoranda of law in support of or in opposition to motions are limited to 25 double-spaced pages and reply memoranda are limited to 10 double-spaced pages.
Memoranda must use Times New Roman 12-point font, one-inch margins, and may not use condensed or kerned character spacing.
Use Times New Roman 12-point font for all text, including footnotes, and one-inch margins on all sides. Do not use excessive block quotations. Condensing or kerning of character spacing is not permitted.
Memoranda that are 10 pages or longer must include a table of contents and table of authorities.
All memoranda 10 pages or longer shall contain a table of contents and table of authorities.
Document Type
Memorandum Of Law
Requests to exceed memorandum page limits must be in writing 5 business days before the due date, except reply-brief requests which require at least 3 business days.
Requests to file memoranda exceeding the page limits set forth herein must be made in writing five business days prior to the due date, except with respect to reply briefs, in which case the written request must be made at least three business days prior to the due date.
Notice Required
Before deadline or appearance
Exhibits to affidavits or affirmations must be separately tabbed and indexed for both ECF and courtesy copies.
All exhibits to affidavits or affirmations must be separately tabbed and indexed, whether on ECF or courtesy copies.
Affidavits in support of or opposition to a motion are limited to 10 double-spaced pages.
Affidavits may not exceed 10 double- spaced pages.
Affidavits must use Times New Roman 12-point font and one-inch margins.
Use Times New Roman 12-point font for all text and one-inch margins on all sides.
Each exhibit is limited to 15 pages, except the complaint.
Each exhibit—other than the complaint—is limited to 15 pages.
For summary judgment motions, only relevant deposition excerpts may be attached, and excerpts must include material needed for completeness under Rule 106.
On motions for summary judgment, do not attach complete deposition transcripts as exhibits to affidavits or affirmations. Attach only pages containing relevant testimony to which citation is made in the memoranda or affidavits. However, any excerpted submissions must anticipate and comply with Fed. R. Evid. 106. In other words, include the portion of the excerpt necessary for completeness.
Summary judgment deposition exhibits must use one testimony page per exhibit page, and mini-transcripts are prohibited.
Deposition transcripts submitted as exhibits to motions for summary judgment should include only one page of testimony per page of exhibit. Parties may not submit “mini-transcripts” with four pages of testimony condensed onto one page in an effort to circumvent the Court’s page limits.
A moving party’s Local Rule 56.1 statement is capped at 25 double-spaced pages unless the Court grants prior permission.
The moving party’s Local Rule 56.1 statement may not exceed 25 double-spaced pages without prior permission of the Court.
Any separate additional-material-facts section in the opposing Rule 56.1 statement is limited to 10 double-spaced pages.
If the opposing statement includes a separate section of additional material facts, that separate section may not exceed 10 double-spaced pages.
Memoranda on motions in limine must comply with the standing formatting and page-limit requirements in Section IV.B.2.
All memoranda regarding motions in limine must be prepared in accordance with the requirements of Section IV.B.2, above, specifying the proper formatting and page limits for memoranda.
Any request to exceed memorandum page limits must be submitted in writing at least three business days before the due date.
Requests to file memoranda exceeding the page limits set forth herein must be made in writing three business days prior to the due date.
Document Type
Request To Exceed Page Limits
If exhibit volume makes binder submission impracticable, parties must email Chambers at least 10 business days before trial for courtesy-copy instructions.
If in the judgment of the parties the volume of exhibits makes this requirement impracticable, please email Chambers at least 10 business days before trial for instructions on how to submit courtesy copies of the exhibits.
Direct to: Chambers
- Advance Notice Requiredat least 10 business days before trial