Judge J. Paul Oetken

the parties should also submit copies of these documents to the Court by email (OetkenNYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) as Microsoft Word documents.

Communications with Chambers, including requests for extensions or adjournments, shall be by letter or letter-motion filed on ECF in accordance with paragraphs 2(A) and 4(A).

For urgent matters requiring immediate attention (i.e., in less than one business day), call Chambers at (212) 805-0266.

Counsel may not submit substantive case-related communications by email without leave of the Court.

Hand-delivered mail should be left with the Court Security Officers at the Worth Street entrance... and may not be brought directly to Chambers.

If the hand-delivered letter is urgent and requires the Court's immediate attention, ask the Court Security Officers to notify Chambers that an urgent filing has arrived that needs to be retrieved by Chambers staff immediately.

For assistance with updating contact information, please contact the ECF Help Desk at helpdesk@nysd.uscourts.gov or (212) 805-0800; do not file a letter-motion advising the Court of the change.

As a general matter, materials filed via ECF are reviewed by the Court the business day after they have been filed. If a submission requires more immediate attention, the filing party should notify Chambers by telephone, consistent with the procedures required by paragraph 2(B), after filing the submission on ECF.

Any audio, video, or other multi-media filings shall be submitted on a USB drive and hand-delivered to the 200 Worth Street entrance in accordance paragraph 2(C).

If any counsel wishes for a conference to be conducted remotely (by telephone or video), he or she should confer with all other counsel and promptly file a letter-motion to that effect in accordance with paragraph 4(A).

Per Local Civil Rule 7.1, memoranda of law in support of and in opposition to motions (other than motions for reconsideration) are limited to 8,750 words, and reply briefs are limited to 3,500 words.

Memoranda of 3,500 words or more shall contain a table of contents and a table of authorities.

Counsel should also email an electronic copy of any proposed orders to Chambers, in both PDF and Word formats.

For cases that are entirely under seal, or where a party is unable to comply with the requirements for electronic filing under seal through the ECF system (or believes that a particular document should not be electronically filed at all), the party shall submit any filing by email—at OetkenNYSDchambers@nysd.uscourts.gov—as a text-searchable .pdf attachment with a copy simultaneously delivered to all counsel. Any such email shall state clearly in the subject line: (1) the caption of the case, including the lead party names and docket number; and (2) a brief description of the contents of the letter. Parties may not include substantive communications in the body of the email; such communications may be included only in the body of the letter.

The use of electronic devices (including mobile telephones, personal electronic devices, and computers) within the Courthouse and its environs is governed by the Court’s Standing Order M10-468, available at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/2018-06/standing-order-electronic-devices.pdf. If required by the Standing Order, counsel seeking to bring a device into the Courthouse shall submit an Electronic Device and Wi-Fi Access Request Form, available on the Court’s website, to the Court by e-mail (OetkenNYSDchambers@nysd.uscourts.gov) as early as possible—and certainly no later than three business days before the start of the trial or hearing, or one week if Wi-Fi is requested. Requests submitted later than three business days prior to the relevant trial or hearing may be denied on that basis alone. If permitted by the Standing Order, mobile telephones are permitted inside the Courtroom, but they must be kept turned off at all times. Non-compliance with this rule may result in forfeiture of the device for the remainder of the proceedings.

Pro se parties should file papers by mailing or hand-delivering them to the Pro Se Intake Office, Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse, 40 Centre Street, Room 105, New York, NY 10007. Pro se parties should not mail copies of their filings to Judge Oetken’s chambers.

Any party wishing to raise a discovery dispute with the Court must first confer in good faith with the opposing party, in person or by telephone, in an effort to resolve the dispute. If this meet-and-confer process does not resolve the dispute, the party shall promptly file a letter motion, no longer than four single-spaced pages, explaining the nature of the dispute and requesting an informal conference.

Any opposition to a letter motion seeking relief shall be filed as a letter, not to exceed four pages single-spaced, within three business days.

All pro se requests for discovery, and responses to discovery requests, should be sent to counsel for the opposing party. Discovery requests and responses should not be sent to the Court or filed on ECF.

With respect to deposition transcripts, a producing person or that person’s counsel may designate such portion as Confidential either by (a) indicating on the record during the deposition that a question calls for Confidential information, in which case the reporter will bind the transcript of the designated testimony (consisting of question and answer) in a separate volume and mark it as “Confidential Information Governed by Protective Order”; or (b) notifying the reporter and all counsel of record, in writing, within 30 days after a deposition has concluded, of the specific pages and lines of the transcript and/or the specific exhibits that are to be designated Confidential, in which case all counsel receiving the transcript will be responsible for marking the copies of the designated transcript or exhibit (as the case may be), in their possession or under their control as directed by the producing person or that person’s counsel by the reporter. During the 30-day period following the conclusion of a deposition, the entire deposition transcript will be treated as if it had been designated Confidential.

Any Personally Identifying Information ("PII") (e.g., social security numbers, financial account numbers, passwords, and information that may be used for identity theft) exchanged in discovery shall be maintained by the persons who receive such information and are bound by this Protective Order in a manner that is secure and confidential.