Although it is starting to change now, most justices of the New York State Supreme Court still require a hard copy of motion papers filed electronically.  The hard copy of the motion papers is called a “Working Copy.”  The Working Copy needs to include proof of electronic filing.  That proof is a copy of the Confirmation Notice that should have been obtained at the time of filing.

If you failed to download a confirmation notice at the time of filing, at this time, the only way to get a copy of the confirmation notice post-filing is to go to the County Clerk’s office.

If there is a mistake with respect to the filing of the Working Copy, my experience is that IAS Justices with a submission only motion calendar are pretty forgiving.  So, if you’ve forgotten to include, for example, a confirmation notice, you’ll get a call from chambers and be asked to get a copy of the confirmation notice to chambers as soon as possible.

Things are different in courts with formal motion calendars.  In those parts, if you don’t have a Working Copy of your papers at the time the motion is called, the court will mark the motion off calendar, and you’ll have to start all over again.  Even if all you are missing is a copy of the Confirmation Notice, the court might mark your motion off calendar.  (In case it isn’t otherwise clear, these dismissals or denials are without prejudice.  So, there is no obstacle to re-filing.)  

I find that, since Supreme Court, Queens County, went from one central motion part to separate motion calendars for each justice, some or most parts will give attorneys an opportunity to correct errors by marking the motion for second call.  This gives attorneys time to get a Working Copy, or a copy of the Confirmation Notice.  But if you have a 400 page motion, getting a Working Copy just may not be possible.  If you haven’t gotten what is needed by second call, the court will mark the motion off calendar.

I am raising these procedural details because they affect what I can do for you on assignments involving the return of motions.  If you ask me to cover the return of a motion in a court with formal motion calendars, you will need to get me a hard copy version of the Working Copy with Confirmation Notice.  

You might think all this involves is emailing me an electronic copy of the papers electronically filed with the court, but you would be wrong because that would put the burden on me to printout the papers, and assemble the papers into a package with exhibit tabs and all.  (Although some justices aren’t concerned with fully assembled Working Copies, others are.  As a result, I have no choice but to be concerned about including exhibit tabs and all.)  That could involve a considerable amount of time, and I just cannot afford to do that without compensation.  

I am willing to printout and prepare Working Copies of motions papers that are no more than 25 pages in length.  If a motion involves more than that, I need to charge 75 cents for each page beyond 25.  The hypothetical 400 page motion mentioned above would cost $281.25.  I am sure you would like to avoid that extra cost.  So, instead, please send me a hard copy of the Working Copy.  You can send it to me by overnight mail, or have it delivered to the courtroom by an attorney service.  Delivery would likely be a lot cheaper.