Practice Tips for Filing Orders to Show Cause in New York County State Supreme Court
1. File the Order to Show Cause ("OSC") and supporting documents first online via New York Filing by Electronic Means (if it is an electronically filed case, which almost all have become in New York County).
2. Bring original papers to Room 315 at 60 Centre Street along with proof that you paid the $45 fee and filed the papers online first.
3.That office in Room 315 then reserves the right to 24 hours to inspect the papers and either approves or rejects them. Don't expect to be able to stop there, get a quick approval, and head over to your judge's courtroom to file. - - - This is important to know because by definition when you are proceeding on an OSC time is of the essence, an extra day can be significant, and this time period was not clear to until I arrived to the office and read the signs in the office
4. Once the documents are approved, or if they are rejected, the errors are corrected, you will get the sign off of the OSC/ Ex Parte Office with a File Folder and note from the office to the Judge assigned to your case. If there are errors, I encourage you to call and speak with the person on staff who rejected the papers and ask specifically what was wrong, what needs to be corrected, and inquire whether you can ask to speak with that person when you come back to the office to resubmit. Only once in Room 315 has approved the OSC as to form will your judge even entertain the application.
5. Present it to staff in the Judge's courtroom - you will likely be told that there is nothing to wait for, that the judge will either approve or deny the OSC and there will not be an opportunity for you to argue. It's true that you will not have an audience with the judge. However, in my case I decided to wait, and was glad I did. The return date set was too late to allow us to gain effective relief from the Court. If I would have left and gotten this news at the office, I might not have been able to get back before the court closed or my request may have fallen on deaf ears. Instead, since I stayed, albeit leaving the courtroom to avoid being obnoxious, I was able to bring my concern regarding the date to the attention of the judge's staff right away and have it rectified.7/85745589+
I point this out for several reasons -
- every county is different, so filing in one might not prepare you for the procedural requirements and idiosyncrasies of another
- this is an interesting hybrid process whereby although you are REQUIRED to file electronically, only once that electronic filing has been presented IN PERSON to the office and approved can it be presented to the Judge, and
- there are areas even in this seemingly straightforward procedural exercise where things can go wrong and being proactive, patient and when necessary, persistent, pays dividends.