Electronic Filingin the New York State Courts

FReport of the Chief Administrative Judge to the Legislature, the Governor, and the

Chief Judge of the State of New York

2019

Electronic Filingin the New York State Courts

FReport of the Chief Administrative Judge to the Legislature, the Governor, and the

Chief Judge of the State of New York

"Technology is critical to our efforts to enhance the efficiency and productivity of court operations, as well as to improve our service to the public. E-filing is the centerpiece of these efforts. It reduces costs and saves time for both the court system and litigants, improves access to the courts, and sharply reduces the environmental impact of litigation. E-filing is the future of our court system, and we must expand, thoughtfully and carefully, but also diligently, the use of this powerful tool.”

Chief Judge Janet DiFioreChief Judge of the Court of Appeals

and of the State of New York

2019

Table of Contents

I. Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

II. The Status of E-filing in the New York State Courts and Our Plans for the Future . . . . . . . . . . . .3

A. E-Filing in Civil Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

B. E-Filing in Criminal and Family Court Cases, in Housing Court, and in the New York City Civil Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

1. Family Court Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42. Criminal Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53. Housing Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54. New York City Civil Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

C. Exemptions from E-Filing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

1. Unrepresented Litigants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62. Attorneys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

D. Improvements to Software and Productivity Enhancements.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

E. Training and Outreach to the Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

III. The 2019 Report: Consultation, Outreach, and Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

A. Consultation and Outreach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

B. Responses Received and NYSCEF Replies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

1. Overview of the Responses Received . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92. Inclusion and Posting of All Comments, Summary of Comments, and NYSCEF Replies . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

IV. Legislative Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

A. Summary of Proposed Legislative Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1. Mandatory E-Filing In Matrimonial Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152. E-Filing in Foreclosure and Consumer Credit Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173. Extension of Time — E-filing in Family Court and Criminal Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

V. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Appendix A: Judiciary’s Legislative Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Appendix B: Letters of the Chief Administrative Judge and Notices Seeking Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Appendix C: E-Filing Advisory Committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Appendix D: Persons, Entities, Agencies, and Groups to which Solicitations Were Sent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Appendix E: Submissions Received from the E-Filing Advisory Committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Appendix F: Comments from County Clerks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Appendix G: Comments from Bar Associations and Other Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Appendix H: Comments from Unaffiliated Attorneys and Other Individuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141Appendix I: Comments from Bar Associations and Other Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165Appendix J: Correspondence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197Appendix K: Letter, New York State Association of County Clerks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203Appendix L: Notice of Electronic Filing (Mandatory Commencement) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

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I. Executive Summary

In 2018, the e-filing program of the New York State Unified Court System (UCS) continued its transfor-mation of the way in which attorneys conduct litigation and the operations of the courts and County

Clerk offices in New York State.

1. This report complies with the mandate of Judiciary Law § 212 (2)(u)(i)(A) for an annual report that evaluates the state’s experience with e-filing programs in the courts.

The growth of the electronic filing program continued in 2018. One million cases were e-filed through the New York State Courts Electronic Fil-ing System (“NYSCEF”) between the authorization of the program and 2016: in 2019, the number of e-filed cases will pass the two million mark. Last year also brought continued expansion of e-filing in Supreme Court and Surrogate’s Court, the introduction of e-filing pilot programs in all four Departments of the Appellate Division, and the enactment of new uniform rules to implement appellate e-filing.

NYSCEF aims to bring the reach of this transfor-mation to more cases, counties, and courts in the year ahead, including the expansion of e-filing into the superior criminal courts and the New York City Housing Court.

Section II describes the status of the e-filing pro-gram, provides detailed information on its prog-ress, and explains our plans for the next year and those to follow.1 Among other things, we summa-rize the expansion of e-filing in Supreme Court and Surrogate's Court; describe the introduction of e-filing in the Appellate Division; report on our efforts to expand integration of NYSCEF with case management systems in Supreme Court; and summarize the status of our work to introduce e-filing in Family Court, the superior criminal courts, the New York City Civil Court, and New York City Housing Court. We also outline system improvements and the training and outreach we have provided.

Section III summarizes the comments and sug-gestions about e-filing received in response to solicitations by the Unified Court System from County Clerks, bar associations, other entities, individual attorneys, and others, and our replies to those comments.

Section IV describes the court system's proposal for legislative changes. In 2019, these proposals do not seek major modifications of the legislative regime governing e-filing, but they seek mean-ingful incremental progress by:

• granting to the Chief Administrative Judge the authority to require attorneys to e-file in matrimonial matters;

• granting to the Chief Administrative Judge the authority to require attorneys to e-file in residential foreclosure and consumer credit actions; and

• extending the time to develop and test e-filing programs in Family Court and criminal actions (currently due to expire on September 1, 2019).

This modest legislative proposal (Appendix A) will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the e-filing program and help advance our efforts to move the courts of this state even more broadly and confidently into the digital future.

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II. The Status of E-filing in the New York State Courts and Our Plans for the Future

A. E-Filing in Civil Cases

2. E-filing programs are authorized by administrative orders issued by the Chief Administrative Judge with the approval of the Administra-tive Board of the Courts, which set forth the courts and case types in which e-filing may be employed. Current authorizations are listed in the most recent Administrative Order, AO/040/19, effective January 23, 2019 (accessible on the NYSCEF website (www.nycourts.gov/efile).

3. Consensual programs vary widely. For example, several counties are authorized for consensual e-filing in all kinds of actions, while in many other counties consensual e-filing is permitted for those case types excluded from the county’s mandatory program.

4. In 22 of the 34 counties having mandatory e-filing in Supreme Court, all types of actions are authorized excepting only the statutorily-ex-empt categories (i.e., CPLR Article 70 and Article 78 proceedings, and matrimonial, Mental Hygiene Law and Election Law matters, as well as certain residential foreclosure actions involving a home loan, and certain proceedings related to consumer credit transactions). In the remaining 12 counties, the mandatory authorization excludes one or more additional case types.

5. The cases subject to mandatory e-filing in the 32 Surrogate's Courts are probate and administration proceedings and miscellaneous proceedings relating thereto.

6. As of Jan. 31, 2019. This number does not include those who obtained IDs for the NYSCEF Practice System.

7. That is, they filed at least one document in an e-filed case.

8. As of Jan. 15, 2019.

Pursuant to legislation enacted in 2015 (L. 2015, c. 237), the Chief Administrative Judge designates the courts and counties in which e-filing may be employed on a consensual or mandatory basis.2

Consensual E-Filing. At present, consensual e-fil-ing is authorized in civil cases as follows:

• in Supreme Court in 44 counties, well more than half the counties of the state;3

• in Surrogate's Court in 37 counties;

• in the Court of Claims in the Albany District (12 counties) and in the New York City District (seven counties); and

• in the New York City Civil Court for no-fault cases involving claims by providers of health-care services against insurers and for e-filed cases removed from New York County and Queens County Supreme Courts pursuant to CPLR 325 (d).

Mandatory e-filing. At present, mandatory e-filing is authorized in civil cases as follows:

• in various categories of cases in Supreme Court in 34 counties;4 and

• in Surrogate's Court in 32 counties.5

From the introduction of e-filing in New York, through January 15, 2019, 1,968,399 cases were e-filed with NYSCEF. Through the same period, just under 25 million documents have been e-filed.

118,883 attorneys and other persons have been active registered users of the NYSCEF system (i.e., excluding court and County Clerk users) since its inception.6 This figure includes unrepresented litigants who have chosen to participate and at-torneys appearing pro hac vice who register with NYSCEF on a case-by-case basis, as well as autho-rized filing agents for attorneys.

11,838 unrepresented persons have been active NYSCEF filing users,7 even though participation by these users is voluntary. Further, unrepresented lit-igants have e-filed 77,736 documents with NYSCEF.8 Thus, the assumption of some that unrepresented persons will rarely wish to use the e-filing system has been proven incorrect. Rather, for these liti-gants NYSCEF provides improved access to justice.

Since the issuance of our 2018 report, mandatory e-filing programs have been initiated in Supreme Court in Chautauqua, Franklin, Otsego, St. Law-

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rence, Warren, Washington, and Wayne Counties. Existing mandatory e-filing programs in Supreme Court in Dutchess, Niagara, Ontario, Orange, Put-nam, and Suffolk Counties have been expanded to include additional case types. During this period, consensual programs have been established in Supreme Court in Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Delaware, Genesee, Madison, Tioga, and Yates Counties. Mandatory programs have been initiated in Sur-rogate’s Court in Allegany, Cattaraugus, Dutchess, Fulton, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, Saratoga, Washington, and Wyoming Counties.

In March 2018, after extensive analysis and discus-sions between Appellate Division staff and UCS e-filing staff, under the direction of the Presiding Justices of the four Departments, and with the dedicated involvement of the Clerks of Court, pilot projects in e-filing through the NYSCEF application were introduced in those courts statewide. Thus, there is a uniform system of e-filing on appeal through NYSCEF statewide, and between the trial courts and the Appellate Division. A single set of statewide rules for the implementation of e-filing in the Appellate Division has been promulgated by these courts. Attorneys e-file documents in trial courts and in the Appellate Division throughout the state through a single application, NYSCEF. This uniformity ensures efficiency and convenience for the bar, as well as for the courts and County Clerks.

Since March 2018, the number of cases types open to e-filing in the Appellate Division has expanded and we anticipate that this trend will continue.

The growth of e-filing in New York State is shepherd-ed by UCS’s Statewide Coordinator for Electronic Fil-ing in the State Courts, Jeffrey Carucci. Mr. Carucci is in frequent contact with court administrators and County Clerks across the state about e-filing issues. Through such contacts, the Coordinator identifies courts and offices of County Clerks that may be ready to introduce e-filing, either on a consensual or mandatory basis, or to expand existing programs. He works closely with the courts, County Clerks, and E-Filing Advisory Committees to develop plans for introduction or expansion of e-filing that will meet the needs of all. With each e-filing rollout and expansion, we have provided advance public notice of our plans, solicited comments and suggestions,

and consulted broadly with interested groups. The introduction and expansion of e-filing in Supreme Court have always taken place by agreement of the County Clerk and the UCS.

Based upon consultations with County Clerks and courts, we anticipate that the e-filing program in Supreme Court and Surrogate’s Court will contin-ue to expand to new counties, and will grow to include additional case types, throughout 2019.

B. E-Filing in Criminal and Family Court Cases, in Housing Court, and in the New York City Civil Court

In 2018, UCS consulted with the E-Filing Advisory Committees for criminal and Family Court cases and continued our work in preparation for e-filing in these cases.

1. Family Court Cases

NYSCEF staff have been working with Family Court staff on development of a Family Court module in NYSCEF. We seek to achieve significant labor and costs savings through data transfer from NYSCEF to case management systems not only for the Court, but for agencies that appear regularly in these cases.

The Family Court E-filing Advisory Committee met in 2018 to review work and discuss plans for the future. In conjunction with the Committee, we have created a list of commonly-filed Family Court documents, developed draft NYSCEF screens for Family Court e-filing, and a draft set of rules. E-filing staff discussed with the Committee the possibility of using NYSCEF to deliver documents in support proceedings to Support Magistrates. We are looking toward instituting a pilot program in which e-filing through NYSCEF would take place in Family court cases in up to six counties. The Advisory Committee will continue to work with e-filing staff in development of a pilot program in authorized counties.

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2. Criminal Cases

UCS e-filing staff are working with the Advisory Committee on E-Filing in Supreme and County Court (Criminal) Cases (Hon. Michael V. Coccoma, UCS Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Courts Outside New York City, Chair) on analysis and preparation for a pilot program for e-filing of the accusatory instrument and the filing and service of subsequent documents in criminal matters in Supreme Court and County Court.

E-filing staff recently developed procedures for the internal processing of Article 730 orders and the resulting reports, and the distribution thereof by the court. This work will assist e-filing staff in the broader development of criminal e-filing. The Article 730 processing will be introduced in one or two courts early in 2019.

As a result of Committee meetings, we have cre-ated a flow chart for Supreme Court and County Court criminal matters that illustrates typical filings and how they are processed by the court, and developed a list of the documents that are regularly filed in a criminal case in these courts.

A Working Committee, composed of representa-tives from counties with a strong interest in mov-ing ahead with e-filing in criminal cases, met with e-filing staff to discuss possible procedures for e-filing in these matters. These communications will continue. We have prepared draft screens reflecting document flow and processing in these cases, and undertaken analyses of who should have access to various documents, when access should be allowed, and how to update functional-ity to address service of documents.

We hope to introduce e-filing in superior court criminal cases in a limited number of counties in the first half of 2019 on a pilot basis and continue expansion throughout the remainder of the year.

We foresee a future in which data entered into NYSCEF and the case management program that is in place in some superior criminal courts can auto-

9. Report at p. 16

10. A party to such a case is not required to participate in e-filing in the Civil Court.

matically be transferred between the two systems, thereby producing labor and cost savings for the courts. Thus, we plan to include in the pilot project at least one county in which this case management program is operating in the superior criminal court in order to explore this data transfer.

3. Housing Court

In 2017, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore formed a Special Commission on the Future of the New York City Housing Court. The Commission issued a Report to the Chief Judge in January 2018. Among the recommendations of the Report was that the Housing Court should make a transition from pa-per to e-filing. “Because e-filing would facilitate quick access to court records,” the Report stated,

“it would benefit both litigants and counsel.”9 As in other e-filed matters, unrepresented litigants in the Housing Court could participate in e-filing if they choose, but otherwise would be exempt.

In light of the Commission’s recommendation, UCS is examining the possibility of consensual e-filing in the Housing Court. E-filing staff have drafted screens and are engaged in ongoing meetings with staff of the Housing Court. This work builds on the work UCS e-filing staff have done with regard to CPLR 325 (d) cases in the New York City Civil Court, of which the Housing Court is a branch. UCS hopes to have a plan for Housing Court e-filing completed by the end of 2019 to chart procedures, analyze documents and take other necessary steps in preparation for this expansion.

4. New York City Civil Court

At the end of 2017, a pilot program was introduced a for the consensual e-filing and service of docu-ments in actions commenced in Supreme Court, Civil Branch, New York County and later removed to the New York City Civil Court pursuant to CPLR 325 (d).10 This project was extended to Queens County Supreme Court in December 2018.

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In 2019, e-filing staff hope to introduce e-filing in the Civil Court on a consensual basis in no-fault cases involving claims by providers of healthcare services against insurers.

C. Exemptions from E-FilingThe e-filing legislation provides special protec-tions for unrepresented persons appearing in our courts and for attorneys who lack the knowledge or equipment needed to e-file.

1. Unrepresented Litigants

Unrepresented litigants are statutorily exempt from e-filing. They file and serve documents in hard-copy form and are served with documents in the same form. This exemption is automatic, and requires no action whatsoever by an unrep-resented party. The law bars courts and County Clerks from seeking to require such litigants to participate in e-filing in a venue where mandatory e-filing is in place. These unrepresented litigants will e-file only if they want to do so and take action in order to be able to participate. If they wish to take part, they must have a computer and an e-mail address, apply for a user ID and pass-word that are specific to their case, take whatever training they feel they need, in the same manner as all other parties in the case, and must record their participation in NYSCEF for the case so that the system can recognize them when they submit filings.

The UCS takes important steps to ensure that unrepresented litigants understand their position and their relationship to e-filing. First, when a new e-filed case is commenced, the rules require the service of process in hard-copy form, accompanied by a “Notice of Electronic Filing” form (Appendix L) informing the defendant/respondent that the filer has commenced the action electronically and clear-ly advising that unrepresented persons are exempt from e-filing. Those who might wish to e-file are referred to a dedicated court system website for

11. The NYSCEF website for the unrepresented is designed specifically for such litigants where they can find, in clear language, detailed information about e-filing and their rights. There are instructions that walk the unrepresented through the process of obtaining an ID and Password and creating a NYSCEF account through which filings will be made. Unrepresented persons can make practice filings as often as they wish on a training site.

12. Help Centers exist in many courts to provide information about courthouse procedures to the unrepresented.

the unrepresented.11 Unrepresented persons who choose to e-file are also encouraged to contact the clerk or the Help Center12 in the court where the action was filed.

Further, legislation and rules require that the clerk explain to an unrepresented party the options for e-filing in plain language and inquire whether he or she wishes to take part. Unrepresented litigants may participate only after having been presented with information in plain language about the program. The litigant’s request must be documented in the case file – a requirement which constitutes a mechanism to promote compliance by court and County Clerk staff. If an unrepresented party chooses to take part, he or she may revoke participation in e-filing for any reason at any time merely by filing and serving a form so stating.

Almost 12,000 unrepresented persons have vol-untarily participated in e-filing - - but we have never had a meaningful number of complaints from these persons. Nor have we had complaints over the past year in any significant number from unrepresented persons in e-filed cases who have not taken part in e-filing. Some concerns about e-filing for the unrepresented have been raised by legal services groups, which we address here-after.

In 2019, UCS e-filing staff and Advisory Commit-tees will be discussing the possibility of making NYSCEF forms bilingual.

2. Attorneys

Attorneys who lack the knowledge or equipment needed to e-file are not required to do so. To ob-tain an exemption from e-filing these attorneys need only file and serve a form certifying to their lack of knowledge or equipment.

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D. Improvements to Software and Productivity Enhancements

UCS e-filing staff continually monitor the NYSCEF system to ensure that it meets the needs of all users and that it remains as efficient, effective, and easy-to-use as is possible. Through this mon-itoring and our general experience with NYSCEF, e-filing staff develop ideas for improvements that are implemented whenever possible. UCS e-filing staff also encourage submission of suggestions for improvements from attorneys and other users and will act on such suggestions whenever they are found to be useful and practical. Over the course of each year, including 2018, we have regularly incorporated enhancements into NY-SCEF. Thus, as with digital technology generally, NYSCEF is a work in continual progress, one that grows progressively better.

We continue our work on e-signatures by judges, which are authorized by Administrative Order under certain circumstances. In 2018, we began a pilot project in one venue in Supreme Court employing the use of secure e-signatures by judges. Three Justices there are now using the UCS e-signing program, which is integrated with NYSCEF. We plan to add more Justices early this year. After results and feedback have been received and evaluated, we hope to expand use of this application to other counties statewide.

UCS e-filing staff have developed a bar coding application that is integrated with NYSCEF. This application allows court staff to scan conference orders into NYSCEF in an extremely rapid and efficient manner. This saves time and work for court clerks, provides quicker notification and access to the parties, and is a more accurate way to scan. The application is being used on a pilot basis in Supreme Court in one venue. We hope to bring this application to other venues and courts in 2019.

We continue to devote attention to ways in which NYSCEF can further improve the productivity of courts and County Clerk offices and reduce costs for courts, County Clerks, and, ultimately, the

taxpayer. In prior reports, we pointed out, by way of an example, the potential e-filing offers for productivity enhancements through reduction in data entry. E-filing gives us the opportunity for the electronic transfer of key elements of data from NYSCEF to the case management program of the court or County Clerk.

In recent years, UCS installed up-to-date case management software, known as the Universal Case Management System (“UCMS”), in the Sur-rogate's Court and in some counties in Supreme Court. Integration of this software with NYSCEF has been operational in Surrogate’s Courts statewide for more than two years and is now underway in Supreme Court UCMS counties. As a result, data and, in some courts, images of documents are easily transferred from NYSCEF into UCMS, thereby bringing about a significant improvement in productivity for the court and the County Clerk.

We expect that UCMS will be introduced in addi-tional counties in 2019, including several in New York City. We will be developing a plan this year for future transfer and integration of data as fully as possible in Surrogate’s Court and Supreme Court.

E. Training and Outreach to the BarIn 2018, we continued our longstanding efforts to make training and assistance easily available to attorneys. We continue to provide an on-line self-help training tool that allows users to experiment with all the functions of NYSCEF without limita-tion and at no charge. Assistance is also available from the court system’s e-filing “help center,” the UCS E-Filing Resource Center, by phone and e-mail throughout the business day for anyone who may need it. Users of the Resource Center have been highly complimentary of its staff and services.

Training classes continue to be offered in many locations. For example, we offer training on a weekly basis in New York City for users in the greater metropolitan area. Similar training is available as needed in other participating

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counties around the state. Whenever NYSCEF is introduced into a new court or county, we pro-vide training on an intensive basis. Training now includes an explanation of the working of the e-filing system in cases on appeal. In addition, for over five years, the Resource Center has been of-fering regular live training on-line through Skype, which is accessible to attorneys and other users, including unrepresented persons who may be considering participating in NYSCEF filing, from the convenience of their desktops or laptops. All users can register for training classes through the website.

Training has always been, and continues to be, offered at no cost, and, with the cooperation of UCS’s Judicial Institute, two hours of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit is made available free of charge to attorneys who participate in our two-hour on-site course. UCS has provided thousands of hours of such free CLE credit. UCS also has provided extensive training to judges and County Clerk and court personnel. We will be continuing this training effort in 2019 and beyond.

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III. The 2019 Report: Consultation, Outreach, and Input

A. Consultation and Outreach

13. These efforts at outreach comply with requirements of Judiciary Law § 212 (2)(u).

For this 2019 report, the UCS once again undertook large-scale efforts to consult with interested persons and groups about e-filing. We requested comments and suggestions and specifically drew the recipients’ attention to the possibility that the Judiciary would propose legislative modifications removing certain restrictions on e-filing that are currently in place.

We posted notices seeking comment on the public UCS website. A prominent notice appeared on the banner at the top of the home page of the site, which linked to an internal public comments page, where we explained our outreach effort and so-licited comments and suggestions for this report. We also posted notices on the home pages of the UCS e-filing website and the e-filing website for unrepresented persons, and placed a notice in the New York Law Journal.

Further, we consulted with all the E-Filing Advisory Committees and sought input not only from their (124) members, but through them from other in-terested persons and groups. We also reached out directly to over 584 interested groups and persons and solicited their comments and suggestions, writ-ing or sending e-mails to, among others, County Clerks in e-filing counties, public defenders, legal aid groups, state, city, county, and women’s bar associations, agencies, the Office of Indigent Legal Services, specialty bar associations, appropriate government officials, and representatives of victim rights organizations. We sent follow-up e-mails to a number of these recipients.13

We sent one form of letter to most recipients. In addition, we sent a second, more targeted, letter to matrimonial bar groups and attorneys and solicited from them comments about e-filing in matrimonial cases, including about a proposal for removing the limitation on the discretion of the Chief Adminis-

trative Judge in regard to mandatory e-filing in these cases. This is the second year in a row in which we have sought comment from matrimonial prac-titioners and bar groups about the possibility of a proposed legislative modification affecting matri-monial cases. (The 2018 proposal was discussed, but never actually advanced by the Judiciary for reasons unrelated to the merits of the proposal.)

We estimate that our outreach to bar associations and other groups came to the attention of tens of thousands of people.

Attached as Appendix B is a list of the E-Filing Advi-sory Committees and their memberships. Attached as Appendix C are copies of the letters of the Chief Administrative Judge, Justice Jeffrey S. Sunshine, Statewide Coordinating Judge for Matrimonial Cas-es, and the Statewide E-Filing Coordinator soliciting comment, and Notices posted on the UCS and NY-SCEF websites and in the Law Journal. Attached as Appendix D are lists of the persons, entities, agen-cies and groups (not including the e-filing County Clerks) to which we sent letters or e-mail messages soliciting comment and suggestions.

B. Responses Received and NYSCEF Replies

1. Overview of the Responses Received

Despite having aimed our solicitations, directly and indirectly, at a vast audience of practitioners, interested groups and others, we have received, as in prior years, a very modest number of responses

– about 40 (not including reports from the Advi-sory Committees). We have heard from very few Bar associations this year, although we know from comments made in previous years and in other contexts that they are generally very well disposed

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toward electronic filing. We remain convinced that the rate of response is attributable to the fact that, while there are, of course, functions of the e-filing process that can be improved, there is very little basis for significant criticism of e-filing overall, the fundamentals of the process, or the basic operations of the NYSCEF application - - that, indeed, there is a high level of satisfaction with e-filing in the New York State courts among the bar, the public, County Clerks, courts, judges, and court and County Clerk staff.

The following excerpts from comments received this year illustrate this:

“We are very frequent users of NYSCEF and of the Statewide Electronic Filing Resource Center.

"[W]e find the NYSCEF system to be an effective tool for the service and filing of court papers and repository of courts’ official records of proceedings before them. It is simple and user-friendly, both in terms of its user interface and the event codes e-filers select to identify their filings. NYSCEF is somewhat more stable than its federal counterpart, the CM/ECF system, insofar as it almost never ‘freezes’ mid-filing and is less frequently off line. The convenience of being able to file after hours and without a visit to the courthouse on the filing deadline cannot be overstated—especially for e-filers who are located at some distance from the court in which they are filing.…

"We also find that the Statewide Electronic Filing Resource Center provides effective support for lawyers and their staff who use their system. Resource Center staff are a

‘deep bench’.… They are very knowledgeable about their system and are very helpful in response to every day ‘help desk’ calls. They have also been very responsive when we occasionally raise a concern about some particular functionality in NYSCEF.”

John D. Bove` President, Managing Attorneys and Clerks Assn., Inc., Dec. 14, 2018

“Electronic filing has transformed the way County Clerks in New York State handle, process, access, reproduce and preserve civil court records. More than half of the County Clerk’s Offices in NYS are now benefiting from the advantages of e-filing. Use of the NYSCEF system has facilitated the transfer of documents between the courts and the county clerk especially in those counties where those offices are in separate buildings. E-filing has reduced associated costs and enhanced document security. Many counties that started with consensual e-filing now eagerly await approval for mandatory e-filing.

“E-filing provides a tremendous convenience for attorneys and submitters….

“Since a provision in law provides for pro se litigants to file in hard copy format if they wish, they are not put at a disadvantage….

“At the end of the day, e-filing provides convenience to customers, saves both the submitters and the counties money, is easy to use with a very helpful resource center if needed, and is a successful ‘green’ initiative by eliminating the use of paper!

“The New York State Association of County Clerks strongly supports the expansion of e-filing in New York State… [T]he County Clerks support the elimination of consent for the civil cases currently excluded in statute….”

Hon. Judith M. Hunter President, New York State Association of County Clerks, Dec. 31, 2018

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“The NYSCEF system provides transparency and accountability as litigants can see exactly where documents are and who has processed them. Documents flow among the litigants, County Clerk, Chief Clerk of the Courts and judicial chambers more quickly and are documented more accurately. Local tax dollars are saved as our offices no longer need to scan documents, enter indexing data or process payments by check.”

Letter to Assembly Judiciary Committee of Hon. Timothy C. Idoni, et al., New York State Association of County Clerks, Nov. 26, 2018 (Appendix K)

"Electronic filing has transformed the way our office handles, processes, accesses, reproduces and preserves civil court records. Jefferson County began mandatory e-filing in January of last year, and it has been one of the greatest undertakings of my career as County Clerk.”

Hon. Gizelle J. Meeks County Clerk, Jefferson County, Jan. 16, 2019

“[Since additional expansion in 2018,] the percentage of actions commenced via NYSCEF increased to 77 %.

“We are extremely pleased with the efficiency that electronic court filing has brought to this office. The NYSCEF system is a comprehensive, fully functional and secure means to electronically file court documents. We feel extremely comfortable with the controls within the system and are ecstatic with the amount of participation from the members of our local bar.”

Hon. Michael C. Bartolotti County Clerk, Putnam County, Jan. 17, 2019

“[E-filing is a much more efficient way to file, organize and retrieve filed documents. This is especially true in mortgage foreclosure and consumer credit actions. The court is able to process these actions and communicate with the parties easily using the NYSCEF system. All pleadings and motion papers can be viewed remotely and are found in one spot. Since most motions in these actions are from counsel outside of the area, the e-filing system permits the court to be confident all papers meant for the court’s review are before it. It also permits the court to quickly see if anyone has appeared in the action who might be entitled to notice of future proceedings. This is not an easy task in a paper filed system, especially if the County Clerk’s Office is not in the same municipality as the court; this is the case in many of the counties of the 8th Judicial District.”

Hon. Paula L. Feroleto Administrative Judge, Eighth Judicial District, Jan. 11, 2019

“Having just entered my fourteenth year as Westchester County Clerk, I can unequivocally state that the New York State Courts E-Filing System (NYSCEF) has been one of the greatest achievements in county government over that period of time. All those involved should be incredibly proud of this achievement in the modernization of our court administration.

“We here in Westchester are proud that we have achieved an e-filed participation rate of eighty-five percent (85%) of all documents filed in our office, with hopes that it will increase with criminal files and mandated Matrimonial cases adding to the total in the year 2019.

“…Mandatory e-filing has been a wonderful success.”

Hon. Timothy C. Idoni County Clerk, Westchester County, Jan. 18, 2019

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“[I]n 2018, e-filings accounted for approximately 75% of our total filings for civil and [consensual] matrimonial cases.

“Your efforts in providing training to court staff, county departments and members of the Nassau County Bar Association with a view toward making enhancements and programmatic changes necessary to participate, have been a model to follow as we expand mandatory e-filing in our county to include as many case types as possible.”

Hon. Maureen O’Connell County Clerk, Nassau County, Jan. 4, 2019

“Queens County has been very satisfied with the implementation of mandatory electronic filing ….Queens County … looks forward to the further expansion of electronic filing with the hope of adding consensual matrimonial actions in the coming year, as well as other case types in the near future. Mandatory electronic filing has proven to be very cost-effective.…

Additionally, electronic filing promotes greater convenience to its users and the public.”

Hon. Audrey I. Pheffer County Clerk, Queens County, Jan. 7, 2019

“We began consensual e-filing for all cases allowed by statute in 2014. As more and more attorneys and submitters began using the e-filing system and my staff became proficient handling electronically filed documents, we made the transition to mandatory e-filing in February of 2018. This was a seamless transition ….

“… Since there is a procedure in place to provide for those who can’t electronically file or those without an attorney who do not choose to file electronically, I strongly urge the legislature to allow the Administrative Judge to remove the option of consent in ALL civil cases.

“In Cortland County, mandatory e-filing has saved the county money, created a more secure avenue to file, store and access records and increases the preservation of important court documents.”

Hon. Elizabeth Larkin County Clerk, Cortland County, Dec. 20, 2019

“March, 2019 will mark the beginning of the seventh year that Suffolk County has truly been an active E-filing county.… [S]eventy-nine percent (79%) of all new cases filed in Suffolk County are filed electronically.

“… Resource Center staff continues to be a tremendous asset to Suffolk County in testing our system, fixing errors that occur and implementing Suffolk County specific functions based on our requirements.…

“It is my hope that not only will residential foreclosures and consumer credit cases be made mandatory on a permanent basis, but that the consensual only cases referred to in CPLR Article 21-A will be authorized to be filed on a mandatory basis.

“Suffolk County is eager to further expand mandatory electronic filing and build on the great progress already made.”

Hon. Judith A. Pascale County Clerk, Suffolk County, Dec. 21, 2018

“As Kings County Clerk, I enthusiastically support the mandatory expansion of e-filing in civil cases, including matrimonial cases.

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“The success of NYSCEF in the office of the Kings County Clerk is established beyond question by the digital filing of court documents via NYSCEF as the preferred and dominate method, far exceeding hard copy/paper filings. As the digital world benefits the day-to-day lives of citizens, so too can expansion of NYSCEF into more civil case types benefit all court users, filing parties, attorneys, the media and the public….

“The benefits of NYSCEF … provide compelling reasons to authorize the mandatory expansion of e-filing in civil cases, including matrimonial cases.”

Hon. Nancy T. Sunshine County Clerk, Kings County, Jan. 4, 2019

“[W]e are very happy with e-filing and the system is working very well….Thank you to all for giving us a well performing system.”

Hon. Mary F. Strickland Livingston County Clerk, Dec. 18, 2018

“I am a big supporter of the NYSCEF program, in that it is very convenient and cost effective for this office and our clients to litigate matters in NYSCEF cases. Cases with electronic filing save all interested persons the time, cost and expense of having to travel to the Clerk’s office to file papers. Such program is also great in ensuring that filed papers do not get lost or misdelivered, which is not an uncommon occurrence in hard copy matters.

“…[New York should] mandate that all Courts in New York State, including the lower courts …, become fully compliant with NYSCEF and that all cases be e-file cases (of course allowing for limited hard copy filings for pro se or attorneys unable to use electronic filing)…. Having a uniform, mandatory e-filing system will make it easier for attorneys to litigate all across the State of New York.”

Steven Beard, Esq. Jan. 3, 2019

“I feel the site is very useful and informative.”

Ms. Marie Smith Legal Secretary, Jan. 3, 2019

“I am a lawyer in Westchester County and I fully support electronic filing.”

Helene Greenberg, Esq. Jan. 2, 2019

“Generally, I find NYSCEF very easy to use.”

Deborah A. Summers, Esq. Dec. 28, 2018

“The program should be started for all criminal matters immediately. It works great in federal court. It makes life so easy and there is no need these days to use paper copies.”

Scott E. Leemon, Esq. Dec. 24, 2018

“I love e-filing. Could anything be easier and more efficient? I am a matrimonial/family law attorney who practices primarily in Westchester County. When I deal with NYC or Brooklyn filings I want to kill myself.

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“It should be widespread in other counties and certainly in Family Court.”

Dana Forster-Navins, Esq. Dec. 19, 2018

“Efiling is great except for the necessity to send working copies to various judges.”

Linda Markowitz, Esq. Dec. 12, 2018

“Our e-filing experience has been a good one to say the least.”

T. Cote, Esq. Jan. 4, 2019

“As a practicing attorney and someone who does represent members of our community we’ve seen only positive things from the e-filing system.”

Edward A. Steinberg, Esq. First Vice President, New York State Trial Lawyers Assn., at Public Hearing, Assembly Judiciary Committee, Nov. 16, 2018, Tr. 33-34

“[O]ur office believes that [e-filing in criminal cases] can have a significant benefit in terms of efficiency, cost effectiveness, [and] speed of prosecuting appeals.”

Benjamin Wiener Appellate Counsel, Center for Appellate Litigation, at Public Hearing, Assembly Judiciary Committee, Nov. 16, 2018, Tr. 65

We have received comments from all of the Ad-visory Committees on E-Filing, which speak favor-ably about progress to date and look forward to further expansion of e-filing.14

14. The Supreme Court Civil Advisory Committee expressed the unanimous opinion that mandatory e-filing should be expanded. Letter of Hon. Timothy C. Idoni, Chair, and County Clerk, Westchester County, Jan. 18, 2019. The Committee members have seen overwhelming support for e-filing where it has been allowed. “Much of the credit belongs to the successful implementation and maintenance of the NYSCEF filing system and the dedicated staff at the Office of Court Administration. The transparency and accountability allowed by the system is essential to the litigant’s ability to see where every document is and who has processed them.” Id.

2. Inclusion and Posting of All Comments, Summary of Comments, and NYSCEF Replies

All comments received in connection with this report are to be found in their entirety in Ap-pendices E through H, including those from: the various E-Filing Advisory Committees (Appendix E); County Clerks and courts (Appendix F); bar associations and other groups (Appendix G); and unaffiliated attorneys and other individuals (Appendix H).

In Appendix I, we provide a summary of and discuss the principal comments received this year (to the extent the comments are not addressed in the body of this report). In Appendix J, we include two comments that relate to some issues addressed in Appendix I. Finally, we attach one comment in Appendix K (Letter of the New York State County Clerks Association, Nov. 26, 2018) and three NYSCEF forms in Appendix L.

All submissions received have been posted on the UCS website. In addition to the responses to the comments we are making in this report, Statewide Coordinator Carucci is in the process of sending individual responses by letter or e-mail to commentators.

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IV. Legislative Recommendations

Overall, e-filing is working very well in New York State. This is confirmed by the experience of the courts, County Clerks, and Advisory Committees in 2018 and over previous years; by the paucity

of substantive objections received in response to our solicitations for this report and previous reports; and by the very many favorable comments e-filing has been accorded over the years by County Clerks, Bar groups, individual attorneys, and many others in New York State, including recommendations that e-filing be expanded. In short, it is indisputable that e-filing has been a major success.

15. CPLR § 2111 (b)(2)(C).

16. Id.

17. Id.

18. As in all cases of mandatory e-filing, attorneys who lack the knowledge or equipment to e-file may opt out of the program, and file and receive papers in hard copy form.

Therefore, it is not necessary for the court system to seek large-scale modifications to the current legal framework. There are, however, three ar-eas in which alterations are needed that will, if adopted, make a meaningful contribution to our efforts to improve the court system in New York through digital technology.

A. Summary of Proposed Legislative Changes

The Judiciary proposes that we (i) repeal the restrictions on the discretion of the Chief Admin-istrative Judge in regard to matrimonial actions, (ii) repeal the restrictions on the discretion of the Chief Administrative Judge to mandate e-filing by attorneys in residential foreclosure and consumer credit actions, and (iii) extend the sunset, current-ly September 1, 2019, on development and testing of e-filing in Family Court and criminal cases.

1. Mandatory E-Filing In Matrimonial Cases

Governing law prohibits the Chief Administrative Judge from exercising his discretion to mandate e-filing in certain categories of cases, one of which is matrimonial actions. This prohibition is no longer wise, necessary, or useful in regard to matrimonial cases. The Judiciary proposes that the Chief Administrative Judge be allowed to ex-ercise discretion to permit mandatory e-filing by attorneys in matrimonial cases, as he does with most other case types.

Should this authority be granted, other statutory protections insure that it would be exercised only under appropriate circumstances. Before the Chief Administrative Judge can proceed to require e-filing, he must consult with and obtain the approval of the County Clerk involved outside the City of New York.15 Further, the Chief Admin-istrative Judge must consult in advance with the relevant Advisory Committee and with members of the organized bar, including state, city, county and women’s bar associations, institutional legal service providers, unaffiliated attorneys prac-ticing in the field involved, and many others.16 The Chief Administrative Judge must afford all an opportunity to submit comments about the proposal and he is obliged to consider such com-ments.17 Thus, e-filing will not proceed without a full opportunity for all stakeholders to make their views known, those views will be given thoughtful consideration, and e-filing will not move forward if some good reason for delay in a particular court or venue is presented to the Chief Administrative Judge nor over the objection of the County Clerk.

There is no cause for concern that unrepresented litigants might be affected adversely by the pro-posed change. If the Chief Administrative Judge establishes mandatory e-filing in a particular court, e-filing there will be mandatory for at-torneys only.18 Thus, unrepresented litigants will

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continue to file papers in hard copy form, unless they expressly choose to participate in e-filing.19

Nor is there cause for concern over the confi-dentiality of e-filed matrimonial matters. Matri-monial files are confidential by statutory decree (DRL § 235), and will remain so. If our legislative proposal is enacted and the Chief Administrative Judge implements the authority thereby given for mandatory e-filing in matrimonial matters in a particular venue in Supreme Court, any case des-ignated in NYSCEF as a matrimonial matter would, upon commencement, automatically be placed behind a firewall that would prevent access to the documents filed in that matter to persons other than counsel on the case, any participating unrepresented parties, and County Clerk or court staff who have permission to work on such cas-es.20 As an additional protection against the pos-sibility of human error, NYSCEF includes among its functionalities an electronic audit trail, and can track by User ID all those who have accessed confidential documents in a particular case.

NYSCEF, as an automated application with built-in security, is not subject to ad hoc error that individuals sometimes make when dealing with hard-copy files. In fact, our experience with security issues leads us to believe that the confidentiality of matrimonial files will be more secure if documents are filed with NYSCEF than if the current hard copy regime persists. For years, NYSCEF has empowered the County Clerk to seal individual civil files or documents in NYSCEF when directed by the court pursuant to Part 216 of the Uniform Rules for the Trial Courts. The

19. “The move to mandatory e-filing in matrimonials should cause no concern to anyone. Provisions are in place to exempt attorneys who either do not have the equipment or the means to e-file. Provisions are also in place to exempt pro se parties from e-filing.” Letter of Hon. Elizabeth Larkin, County Clerk, Cortland County, Member, Supreme Civil E-Filing Advisory Committee, Jan. 4, 2019.

20. NYSCEF limits the court and County Clerk staff who may have access to these files to those who are authorized to work handling cases of this type. Other staff cannot view these files.

21. The counties are: Broome, Chautauqua, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Dutchess, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, New York, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Oswego, Otsego, Putnam, Richmond, Rockland, St. Lawrence, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Westchester, and Yates.

22. “NYSCEF … implements the confidential treatment of cases as required by law and the sealing of court files or portions of court files pursuant to court order. Accordingly, … proper safeguarding of confidential cases such as matrimonial cases, already exists in NYSCEF.” Letter of Hon. Nancy T. Sunshine, County Clerk, Kings County, Jan. 4, 2019. The Administrative Order that authorizes consensual e-filing in matrimonial cases in the counties identified provides, among other things, that documents e-filed in these cases shall not be available for public inspection on-line or at any computer terminal in the courthouse or the office of the County Clerk. Administrative Order, AO/040/19, effective Jan. 23, 2019. The rules bar e-filing of forensic evaluation reports in custody, visitation and other matters concerning children. Id.

sealing functionality of NYSCEF has proved to be very effective.

Furthermore, we have experience with main-taining the confidentiality of matrimonial cases themselves within the NYSCEF application. Under governing law matrimonial cases may be e-filed on a consensual basis when authorized by the Chief Administrative Judge. Authorization has been given for consensual e-filing in these cases in Supreme Court in 32 counties since April 2013.21 By mid-January 2019, 12,481 matrimonial cases had been e-filed on a consensual basis. All the documents e-filed in these cases have been maintained behind the NYSCEF security firewall.22 These cases have been exactly as confidential as the law requires; indeed, confidentiality has been more secure since the potential for human error in the handling of documents in the file has been eliminated. Although 227,664 documents have been e-filed in these matrimonial cases, we have been informed of no problems with the opera-tion of NYSCEF’s confidential shield.

Although not legislatively required to do so, be-fore consensual e-filing in matrimonial matters went into effect, the court system informed the Bar in affected counties and sought comment. We received very few comments from any members of the bar expressing doubt about the proposed introduction of consensual e-filing in these cases.

Furthermore, in response to our solicitations for last year’s report and this report, and although thousands of attorneys have experienced e-filing in matrimonial cases already on a consensual basis, we received only a handful of comments

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from matrimonial practitioners this year about the Judiciary’s proposal or criticizing e-filing in matrimonial cases;23 last year only three attorneys raised such concerns. The County Clerk of West-chester County reports that matrimonial e-filing, which has been authorized in that county on a consensual basis for almost six years, “has been embraced by all parties involved.”24 On January 17, 2019, the Executive Committee of the State Bar Family Law Section voted its support for legislation that would allow the Chief Adminis-trative Judge to mandate e-filing in matrimonial cases. The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York has likewise stated its support of the UCS proposal.25 The only conclusion that can be reached is that the matrimonial bar overwhelm-ingly favors our efforts to expand e-filing in matrimonial cases.26

For these reasons, we believe that the restrictions on the discretion of the Chief Administrative Judge in regard to matrimonial cases are outdat-ed and should now be removed.

2. E-Filing in Foreclosure and Consumer Credit Cases

The governing law imposes substantial restrictions on the Chief Administrative Judge’s ability to ex-ercise discretion in residential foreclosure actions involving a home loan and proceedings related to

23. In one submission, the writer reports that two attorneys opined that e-filing in matrimonial cases would be problematic. It is unclear whether they have e-filed in such cases. The letter does not explain clearly what aspect of NYSCEF functionality would, in their view, fall short in these kinds of cases. Letter of Victoria M. Esposito, Esq., Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Jan. 3, 2019. A legal services group and a bar association expressed concern about the privacy of e-filed documents in matrimonial cases, but did not appear to be familiar with the firewall and other protections that already exist in these cases. Letter of Jacob Inwald, Esq., Legal Services NYC, Jan. 4, 2019; Written Testimony of Catherine Isobe, Esq., Assembly Judiciary Committee Public Hearing, Nov. 16, 2018, p. 3; Letter of Nicole M. Duve`, President, St. Lawrence County Bar Assn., Jan. 4, 2019.

24. Letter of Hon. Timothy C. Idoni, County Clerk, Westchester County, Jan. 18, 2019.

25. Letter of Greta K. Kolcon, Esq., President, Jan. 30, 2019. This letter urges that uncontested matrimonial matters should be included in the proposed expansion.

26. “The New York State Association of County Clerks strongly supports the expansion of e-filing in New York State.” Letter of Judith M. Hunter, President, Dec. 31, 2018. The County Clerk of Westchester County writes that “I strongly recommend … the inclusion of Matrimo-nial cases in this year’s legislation.” Letter of Hon. Timothy C. Idoni, County Clerk, Westchester County, Jan. 18, 2019. “It is my hope that

… the consensual only cases referred to in CPLR Article 21-A will be authorized to be filed on a mandatory basis.” Letter of Hon. Judith A. Pascale, County Clerk, Suffolk County, Dec. 21, 2018. The County Clerk of Nassau County, where matrimonial cases have been e-filed on a consensual basis, supports the expansion of the Chief Administrative Judge’s authority to require e-filing in these cases. Letter of Hon. Maureen O’Connell, Jan. 4, 2019. The Queens County Clerk looks forward to continuing to work with NYSCEF staff to expand mandatory and consensual e-filing to all case types in Queens County. Letter of Hon. Audrey I. Pheffer, Jan. 7, 2019. Accord, Letter of Hon. Michael C. Bartolotti, County Clerk, Putnam County, Jan. 17, 2019; Letter of Hon. Gizelle J. Meeks, County Clerk, Jefferson County, Jan. 16, 2019.

27. CPLR § 2111 (b)(2)(A).

28. CPLR § 2111 (b)(2-a). Grandfathered counties in foreclosure cases are Erie, Essex, New York, Queens, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties. Grandfathered counties in consumer credit cases are Erie, New York, Onondaga, Rockland, and Westchester Counties. Id.

29. Ch. 168 of the Laws of 2018.

consumer credit transactions. In these two classes of cases, consensual e-filing is permissible, but in most counties the Chief Administrative Judge may mandate e-filing only of those documents that commence the case, and only when filed by a represented party.27

The law also permits the continuation of man-datory e-filing programs in these two classes of cases in a handful of counties (the “grandfa-thered counties”) where those programs were in effect prior to the effective date of Chapter 237 in 2015.28 However, this grandfathering provision is currently scheduled to expire on September 1, 2019.29

The Judiciary proposes that the restraints upon the discretion of the Chief Administrative Judge to commence mandatory e-filing programs in these two categories of cases be lifted.

Some legal services groups have submitted com-ments about e-filing in residential foreclosure and consumer credit actions. Although they recognize the importance of improving access to justice in our state and that NYSCEF has the potential to do just that, they are critical of its use in these cases. We do not believe that their criticisms warrant rejection of our legislative proposal or justify other changes to the e-filing regime with

18

regard to these types of cases. We explain why in detail in the section of the report devoted to UCS responses to comments submitted (Appendix I).

Apart from these groups, the comments about e-filing in these cases were few.

Our legislative proposal would apply to attorneys only. It is thus unnecessary to continue to maintain restrictions on the Chief Administrative Judge’s discretion out of concern for the position of unrep-resented litigants.

Apart from confidentiality, the points we have made with regard to lifting the ban on matrimo-nial cases apply here as well. E-filing of residential foreclosure and consumer credit cases has worked well in the grandfathered counties in which it has been permitted and, we believe, will work well elsewhere.

The New York State Association of County Clerks has indicated its strong support for our approach to e-filing in residential foreclosure and consumer credit actions. In 2017, the Association wrote that

“[w]e strongly urge [the Judiciary] to support mak-ing permanent the ability of counties to require mandatory e-filing of cases.” The Association expressed “great concern over the possibility that current legislation allowing certain counties to re-quire mandatory e-filing of commercial credit and residential foreclosures may be allowed to sunset without legislation that would make this perma-nent. We strongly urge [the Judiciary] to support legislation that provides for mandatory e-filing of these two case types ….”30 The Association added that “[a]llowing this provision to sunset would have a substantial negative fiscal impact in the affected counties….” Clearly, such a step would reduce the

30. Letter of Bradford Kendall, President, and Michael Backus and Timothy C. Idoni, Co-Chairs, Legislative Committee, February 15, 2017.

31. Letter of Judith M. Hunter, President, New York State Association of County Clerks, Dec. 31, 2018.

32. Id.

33. Letter of Hon. Judith A. Pascale, County Clerk, Suffolk County, Dec. 21, 2018. Ms. Pascale reports that neither she nor her staff “have received any comments, calls, letters or other information suggesting any defendants have not received proper notice, that any due process rights have been violated which prompted the decision to sunset this authorization. This is in fact the most common case in which we receive hard copy submissions from defendants.” Id. See also Letter of Hon. Elizabeth Larkin, Member, Supreme Civil E-Filing Advisory Committee, Jan. 4, 2019; Letter of Hon. Timothy C. Idoni, County Clerk, Westchester County, Jan. 18, 2019.

34. “[C]onsidering all that needs to be discussed, digitally built and reviewed it becomes apparent that more time is warranted.” Letter of Hon. Elizabeth Larkin, County Clerk, Cortland County, Member, Civil E-Filing Advisory Committee, Jan. 4, 2019.

35. Letter of Hon. Michael V. Coccoma, Chair, Jan. 17, 2019.

efficiency of the operations of the County Clerk’s Office and the court, while also decreasing trans-parency and efficiency and increasing costs for litigants.

This year, the Association states that it “strongly supports the expansion of e-filing in New York State.”31 The Clerks also “support the elimination of consent for the civil cases currently excluded in statute” with the approval of the County Clerks in the affected counties.32 The County Clerk of Suffolk County, one of the grandfathered counties for foreclosure matters, supports mandatory e-filing in residential foreclosure and consumer credit actions on a permanent basis.33

Thus, there is no basis in fact to continue the restric-tions on the Chief Administrative Judge’s discretion. Those restrictions should be lifted.

3. Extension of Time — E-filing in Family Court and Criminal Cases

Finally, current law contains a sunset provision with respect to the authorization for mandatory e-filing programs in Family Court and criminal cases. The period within which to develop and test such programs expires on September 1, 2019. Additional time is needed for UCS e-filing staff to pursue e-filing in these cases.34 There is no reason why this deadline should not be extended, as we propose, to two years after the commencement of a pilot pro-gram in these categories. This extension will give us experience with e-filing in operation in these cases and generate informative data. The Supreme and County Court Criminal E-Filing Advisory Committee supports this proposed change.35

19

V. Conclusion

The record of our experience to date, with almost 2 million e-filed cases and almost 25 million e-filed documents, and the comments we have received this year, in prior years, and in other settings, demon-

strate beyond dispute that e-filing is working very well in the courts of this state for litigants, practitioners, judges, courts and County Clerks; that we continue to make encouraging progress across many fronts; and that we are moving steadily toward the digital court system that Chief Judge Janet DiFiore envisions.

The e-filing work that UCS is engaged in is transforming the courts of our state and the manner in which litigation is conducted. The process of transformation shall advance even further if our legislative pro-posal is enacted. The Court System and its e-filing staff will continue to work hard to build upon the very considerable success that has been achieved to date in this vital program.

AppendicesAppendix A: Judiciary’s Legislative Proposal

Appendix A Judiciary’s Legislative Proposal

23

Appendix A

24

Appendix A

25

Appendix A

26

Appendix A

27

Appendix A

28

Appendix A

Appendix B: Letters of the Chief Administrative Judge and Notices Seeking Comment

Appendix B E-Filing Advisory Committees

31

Appendix B

SUPREME COURT (CIVIL) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON E-FILINGFor Purposes of Statutory Consultation Requirement under L. 2015, c. 237.

Committee ChairHon. Timothy C. ldoniCounty Clerk, Westchester County, NY, White Plains, NY

Committee Vice-ChairJeffrey CarucciFirst Deputy Chief Clerk, NYS Supreme Court, New York County E-Filing Statewide Administrator

StaffJessica Cherry, Esq.Phyllis Mingione, Esq.Mindy Jeng, Esq.

MembersMichael Alperstein, Esq.Administrator, Assigned Counsel Plan (18-B), New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department

Dennis J. Bischof, Esq.Dennis J. Bischof, LLC,Williamsville, NY

Thomas F. Gleason, Esq.Gleason, Dunn, Walsh & O’Shea, Albany, NY

Jeffrey Harradine, Esq.Ward, Greenberg, Heller & Reidy, LLP, Rochester, NY

John R. Higgitt, Esq.Acting Justice, Supreme Court, Bronx, NY

Adrienne Holder, Esq.Attorney-in-Charge, Civil Practice, Legal Aid Society, New York, NY

Hon. Judith M. HunterSteuben County Clerk President NYS Assoc. of County Clerks, Bath, New York

Hon. Bradford KendallDutchess County Clerk, Poughkeepsie, NY

Henry Kennedy, Esq.Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP, New York, NY

Adrienne Koch, Esq.Katsky Korins, LLP, New York, NY

Fay Leoussis, Esq.,Corporation Counsel, New York City Department of Law, New York, NY

Hon. Elizabeth LarkinCounty Clerk, Cortland County, Cortland, NY

John M. Lundin, Esq.Schlam, Stone & Dolan LLP, New York, NY

Daniel Marren, Esq.Principal Law Clerk, New York State Supreme Court, 8th Judicial District, Hon. Paula Feroleto, Buffalo, NY

Hon. Linda MejiasJudge, Family Court, Nassau County

Hon. Anthony J. ParisJustice, New York State Supreme Court, Onondaga County, Syracuse, NY

James M. Paulino, Esq.Goldberg, Segalla, Rochester, NY

Joseph ProvonchaCounty Clerk, Essex County, Elizabethtown, NY

Michael H. Reich, Esq.Sweeney, Gallo, Reich & Bolz LLP, Rego Park, NY

Charles Small, Esq.Chief Clerk, Civil Division, NYS Supreme Court, Kings County. Brooklyn, NY

Kenneth H. TylerAssistant District Attorney, Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office (Appeals and Law Bureau), Syracuse, NY

Hon. Nancy T. Sunshine County Clerk, Kings, County, Brooklyn, NY

SUPREME AND COUNTY COURT (CRIMINAL) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON E-FILINGFor Purposes of Statutory Consultation Requirement under L. 2015, c. 237.

Committee ChairHon. Michael V. CoccomaDeputy Chief Administrative Judge for the, Courts Outside New York City

Committee Vice-ChairJeffrey CarucciFirst Deputy Chief Clerk, NYS Supreme Court, New York County E-Filing Statewide Administrator

StaffJessica Cherry, Esq.Phyllis Mingione, Esq.Mindy Jeng, Esq.

MembersJerry M. Ader, Esq.Genesee County Public Defender, Batavia, NY

Michael Alperstein, Esq.Administrator, Assigned Counsel Plan (18-B), Appellate Division, First Department, New York, NY

Steven Bender, Esq.Assistant District Attorney, Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, White Plains, NY

Craig P. Carriero, Esq. Franklin County District Attorney, Malone, NY

Elizabeth Cronin, Esq.Director, New York State Office of Victim Services (OVS), Albany, NY

Robert S. Dean, Esq.Attorney in Charge, Center for Appellate Litigation, Member: Chief Defenders Association of New York; NYSBA – Criminal Justice Section Executive Committee, 2007-present, House of Delegates, 2013-present.New York, NY

Hon. Lisa DellOnondaga County Clerk, Syracuse, NY

Charles Diamond Chief Clerk, Albany County Supreme Court, Albany, NY

Anthony DiStefanoChief Clerk, Criminal Term, Richmond County Supreme Court

32

Appendix B

Tim Donaher, Esq.Monroe County Public Defender, Rochester, NY

Caroline R. Donhauser, Esq.Kings County District, Attorney’s Office, Brooklyn, NY

Alice Frontier, Esq.Bronx Defenders, Executive Director, Bronx, NY

Lakisha C. HicksonChief Clerk, Westchester Supreme & County Court

Timothy W. Hoover, Esq.Phillips, LLP; Member: Bar Association of Erie County - Federal Practice Committee, Chair (2209-2013);New York Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Director (2011 to present), Buffalo, NY

Hon. Bradford KendallDutchess County Clerk, Poughkeepsie, NY

Hon. Elizabeth LarkinCortland County Clerk, Cortland, NY

Justine Luongo, Esq.Attorney in Charge of the Criminal Practice , The Legal Aid Society, New York, NY

Eileen McCarthyFirst Deputy District Attorney Office of the Westchester County District

Hon. Thomas Rainbow MorseActing Monroe County Court Judge, Rochester, NY

Charles F. O’Brien, Esq.Managing Attorney, New York State Defenders Association, Albany, NY

Judith A. PascaleSuffolk County Clerk, Riverhead, NY

William J. PerrittPrincipal Management AnalystOffice of the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge, Courts Outside of New York City, Albany, NY

Hon. Joseph ProvonchaEssex County Clerk, Elizabethtown, NY

Joseph C. Rotello, Esq.Principal Attorney (Assigned Counsel Plan, Criminal Panel), New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, Albany, NY

David C. Schopp, Esq.Chief Executive Officer, Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY

Lisa Schreibersdorf, Esq.Executive Director, Brooklyn Defender Services;President, Chief Defenders Association of New York, Brooklyn, NY

Hon. Nancy T. SunshineKings County Clerk, Brooklyn, NY

Frank TropeaChief Clerk, Suffolk County Court, Riverhead, NY

Lisa White-TinglingCase Management Coordinator, New York County Supreme Court, New York, NY

Working Committee ListHon. Michael V. Coccoma (Chair)Deputy Chief Administrative Judge,Courts outside of New York City, Office of Court Administration

Jeffrey Carucci (Vice-Chair)First Deputy Chief Clerk, NYS Supreme Court, New York County E-Filing Statewide Administrator

Daniel M. AlessandrinoChief Clerk of Criminal Matters, Criminal Term, Kings Supreme Court

Susan BryantActing Director, New York State Defenders Association

Maureen D’AquilaChief Clerk of Criminal Matters, Criminal Term, Queens Supreme Court

Barbara DiFiore, Esq.18-B Panel Administrator Assigned Counsel Plan

Christopher DiSanto Chief Clerk of Criminal Matters, Supreme Court, Criminal Term, New York County

Kenneth FayChief Clerk for Civil & Criminal Matters, Richmond County

Gregory Garone Director Case Management Services, New York County District Attorney’s Office

Chris GibsonCourt Clerk Specialist, Statewide NYSCEF Resource Center

Shannon GoldbergUnit Chief, Litigation Support Unit, New York County District Attorney’s Office

Kenn KernChief Information Officer, Special Assistant for International Relations, New York County District Attorney’s Office

Elizabeth LarkinCounty Clerk, Cortland County, Cortland, NY

Eileen McCarthy First Deputy District Attorney, Office of the Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr.

Phyllis MingionePrincipal Court Attorney, Statewide NYSCEF Resource Center

Hon. Thomas Rainbow MorseActing County Court Judge, Monroe County, Rochester, NY

William J. PerrittPrincipal Management Analyst, Office of the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge, Courts Outside of New York City

Christopher PisciottaLegal Aid Society, Criminal Division, Case Manager, Staten Island, NY

Lisa PrestonChief Clerk, Monroe County Supreme and County Courts, Rochester, NY

Lawrence SalvatoCourt Clerk Specialist, Supreme Court, Criminal Term, NY County

Amy SchwartzNew York County District Attorney’s Office, One Hogan Place

Jeremy ShockettFirst Deputy Chief of Trial Division, Office of the Kings County, District Attorney

Frank L. TropeaChief Clerk, Suffolk County Court, Cromarty Court Complex, Riverhead, NY

Lisa White-TinglingCourt Clerk Specialist, New York County Supreme Court, Criminal Term

33

Appendix B

SURROGATE’S COURT ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON E-FILINGFor Purposes of Statutory Consultation Requirement under L. 2015, c. 237.

Committee ChairHon. Craig DoranAdministrative Judge, 7th Judicial District

Committee Vice-ChairJeffrey CarucciFirst Deputy Chief Clerk, NYS Supreme Court, New York County, E-Filing Statewide Administrator

StaffMichele Gartner, Esq.Phyllis Mingione, Esq.Mindy Jeng, Esq.

MembersElena F. Cariola, Esq.Gallo & Iacovangelo LLP, Rochester, NY

Ronald M. CerrachioChief Clerk, New York Surrogate’s Court, Richmond County, Staten Island, NY

Michael CipollinoChief Clerk, New York Surrogate’s Court, Suffolk County, Riverhead, NY

Allyn Crawford,President, Richmond County Bar Association, Staten Island, NY

Heidi Dennis, Esq.Executive Director Rural Law Center, Plattsburgh, NY

Rita K. Gilbert, Esq.Hyman & Gilbert, PC, Larchmont, NY

Michael P. HauslerChief Clerk, New York Surrogate’s Court, Bronx County, Bronx, NY

Maryann Joyner, Esq.Rural Law Center, Plattsburgh, NY

Kevin M. Kearney, Esq.Hodgson Russ LLP, Buffalo, NY

Deborah KearnsChief Clerk, New York Surrogate’s Court, Albany County, Albany, NY

John Olivieri, Esq.White & Case LLP, New York, NY

Shannon Pozzuolo, Esq.The Legal Aid Society of Rochester, Rochester, NY

John J. Reddy, Jr., Esq.Reddy, Levey & Ziffer, PC, New York, NY

Kera M. Reed, Esq.Nancy Burner & Associates, PC, E. Setauket, NY

Charles T. Scott, Esq.Greenfield, Stein & Senior LLP, New York, NY

Ronald J. Weiss, Esq.Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, New York, NY

FAMILY COURT ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON E-FILINGFor Purposes of Statutory Consultation Requirement under L. 2015, c. 237.

Committee ChairMichael McLoughlin* (Retired 2018),First Deputy Chief Clerk, New York City Family Court *awaiting appointment of Committee Chair

Committee Vice-ChairJeffrey CarucciFirst Deputy Chief Clerk, NYS Supreme Court, New York County, E-Filing Statewide Administrator

StaffJanet Fink, Esq.Phyllis Mingione, Esq.Mindy Jeng, Esq.

MembersAngela Albertus, Esq.Corporation Counsel, New York City Department of Law, New York, NY

Kelly BuckleyChief Clerk, Erie County Family Court, Buffalo, NY

Bridget BurkeLegal Director, The Legal Project, Albany, NY

Margaret A. Burt, Esq.Counsel, Pittsford, NY

Angela Olivia Burton, Esq.New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services,Albany, NY

George Cafasso, Chief Clerk, New York City Family Court, New York, NY

Hon. Rita ConnertonSupervising Judge, Broome County Family Court, Binghamton, NY

Brian Dworkin, Esq.Director, Legal Services of New York, Family Law, Jamaica, NY

Elizabeth Fassler, Esq.Center for family Representation, Jamaica, NY

Adele Fine, Esq.Special Asst. Public Defender, Office of the Public Defender, Monroe County, Rochester, NY

Barbara Finkelstein, Esq.Chief Executive Officer, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, White Plains, NY

Kara M. Frank, Esq.Law Office of Kara Frank, Albany, NY

Lisa A. FrischExecutive Director, The Legal Project Inc., Albany, NY

Linda Gehron, Esq.Supervising Attorney, Hiscock Legal Aid Society, Family Court Program, Syracuse, NY

Dorchen A. Leidholdt, Esq.Sanctuary for Families Center for Battered Women’s Legal Services, New York, NY

Susan Lindenauer, Esq.Co-chair, NYS Bar Association Family Court Task Force, New York, NY

Hon. Karen LupuloffSupervising Judge, Family Court of the City of New York, New York, NY

Robert Marchiony, Esq.Principal Appellate Court Attorney (Assigned Counsel Plan, Family Court), New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department

Melissa MillsPrinciple IT Analyst, Dept. of Technology, New York State Unified Court System, Rensselaer, NY

34

Appendix B

Pamela Neubeck, Esq. (Retired)Supervising Attorney, Attorneys for Children, Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc., Buffalo, NY

George Reed, Jr., Esq.Law Offices of George Reed, Jr.. White Plains, NY

Rylan Richie, Esq.Albany County Public Defender, Supervising Attorney, Albany County Family Court, Albany, NY

Betsy Ruslander, Esq.Director, Office of Children Services, Appellate Division, Third Dept., Albany, NY

Alan Sputz, Esq.Deputy Commissioner, Family Court Legal Services, NYC Administration for Children’s Services, New York, NY

Tamara Steckler, Esq. (Retired)Attorney-in Charge, Juvenile Rights Practice, Legal Aid Society, New York, NY

Hon. Sharon S. TownsendJustice New York State Supreme Court, 8th Judicial District; Vice Dean for Family and Matrimonial Law, Buffalo, NY

Janet Tullo, Esq.Office of the County Attorney, Dutchess County, Poughkeepsie, NY

Lisa A. VirgilioDeputy Chief Clerk, Erie County Family Court, Buffalo, NY

Harriet Weinberger, Esq.Director, Attorneys for Children Program, New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, Brooklyn, NY

Brian J. Zimmerman, Esq.Brooklyn, NY

NYC CIVIL COURT ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON E-FILINGFor Purposes of Statutory Consultation Requirement under L. 2015, c. 237.

Committee ChairCarol Alt* (Retired 2018)Chief Clerk, New York City Civil Court, NewYork, NY *awaiting appointment of Committee Chair

Committee Vice-ChairJeffrey CarucciFirst Deputy Chief Clerk, NYS Supreme Court, New York County, E-Filing Statewide Administrator

StaffJanet Fink, Esq.Phyllis Mingione, Esq.Mindy Jeng, Esq.

MembersJennifer A. Bentley Esq.Certilman, Balin, Adler & Hyman LLP, East Meadow, NY

Gina M. CalabreseSt. John’s University School of Law, Queens, NY

David A. Glazer, Esq.Shafer Glazer LLP, New York, NY

Eugene HurleyFirst Deputy Chief Clerk, New York City Civil Court - Citywide, New York, NY

Fay Leoussis, Esq.Executive Assistant, Corporation Counsel, New York City Department of Law, New York, NY

Richard W. Kokel, Esq.New York, NY

Joseph MinogueDeputy Chief Clerk, New York City Civil Court, Kings County, Brooklyn, NY

Mitchell B. Nisonoff, Esq.Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City, New York, NY

Alia RazzaqChief Clerk, New York City Civil Court, Citywide, New York, NY

Lawrence N. Rogak, Esq.Lawrence N. Rogak LLC, Oceanside, NY

Rachel Siskind, Rubin, Esq.Silversmith & Associates Law Firm, PLLC, New York, NY

Michael James Rivers, Esq.Law Offices of Aloy O. Ibuzor, New York, NY

Serena SpringleDeputy Chief Clerk, New York City Civil Court - New York County, New York, NY

Appendix C: E-Filing Advisory Committees

Appendix C Letters of the Chief Administrative

Judge and Notices Seeking Comment

37

Appendix C

APP-026

38

Appendix C

APP-027

39

Appendix C

APP-028

40

Appendix C

APP-029

41

Appendix C

APP-030

42

Appendix C

APP-031

43

Appendix C

APP-032

44

Appendix C

APP-033

45

Appendix C

APP-034

46

Appendix C

APP-035

47

Appendix C

APP-036

48

Appendix C

APP-037

Appendix D: Persons, Entities, Agencies, and Groups to which Solicitations Were Sent

Appendix D Persons, Entities, Agencies, and Groups

to which Solicitations Were Sent

51

Appendix D

1ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT (NEW YORK COUNTY)

American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers New York ChapterLaw Office of Robert D. Arenstein295 Madison Avenue, 16th FloorNew York, NY 10017-6304arensteinlaw@aol.com

Asian American Bar Assn. of New York45 Rockefeller Plz., 20th FloorNew York, NY 10111main@aabany.orgdwight.yoo@aabany.orgjames.cho@aabany.org

The Assn. of the Bar of the City of New York42 West 44th StreetNew York, NY 10036-6690efriedman@nycbar.orgmcilenti@nycbar.org

Association of Black Women Attorneys, Inc.1001 Avenue of the Americas, 11th FloorNew York, NY 10018info@abwanewyork.org

Brehon Law Society693 Ninth AvenueNew York, NY 10036Jennifer Frankola Crawford,PresidentSjd_esq@hotmail.comcunningcd@aol.com

Bronx Women's Bar AssociationP.O. Box 779New York, NY 10025-0779

Guild of Catholic Lawyers, Inc.Kelley, Drye & Warren, L.L.P.101 Park Avenue, 30th FloorNew York, NY 10178

Columbian Lawyers Association First Judicial Department8 E. 69th StreetNew York, NY 10021president@columbianlawyers.compaolostrino@gmail.com

The Defense Association of New York, Inc.2 Rector Street, 14th FloorNew York, NY 10006(Mailing Address)The Defense Association of New York, Inc.P.O. Box 950New York, NY 10274-0950

Dominican Bar AssociationP.O. Box 203Canal Street StationNew York, NY 10013dominicanbarassoc@gmail.comgloribelle.perez@gmail.com

Federal Bar Assn., Southern District of New York ChapterLaw Offices of Ira R. Abel30 Vesey Street, 15th FloorNew York, NY 10007-2988iraabel@verizon.net

French-American Bar Associationpierre_ciric@yahoo.com

Hispanic National Bar Association Region II--New YorkMunicipal Credit Union22 Cortlandt Street, 27th FloorNew York, NY 10007-3107nyhnba@gmail.com

Irish American Bar Associationjn@lmllawyers.com

Jewish Lawyers Guild, Inc.Abrams, Gorelick, Friedman & Jacobson, P.C.One Battery Park Plz., 4th FloorNew York, NY 10004Shoshanabesq@aol.combraskin@raskrem.com

Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New YorkGrand Central Station Post OfficeP.O. Box 2152New York, NY 10163-2152bridgette.ahn@gmail.comkalagny@gmail.comkyi@deyillp.com

Lawyers Square Club of New York437 Madison Avenue, 29th FloorNew York, NY 10022legaleagle935@gmail.com

The LGBT Bar Assn. of Greater N.Y.Suite 325-20601 W. 26th StreetNew York, NY 10001info@le-gal.org

Metropolitan Black Bar Association275 Madison Avenue, 14th FloorNew York, NY 10016info@mbbanyc.org

National Employment Lawyers Assn./New York39 Broadway, Suite 2420New York, NY 10006

National Lawyers Guild (New York City Chap.)113 University Place, 8th Floor

New York, NY 10003nlgnyc@igc.org

New York City Trial Lawyers AllianceGodosky & Gentile, P.C.61 BroadwayNew York, NY 10006dg@godoskygentile.com

New York County Lawyers Association14 Vesey StreetNew York, NY 10007sgianacoplos@nycla.org

New York Criminal and Civil Courts Bar Association30 Vesey Street, Suite 300New York, NY 10007

New York Criminal Bar Association40 Fulton Street, 23rd FloorNew York, NY 10038nycrimbar@nyc.rr.comemacedonio@yahoo.com

New York State Trial Lawyers Association132 Nassau Street, 2nd FloorNew York, NY 10038info@nystla.org

NYSTLA132 Nassau Street, Ste 200New York, NY 10038Mathew A. Funk, Esq.,PresidentDavid M. Oddo, Esq.,President Electinfo@nystla.org

New York Women's Bar Association132 E. 43rd Street, Suite 716New York, NY 10017-4019info@nywba.org

Nigerian Lawyers Association305 Broadway, 14th FloorNew York, NY 10007secretary@nigerianlawyers.orgshereefat_balogun@yahoo.com

Protestant Lawyers Assn. of New York, Inc.307 Fifth Avenue, 4th FloorNew York, NY 10016paulsiegert@aol.com

Puerto Rican Bar Assoc. Inc.Blugo@pachecolugo.comreo@roesq.com

Women's Bar Association of the State of New YorkP.O. Box 936New York, NY 10024-0546Attn: Greta K. KolconPresident WBASNY

52

Appendix D

gkolcon@wbasny.orginfo@wbasny.org

Appellate Advocates111 John Street, 9th FloorNew York, NY 10038

Office of the Appellate Defender First Department Assigned Counsel Corp.11 Park Place, Suite 1601New York, NY 10007info@appellatedefender.org

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund99 Hudson Street, 12th FloorNew York, NY 10013-2815info@aaldef.org

Assigned Counsel Plan for the City of New York253 Broadway, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10007malperstein@cityhall.nyc.gov

Center for Appellate Litigationrdean@cfal.org

Center for Constitutional Rights666 Broadway, 7th FloorNew York, NY 10012info@ccrjustice.org

Immigrant Defense Project28 W. 39th Street, Suite 501New York, NY 10018

Latino Justice PRLDEF99 Hudson Street, 14th FloorNew York, NY 10013info@latinojustice.org

Lawyers Alliance for New York171 Madison Avenue, 6th FloorNew York, NY 10016info@lawyersalliance.orglabel@lawyersalliance.orgsdelany@lawyersalliance.org

Legal Action Center of the City of New York, Inc.225 Varick Street, 4th FloorNew York, NY 10014lacinfo@lac.org

The Legal Aid Society Administrative Offices199 Water StreetNew York, NY 10038pbath@legal-aid.orgswjames@legal-aid.org

The Legal Aid Society Civil Practice199 Water StreetNew York, NY 10038ishaw@legal-aid.org

The Legal Aid Society Civil PracticeHarlem Community Law Office230 E. 106th StreetNew York, NY 10029

The Legal Aid Society Civil PracticeLower Manhattan Neighborhood Office199 Water StreetNew York, NY 10038

The Legal Aid Society Civil PracticeThe Manhattan Courthouse Office111 Centre Street, Room 106New York, NY 10013

The Legal Aid Society Criminal Practice49 Thomas StreetNew York, NY 10013jmluongo@legal-aid.org

The Legal Aid Society Juvenile Rights Practice199 Water Street, 6th FloorNew York, NY 10038

The Legal Aid Society Juvenile Rights Practice60 Lafayette Street, Room 9ANew York, NY 10013

Jacob InwaldDirector of Foreclosure PreventionLegal Services NYC40 Worth Street, Suite 606New York, New York 10013jinwald@lsnyc.org

Legal Services NYC40 Worth Street, 6th FloorNew York, NY 10013ksoberanis@ls-nyc.org

Legal Services NYC1 West 125th Street, 2nd FloorNew York, NY 10027

Manhattan Legal Services, Inc.40 Worth Street, Suite 606New York, NY 10013

MFY Legal Services, Inc.299 Broadway, 4th FloorNew York, NY 10007ealterman@mfjlegal.orgjzelhof@mfjlegal.org

Mobilization for Justice, Inc. (formerly MFY Legal Services)100 William Street, 6th FloorNew York, New York 10038(212) 417-3700

New York Civil Liberties Union125 Broad Street, 19th FloorNew York, NY 10004

NYSACDL90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Jennifer L. Van Ort,Executive Director

N.Y. State Defenders Association, Inc.194 Washington Avenue, Suite 500Albany, NY 12210-2314Susan C. Bryant,Deputy Directorinfo@nysda.org

New York County Defender Servicessgerman@nycds.org

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service First Dept.41 Madison Avenue, 26th FloorNew York, NY 10010

Sanctuary for Families Center for Battered Women30 Wall Street, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10005

Volunteer Lawyers for the ArtsThe Paley Building1 E. 53rd Street, 6th FloorNew York, NY 10022

Volunteers of Legal Service, Inc.40 Worth Street, Suite 820 New York, NY 10013-2904info@volsprobono.org

MACAtkbeeken@debevoise.com

Neighborhood defender Service of HarlemJonathan Jay PinnChief of OperationsNew York City Law Department212-356-4043917-821-0712jpinn@law.nyc.govrjones@ndsny.org

Association of Black Women Attorneys, Inc.ferrandm@fdny.nyc.gov

Metropolitan Black Bar Associationtgrays@metlife.com

Muslim Bar Association of New Yorksaira.f.hussain@gmail.comZuberi.madiha@gmail.com

South Asian Bar Association of New Yorkpnchowlera@yahoo.comvichalk@gmail.comgopinath@millercanfield.com

53

Appendix D

American Academy of Matrimonial LawyersBrooklyn-Manhattan Trial Lawyerswmbellard@aol.comcinclima@inclimalawfirm.com

Women's Bar Association of the State of New YorkPost Office Box 936New York, NY 10024-0536Attn: Amy Baldwin Littman, Esq.Greta K. Kolcon, Esq,President electgkolcon@wbasny.orginfo@wbasny.org

NYS Academy of Trial Lawyersacademy@trialacademy.org

2ND JUDICIAL DISTRICT (KINGS COUNTY)

Bay Ridge Lawyers Association7302 13th AvenueBrooklyn, NY 11228gborrino@carusobranda.com

Brooklyn Bar Association123 Remsen StreetBrooklyn, NY 11201-4212aokin@brooklynbar.org

Brooklyn Women's Bar Association, Inc.Blank & Star, P.L.L.C.387 New Lots AvenueBrooklyn, NY 11207

Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn142 Joralemon StreetBrooklyn, NY 11201

Kings County Criminal Bar Association546 5th Ave,New York, NY 10036Attn: Michael Cibella, Esq.

Puerto Rican Bar Association, Inc.Pacheco & Lugo340 Atlantic AvenueBrooklyn, NY 11201

Staten Island WomenNew York City Transit Authority130 Livingston Street, 11th FloorBrooklyn, NY 11201info@siwba.org

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund99 Hudson Street, 12th FloorNew York, NY 10013-2815info@aaldef.org(Also serves Kings County)

Assigned Counsel Plan for the City of New York2nd Department, 8th Floor253 BroadwayNew York, NY 10007Attn: Barbara DiFiorebdifiore@cityhall.nyc.gov

Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Legal Services Corporation1360 Fulton Street, Suite 301Brooklyn, NY 11216-2674Brooklyn Defender Services177 Livingston Street, 7th FloorBrooklyn, NY 11201lschreib@bds.org

Brooklyn Legal Services Corp. A260 Broadway, Suite 2Brooklyn, NY 11211mneedelman@bka.orgpacinapura@bka.orgllee@bka.orgglouis@bka.orgjhoffman@bka.orgksoberanis@ls-nyc.org

Brooklyn Legal Services619 Thorpe Ave, 3rd FloorBrooklyn, NY 11216

Lawyer Referral Service Queens County Bar Association90-35 148th StreetJamaica, NY 11435-4097info@qcba.org(Also serves Kings County)

Lawyers Alliance for New York171 Madison Avenue, 6th FloorNew York, NY 10016info@lawyersalliance.orgsdelany@lawyersalliance.orgeguggenheimer@lawyersalliance.org(Also serves Kings County)

Legal Action Center of the City of New York, Inc.225 Varick Street, 4th FloorNew York, NY 10014lacinfo@lac.org(also serves Kings County)

The Legal Aid Society--Kings County Brooklyn Office for the Aging111 Livingston Street, 6th FloorBrooklyn, NY 11201dryan@legal-aid.org

The Legal Aid SocietyKings County Brooklyn Civil Neighborhood Office111 Livingston Street, 7th FloorBrooklyn, NY 11201

The Legal Aid Society--Kings County Criminal Defense Division111 Livingston Street, 9th FloorBrooklyn, NY 11201

The Legal Aid Society--Kings County Juvenile Rights Division111 Livingston Street, 8th FloorBrooklyn, NY 11201

Legal Services NYC40 Worth Street, 6th FloorNew York, NY 10013

Legal Services NYC1 West 125th Street, 2nd FloorNew York, NY 10027

Legal Services NYC - Brooklyn105 Court Street, 3rd Fl.Brooklyn, NY 11201

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service 2nd Judicial Dept.170 Old Country Road, Suite 500Mineola, NY 11501(also serves Kings County)

Creedmoor Psychiatric CenterNYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service 2nd Dept,2nd, 11th & 13th Judicial District Office80-45 Winchester Blvd., 1st Flr.Bldg. 73 CBU #25Queens Village, NY 11427(also serves Kings County)

Sanctuary for Families Center for Battered Women30 Wall Street, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10005(also serves Kings County)

South Brooklyn Legal Services105 Court Street, 3rd FloorBrooklyn, NY 11201

Shriver Tyler MacCrate Center For Justice260 Broadway, suite 2Brooklyn, NY 11211

3RD JUDICIAL DISTRICT (ALBANY, COLUMBIA, GREENE, RENSSELAER, SCHOHARIE, SULLIVAN, ULSTER COUNTIES)

ALBANY COUNTY

Albany County Bar Association112 State Street, Suite 1120Albany, NY 12207Attn: Hon. Christina Ryba, President

54

Appendix D

acba@albanycountybar.comchrissyleann@yahoo.commrhodes@albanycountybar.com

Albany County Assigned Counsel Planlrosen50@hotmail.com

Capital District Black & Hispanic Bar AssociationP.O. Box 5252Albany, NY 12205Attn: Patricia L.P. Rodriguez, Esq., President

Capital District Women's Bar AssociationP.O. Box 3747Albany, NY 12203Attn: Linda B. Johnson, Esq., President

Victor P. DeAmelia, Esq.Div. of Human Rights28th Floor Corning TowerEmpire State PlazaAlbany, NY 12205deamelialaw@gmail.com

Empire Justice Center119 Washington Avenue, 2nd FloorAlbany, NY 12210santos@empirejustice.org

Office of Indigent Legal ServicesState Capitol, Room 128Albany, NY 12224

NYS Office of Indigent Legal ServicesAlfred E. Smith Bldg80 S. Swan Street, 29thAlbany, NY 12210Info@ils.ny.gov

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.55 Colvin AvenueAlbany, NY 12206lmoy@lasnny.org(Serving Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer and Schenectady Counties)

The Legal Project, Capital District Women24 Aviation RoadAlbany, NY 12205P.O. Box 3747Albany, NY 12203administrator@cdwba.org

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320

Prisoners' Legal Services of New YorkCentral Office41 State Street, Suite M112Albany, NY 12207

Public Defender Albany County60 S. Pearl StreetAlbany, NY 12207Melissa.jeffers@albanycounty.com

Albany County Public Defender (Alternate)112 State Street, Suite 1010Albany, NY 12207Sherri.Brooks@albanycountyny.gov

NYSBAOne Elk StreetAlbany, NY 12207Michael Miller, President electSharon Stern Gerstman, Presidentkbaxter@nysba.org jnagel@nysba.orgrkennedy@nysba.org;

NYS Academy of Trial Lawyers39 North Pearl Street, 6th FloorAlbany, NY 12207Andrew Smiley, PresidentFrancis Letro, President Electinfo@trialacademy.orgacademy@trialacademy.org

NYSACDL90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Jennifer L. Van Ort,Executive Director

N.Y. State Defenders Association, Inc.194 Washington Avenue, Suite 500Albany, NY 12210-2314Attn: Susan C. Bryant, Deputy Directorinfo@nysda.org

Women's Bar Association of the State of New YorkPost Office Box 936New York, NY 10024-0536Greta K. Kolcon, Esq, Presidentgkolcon@wbasny.orginfo@wbasny.org

NYSTLA132 Nassau Street, Ste 200New York, NY 10038Attn: Mathew A. Funk, Esq., PresidentDavid M. Oddo, Esq., President Electinfo@nystla.org

COLUMBIA COUNTY

Columbia County Bar Association3223 Church Street, P.O. Box 811

Valatie, NY 12181

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.55 Colvin AvenueAlbany, NY 12206info@lasnny.org

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320

Public Defender Columbia County610 State StreetHudson, NY 12534

Columbia County Conflict Defendernecareer@excite.comColumbia County 1st Alternate Conflict DefenderColumbia County 2nd Alternate Conflict Defenderdennismcevoylaw@gmail.com

Rural Law Center of New YorkSuite 20322 U.S. OvalPlattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Columbia County)

GREENE COUNTY

Greene County Bar AssociationGreene County Courthouse Library320 Main StreetCatskill, NY 12414

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.55 Colvin AvenueAlbany, NY 12206info@lasnny.org(also serves Greene County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third DepartmentSuite 205286 Washington Avenue Ext.Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Greene County)

Public Defender Greene CountyGreene County Office Building411 Main Street, 2nd FloorCatskill, NY 12414publicdefender@discovergreene.comAscaturro@discovergreene.com

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903

RENSSELAER COUNTY

Rensselaer County Bar AssociationRensselaer County Attorney Office

55

Appendix D

Ned Pattison Govt. CenterP.O. Box 3951600 7th AvenueTroy, NY 12181info@renscobar.org

Rensselaer County Conflict Defendersmccarthy@rensco.com

Assigned Counsel Plan of Rensselaer CountyRensselaer County AttorneyNed Pattison County Government Center1600 7th AvenueTroy, NY 12180spechenik@rensco.com

Stephen A. Pechenik, County Atty.Assigned Counsel Plan of Rensselaer CountyRensselaer County AttorneyNed Pattison County Government Center1600 7th AvenueTroy, NY 12180

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.55 Colvin AvenueAlbany, NY 12206 (also serves Rensselaer County)

The Legal Project, Capital District Women24 Aviation RoadAlbany, NY 12205info@legalproject.org(also serves Rensselaer County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320

Public Defender Rensselaer CountyCourthouse80 Second StreetTroy, NY 12180jturi@rensco.com

Rural Law Center of New YorkSuite 20322 U.S. OvalPlattsburgh, NY 12903

SCHOHARIE COUNTY

Schoharie County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 613Cobleskill, NY 12043

Assigned Counsel Plan of Schoharie CountyP.O. Box 613Cobleskill, NY 12043

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.1 Kimball StreetAmsterdam, NY 12010(also serves Schoharie County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Schoharie County)

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Schoharie County)

SULLIVAN COUNTY

Sullivan County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 424Monticello, NY 12701

Women's Bar Assn of Orange & Sullivan CountiesP.O. Box 911Warwick, NY 10990

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley90 Maple AvenueWhite Plains, NY 10601(also serves Sullivan County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(also serves Sullivan County)

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(also serves Sullivan County)

Sullivan Legal Aid Panel, Inc.11 Bank StreetMonticello, NY 12701-1701

Sullivan County Conflict Legal Aid Bureaujoelmproyect@gmail.com

ULSTER COUNTY

Ulster County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 3084Kingston, NY 12402ulstercountybar@gmail.comMatthew M. Jankowski, PresidentUlster County Bar Association

Ulster County District Attorney's Office275 Wall StreetKingston, NY 12401

Farmworker Law Project Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York52 S. Manheim Blvd.New Paltz, NY 12561csibley@wnylc.com

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley90 Maple AvenueWhite Plains, NY 10601(also serves Ulster County)

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley550 Aaron CourtKingston, NY 12401

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320

Public Defender Ulster CountyP.O. Box 1800Kingston, NY 12402akos@co.ulster.ny.us

4TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT (CLINTON, ESSEX, FRANKLIN, FULTON, HAMILTON, MONTGOMERY, SARATOGA, SCHENECTADY, ST. LAWRENCE, WARREN, WASHINGTON COUNTIES)

CLINTON COUNTY

Assigned Counsel Plan of Clinton CountyStafford, Piller, Murnane, Kelleher & Trombley, P.L.L.C.1 Cumberland AvenuePlattsburgh, NY 12901

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.P.O. Box 989Plattsburgh, NY 12901

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service 3rd Dept.286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(also serves Clinton County)

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903

Prisoners' Legal Services of New York121 Bridge Street, Suite 202Plattsburgh, NY 12901

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Appendix D

Clinton County Bar AssociationJoseph Mucia, Esq., Presidentjoseph@nilesbracy.com

ESSEX COUNTY

Essex County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 2177551 Court StreetElizabethtown, NY 12932dscaglione@co.essex.ny.us

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.100 Court StreetPlattsburgh, NY 12901(also serves Essex County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Essex County)

Rural Law Center of New YorkSuite 20322 U.S. OvalPlattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Essex County)Essex County Public Defender

bboutelle@co.essex.ny.us

FRANKLIN COUNTY

Federation of the Bar Associations of the Fourth Judicial District367 W. Main Street, Suite 3Malone, NY 12953

Franklin County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 788Malone, NY 12953Mark Flack Wells, Esq., Presidentmfw12937@gmail.com

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.P.O. Box 989100 Court StreetPlattsburgh, NY 12901(Also serves Franklin County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third DepartmentSuite 205286 Washington Avenue Ext.Albany, NY 12203-6320

Public Defender Franklin County355 W. Main Street, Suite 237Malone, NY 12953Thomas Souciatsoucia@co.franklin.ny.usrbraley@co.franklin.ny.us

Conflict Defender, Franklin Countysgordon@co.franklin.ny.us;

Rural Law Center of New YorkSuite 20322 U.S. OvalPlattsburgh, NY 12903 (Also serves Franklin County)

FULTON COUNTY

Fulton County Bar Association215 County Highway 155Broadalbin, NY 12025Kelly Holt, Esq., - President

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.1 Kimball StreetAmsterdam, NY 12010(Also serves Fulton County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Fulton County)

Public Defender Fulton County55 E. Main Street, Suite 310Johnstown, NY 12095jgmjresq@fronteirnet.net

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903david.covey@cc-fmc.org

HAMILTON COUNTY

Hamilton County Assigned Counsel ProgramP.O. Box 205Lake Pleasant, NY 12108

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.P.O. Box 989100 Court StreetPlattsburgh, NY 12901pracette@lasnny.org(Also serves Hamilton County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Hamilton County)

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Montgomery County Bar AssociationCarol Dillon Pollard, Esq., Presidentcjjmd@aol.com

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.1 Kimball StreetAmsterdam, NY 12010

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third DepartmentSuite 205286 Washington Avenue Ext.Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Montgomery County)

Montgomery County Public Defenderbillmart777@yahoo.com

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Montgomery County)

SARATOGA COUNTY

Saratoga County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 994Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Assigned Counsel Plan of Saratoga County Bar Assn.Counsel to Indigent Defendants40 McMaster StreetBallston Spa, NY 12020

The Legal ProjectCapital District Women's Bar Assoc.24 Aviation RoadAlbany, NY 12205(Also serves Saratoga County)

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.40 New StreetSaratoga Springs, NY 12866

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Saratoga County)

Public Defender Saratoga County40 McMaster StreetBallston Spa, NY 12020oschreiber@saratogacountyny.gov

Rural Law Center of New YorkSuite 20322 U.S. OvalPlattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Saratoga County)

SCHENECTADY COUNTY

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Appendix D

Schenectady County Bar Association, Inc.P.O. Box 1728Schenectady, NY 12301-1728info@schenectadycountybar.org

Assigned Counsel Plan of Schenectady620 State StreetSchenectady, NY 12307Donald.DeAngelus@schenectadycounty.com

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.55 Colvin AvenueAlbany, NY 12206

The Legal Project, Capital District Women24 Aviation RoadAlbany, NY 12205info@legalproject.org

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third DepartmentSuite 205286 Washington Avenue Ext.Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Schenectady County)

Public Defender Schenectady County519 State StreetSchenectady, NY 12305Stephen.signore@schenectadycounty.com

Conflict Defender, Schenectady CountyTracey.Chance@schenectadycounty.com

Rural Law Center of New YorkSuite 20322 U.S. OvalPlattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Schenectady County)

ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY

St. Lawrence County Bar Association117 Main StreetCanton, NY 13617Nicole DuveLloyd Grandy, Esq., Presidentlgrandy@prestoncarlisle.comnduve@nycourts.gov

Assigned Counsel Plan of St. Lawrence CountyConboy, McKay, Bachman & Kendall, L.L.P.2 Judson StreetCanton, NY 13617sbgoldie@cmbk.com

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.17 Hodskin StreetCanton, NY 13617

St. Lawrence County Public DefenderSBallan@stlawco.org

St. Lawrence County Conflict Defenderadona@stlawco.org

Rural Law Center of New YorkSuite 20322 U.S. OvalPlattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves St. Lawrence County)

WARREN COUNTY

Warren County Bar Association, Inc.16 Maple Street - Suite 3Glens Falls, NY 12801

Assigned Counsel Plan of Warren Countylafountainj@warrencountyny.govWarren County Municipal Center1340 State Route 9Lake George, NY 12845

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.40 New StreetSaratoga Springs, NY 12866(Also serves Warren County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third DepartmentSuite 205286 Washington Avenue Ext.Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Warren County)

Marcy Flores, Public DefenderPublic Defender Warren CountyWarren County Municipal Center1340 State Route 9Lake George, NY 12845

Rural Law Center of New YorkSuite 20322 U.S. OvalPlattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Warren County)

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Jillian M. Beecher, SecretaryWashington County Bar AssociationCourthouse, Building C383 BroadwayFort Edward, NY 12828

Washington County Assigned Counsel Planmdrost@co.washington.ny.us

Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.40 New StreetSaratoga Springs, NY 12866(Also serves Washington County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Washington County)

Public Defender, Washington Countymmercure@co.washington.ny.us

Rural Law Center of New YorkSuite 20322 U.S. OvalPlattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Washington County)

5TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT (HERKIMER, JEFFERSON, LEWIS, ONEIDA, ONONDAGA, OSWEGO COUNTIES)

HERKIMER COUNTY

Herkimer County Bar Association47 First Street, PMB 368Ilion, NY 13357

Assigned Counsel Program of Herkimer County209 N. Washington StreetHerkimer, NY 13350Keithbowerslawoffice@gmail.com

Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc. Main Office268 Genesee Street, 2nd floorUtica, NY 13502creilly@wnylc.comraiello@wnylc.com(Also serves Herkimer County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Fourth Department, Fifth Judicial District207 Genesee Street, Suite 1601Utica, NY 13501-2876(Also Serves Herkimer County)

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Herkimer County)

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Justin F. Brotherton, Esq., PresidentJefferson County Bar Association200 Washington Street, Suite 301Watertown, NY 13601Brothertonlawfirm@gmail.com

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Appendix D

Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc.44 Public Sq.Watertown, NY 13601

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Fourth Department, Fifth Judicial District OfficeThe Syracuse Building224 Harrison Street, Suite 502Syracuse, NY 13202(Also serves Jefferson County)

Public Defender Jefferson CountyCounty Office Building175 Arsenal Street, 4th FloorWatertown, NY 13601jhutchins@co.jefferson.ny.us

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Jefferson County)

LEWIS COUNTY

Todd W. McIntyre, Esq., President, Lewis County Bar Association, Inc.7660 N. State StreetLowville, NY 13367tmcintyr@nycourts.gov

Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc.44 Public Sq.Watertown, NY 13601(Also serves Lewis County - see Jefferson County)

Lewis Defenders, P.L.L.C.7659 N. State StreetLowville, NY 13367lewisdefender@gmail.commccluskylaw@yahoo.com

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Fourth Department, Fifth Judicial District207 Genesee Street, Suite 1601Utica, NY 13501-2876(Also serves Lewis County - see Herkimer County)

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Lewis County)

ONEIDA COUNTY

Diane M. Davis, Executive DirectorOneida County Bar Association258 Genesee Street, Suite 302Utica, NY 13502-4636diane@oneidacountybar.org

Assigned Counsel Plan of Oneida County800 Park AvenueUtica, NY 13501

Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc.268 Genesee Street, 2nd FloorUtica, NY 13501(also serves Oneida - See Herkimer County - email address)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Fourth Department, Fifth Judicial District207 Genesee Street, Suite 1601Utica, NY 13501-2876(also serves Oneida county - see Herkimer County)

Public Defender Oneida County Civil DivisionOneida County Office Building800 Park Avenue, 9th FloorUtica, NY 13501pdcivil@ocgov.netfnebush@ocgov.net

Public Defender Oneida County Civil Division301 W. Dominick StreetRome, NY 13440ffurno@ocgov.net

Public Defender Oneida County Criminal Division250 Boehlert Center321 Main StreetUtica, NY 13501pubdef@ocgov.net

ONONDAGA COUNTY

Hon. James MurphyPresident, Onondaga County Bar Association431 East Fayette Street, Suite 300Syracuse, NY 13202Central New York Women's Bar Assoc.Downtown StationP.O. Box 408Syracuse, NY 13201-0408

Onondaga County Bar Association431 E. Fayette Street, Suite 300Syracuse, NY 13202info1@onbar.orgdirector@ocbaacp.orgcchantler@onbar.org

Assigned Counsel Program Inc. Onondaga County Bar AssociationState Tower Building109 S. Warren Street, Suite 6Syracuse, NY 13202

Frank H. Hiscock Legal Aid Society351 S. Warren StreetSyracuse, NY 13202-2057srhorn@hiscocklegalaid.orgmail@hiscocklegalaid.orgLegal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc.Financial Plaza221 S. Warren Street, Suite 400Syracuse, NY 13202

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Fourth Department, Fifth Judicial District OfficeThe Syracuse Building224 Harrison Street, Suite 502Syracuse, NY 13202

Syracuse University College of Law Office of Clinical Legal Education950 Irving AvenueSyracuse, NY 13244

NDNY Federal Bar AssociationPO Box 7067Syracuse, NY 13261

OSWEGO COUNTY

Oswego County Bar Associationoswegocobarassociation@gmail.com

Assigned Counsel Plan of Oswego County46 E. Bridge StreetOswego, NY 13126

Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc.108 W. Bridge StreetOswego, NY 13126

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Fourth Department, Fifth Judicial District OfficeThe Syracuse Building224 Harrison Street, Suite 502Syracuse, NY 13202(Also serves Oswego County)

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Oswego County)

6TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT (BROOME, CHEMUNG, CHENANGO, CORTLAND, DELAWARE, MADISON, OTSEGO, SCHUYLER, TIOGA, TOMPKINS COUNTIES)

BROOME COUNTY

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Appendix D

Broome County Bar Association53 Chenango Street, Suite 201Binghamton, NY 13901

Sindy Garey, Executive DirectorBroome County Bar Associationbroomebar@stny.twcb.com

Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc.168 Water Street, 2nd FloorBinghamton, NY 13901

Mr. Jay L. Wilber, Esq.Public Defender, Broome CountyGeorge Harvey Justice Building45 Hawley Street, 6th FloorBinghamton, NY 13901(Mailing Address)P.O. Box 1766Binghamton, NY 13902

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Broome County)

Lawyer Referral Service Broome County Bar Association53 Chenango Street, Suite 201Binghamton, NY 13901

CHEMUNG COUNTY

Chemung County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 915Elmira, NY 14902

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.215 E. Church Street, Suite 301Elmira, NY 14901-2889

Public Advocate, Chemung Countyjbrennan@co.chemung.ny.us

Public Defender Chemung CountyP.O. Box 588163 Lake StreetElmira, NY 14902-0588sfierro@co.chemung.ny.us

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 1290(Also serves Chemung County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Chemung County)

CHENANGO COUNTY

Chenango County Bar Associationc/o Michael D. Ferrarese, Esq.19 Eaton AvenueNorwich, NY 13815mdf@mdf-lawyers.com

Chenango County Public Defender26 Conkey AvenueNorwich, NY 13815publicdefender@co.chenango.ny.us

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Chenango County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Chenango County)

Lawyer Referral Service Broome County Bar Association53 Chenango Street, Suite 201Binghamton, NY 13901(Also serves Chenango County)

CORTLAND COUNTY

Lenore Lefevre, PresidentCortland County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 5381Cortland, NY 13045

Courtland County Assigned Counsel Planllefevre@cortland-co.org

Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc.111 Port Watson StreetCortland, NY 13045

Public Defender, Cortland County60 Central Avenue, Room B-5Cortland, NY 13045-5590kddayton@cortland-co.org

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Cortland County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Cortland County)

DELAWARE COUNTY

Delaware County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 494Delhi, NY 13753

Assigned Counsel Plan of Delaware CountyP.O. Box 494Delhi, NY 13753lobolenskylaw@gmail.com

Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc.P.O. Box 887, Suite 401189 Main StreetOneonta, NY 13820(Also serves county of Delaware)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Delaware County)

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903

MADISON COUNTYMadison County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 102Wampsville, NY 13163

Madison County Assigned Counsel PlanTina.wayland-smith@madisoncounty.ny.gov

Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc. Main Office268 Genesee Street, 2nd FloorUtica, NY 13502(Also serves Madison County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Madison County)

Public Defender Madison CountyMadison County Office BuildingP.O. Box 576138 N. Court StreetWampsville, NY 13163PaulHadley33@gmail.com

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Madison County)

OTSEGO COUNTY

Otsego County Bar Association197 Main StreetCooperstown, NY 13326Eric Jervis, President, Otsego County Bar Associationeric@harlemlawoffice.com

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Appendix D

Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc.P.O. Box 887, Suite 401Oneonta, NY 13820

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Otsego County)

Public Defender Otsego County193 Main StreetCooperstown, NY 13326maxsonb@otsegocounty.com

Public Defender Otsego County242 Main StreetOneonta, NY 13820

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Otsego County)

SCHUYLER COUNTY

Schuyler County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 135Watkins Glen, NY 14891

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.(Chemung County Neighborhood Legal Services)215 E. Church Street, Suite 301Elmira, NY 14901-2889(Also serves Schuyler County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Schuyler County)

Public Defender Schuyler Count105 9th Street, Unit 7Watkins Glen, NY 14891wroe@co.schuyler.ny.us

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Schuyler County)

TIOGA COUNTY

Lawyer Referral Service Broome County Bar Association53 Chenango Street, Suite 201Binghamton, NY 13901(Also serves Tioga County)

Tioga County Assigned Counsel Plangraveni@co.tioga.ny.us

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.Tompkins/Tioga Neighborhood Legal ServicesDeWitt Building215 N. Cayuga Street, Suite 155Ithaca, NY 14850-4901

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320

Public Defender Tioga CountyP.O. Box 507171 Main StreetOwego, NY 13827geocawadjresq@yahoo.com

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Tioga County)

TOMPKINS COUNTY

Tompkins County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 6629Ithaca, NY 14851Hayden Brainard, Presidenthrb@millermayer.com

Assigned Counsel Program of Tompkins County171 E. State Street, Suite 223Ithaca, NY 14850jhughes@tompkins-co.orglsalisbury@tompkins-co.org

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Third Department286 Washington Avenue Ext., Suite 205Albany, NY 12203-6320(Also serves Tompkins County)

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Tompkins County)

Prisoners' Legal Services of New York114 Prospect StreetIthaca, NY 14850

7TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT (CAYUGA, LIVINGSTON, MONROE, ONTARIO, SENECA, STEUBEN, WAYNE, YATES COUNTIES)

CAYUGA COUNTY

Cayuga County Bar Association9 Court StreetAuburn, NY 13021(MAILING ADDRESS)Suite 202-279144 Genesee StreetAuburn, NY 13021sgiacona@giaconalaw.com

Assigned Counsel Plan of Cayuga CountyCayuga County Court House152 Genesee StreetAuburn, NY 13021lhoskins@co.cayuga.ny.usdefender@co.cayuga.ny.uslhoskins@cayugacounty.us

Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc.108 W. Bridge StreetOswego, NY 13126

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Serves Cayuga County)

LIVINGSTON COUNTY

Livingston County Bar Association Cannon & Van Allen, L.L.P.10 University Dr.Geneseo, NY 14454lquintilone@co.livingston.ny.uslafl@lafl.org

Public Defender Livingston CountyLivingston County Govt. CenterRoom 1096 Court StreetGeneseo, NY 14454lcpd@co.livingston.ny.us

Livingston County Conflict Defenderjeannie@jdmattorney.com

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Serves Livingston County)

MONROE COUNTY

Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys279 Castlebar RoadRochester, NY 14610info@grawa.org

Monroe County Bar Association1 W. Main Street, 10th FloorRochester, NY 14614-2098Mark Moretti - Pres. Monroe County Bar Assoc.Jcicero@thecicerolawfirm.cominfo@mcba.org

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Appendix D

Empire Justice CenterTelesca Center for Justice1 W. Main Street, Suite 200Rochester, NY 14614

Legal Aid Society of Rochester1 W. Main Street, Suite 800Rochester, NY 14614

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.1 W. Main Street, Suite 400Rochester, NY 14614

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service 4th Dept.M. Dolores Denman Cthse.50 East Avenue, Suite 402Rochester, NY 14604

Public Defender Monroe County10 N. Fitzhugh StreetRochester, NY 14614donaher@monroecounty.govtdonaher@monoroecounty.gov

Worker Justice Center of New York1187 Culver RoadRochester, NY 14609

ONTARIO COUNTY

Ontario County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 381Canandaigua, NY 14424

Assigned Counsel Program of Ontario County144 Mill StreetCanandaigua, NY 14424acpdefenders@yahoo.com

Conflict Defender of Ontario County144 Mill StreetCanandaigua, NY 14424

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.361 S. Main StreetGeneva, NY 14456lafl@lafl.orgkwoods@lawny.orgaelliott-engel@lawny.org

Public Defender of Ontario CountyGround Floor20 Ontario StreetCanandaigua, NY 14424leanne.lapp@co.ontario.ny.us

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Serves Ontario County)

SENECA COUNTY

Pres. Seneca County Bar AssociationMichael Mirras, Esq.Midey, Mirras & Ricci,LLP54 Fall Street, 2nd FloorSeneca Falls, NY 13148315.568.5861

Seneca County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 6Seneca Falls, NY 13148Ettman_law@juno.com

Public Defender Seneca CountyP.O. Box 702Seneca Falls, NY 13148mjmirras@rochester.rr.com midey12@rochester.rr.compublicdefender@co.seneca.ny.us

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Serves Seneca County)

STEUBEN COUNTY

Bath Bar Association12 Pulteney Sq., Box 528Bath, NY 14810lawmccarthy@verizon.net

Steuben County Bar Association3 E. Pulteney Sq.Bath, NY 14810

Steuben County Assigned Counsel Planpelych@yahoo.com

Southern Tier Legal Services104 E. Steuben St.Bath, NY 14810

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.P.O. Box 272Bath, NY 14810

Public Defender Steuben County3 E. Pulteney Sq.Bath, NY 14810

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903

WAYNE COUNTY

Wayne County Bar AssociationHall of Justice54 Broad StreetLyons, NY 14489pgchambe@syr.edu

Wayne County Assigned Counsel Planbchamlaw@rochester.rr.com

Public Defender Wayne County26 Church Street, 2nd FloorLyons, NY 14489

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Serves Wayne County)

YATES COUNTY

Yates County Bar Association415 Liberty StreetPenn Yan, NY 14527

Assigned Counsel Program of Yates County417 Liberty Street, Room 1055Penn Yan, NY 14527yateslawpy5@gmail.com

Public Defender Yates CountyP.O. Box 457159 S. Main StreetNaples, NY 14512lbrockman@frontiernet.net

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Serves Yates County)

8TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT (ALLEGANY, CATTARAUGUS, CHAUTAUQUA, ERIE, GENESEE, NIAGARA, ORLEANS & WYOMING COUNTIES)

ALLEGANY COUNTY

Allegany County Bar Association1584 Alma Hill RoadWellsville, NY 14895

Allegany County Bar Associationknappcm@alleganyco.com213 County Office Bldg7 Court Street,Belmont, New York 14813Tomminer@hotmail.com

Assigned Counsel Plan of Allegany CountyEmbers & Woltag, P.C.164 N. Main StreetWellsville, NY 14895

Assigned Counsel Plan of Allegany County3460 Riverside Dr.Wellsville, NY 14895

Public Defender Allegany CountyKelleybj@alleganyco. com

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Appendix D

7 Court StreetBelmont, NY 14813Allegany Cattaraugus Legal Services Inc.ahardinglaw@gmail.com

Southern Tier Legal Services103 S. Barry StreetOlean, NY 14760Director: Amy L. Christensen(Serves counties of Allegany, Steuben and Cattaraugus)

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Serves Allegany County)

CATTARAUGUS COUNTY

Cattaraugus County Bar AssociationCarr Saglimben, L.L.P.235 N. Union StreetOlean, NY 14760Assigned Counsel Plan of Cattaraugus County303 Court StreetLittle Valley, NY 14755Kevin@bkhfirm.comKevinhab@roadrunner.comjaninefodor@adelphia.nettawilliams@cattco.org

Public Defender of Cattaraugus County175 N. Union StreetOlean, NY 14760mswilliams@cattco.org

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.103 S. Barry StreetOlean, NY 14760mswilliams@cattco.org

Southern Tier Legal Services103 S. Barry StreetOlean, NY 14760Director: Amy L. Christensen(Serves counties of Allegany, Steuben and Cattaraugus)

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval. Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Serves Cattaraugus County)

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY

Public Defender Chautauqua CountyHall R. Clothier Building7 N. Erie Street, Room 106Mayville, NY 14757-1027Taylork@co.chautauqua.ny.usbaronen@co.chautauqua.ny.us

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.Hotel Jamestown Building110 W. 3rd Street, Suite 507Jamestown, NY 14701

Chautauqua Region Law Center111 W. 2nd Street, Suite 250Jamestown, NY 14701

Chautauqua Region Law CenterDunkirk Office314 Central AvenueDunkirk, NY 14048

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Serves Chautauqua County)

ERIE COUNTY

Bar Association of Erie County438 Main Street, 6th FloorBuffalo, NY 14202Neighborhood Legal Servicesgandriette@nls.orglbreen@nls.org

Erie County Bar Associationrconvissar@assigned.org

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal ServiceFourth Department, Eighth Judicial District Office438 Main Street, Suite 400Buffalo, NY 14202

Erie County Bar Association Aid to Indigent Prisoners Society, Inc.Assigned Counsel Program170 Franklin Street, Suite 400Buffalo, NY 14202

Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York237 Main Street, Suite 1535Buffalo, NY 14203

The Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc.237 Main Street, Suite 1602Buffalo, NY 14203-2778dschopp@legalaidbuffalo.org

The Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc.50 Delaware Avenue, 4th FloorBuffalo, NY 14202

Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.237 Main Street, 4th FloorBuffalo, NY 14203

GENESEE COUNTY

Genesee County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 1840Batavia, NY 14020twilliams@williamslawllp.com

bbonarigo@bonarigomccutcheon.com

Genesee County Assigned Counsel PlanMichael.r.rivers@gmail.com

Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.45 Main StreetBatavia, NY 14020

Genesee Legal Services Crop.cohenr@lsc.gov

Public Defender Genesee CountyGenesee County Courts Facility1 W Main StreetBatavia, NY 14020jader@co.genesee.ny.uspublicdefender@co.genesee.ny.us

NIAGARA COUNTY

Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.225 Old Falls Street, 3rd floorNiagara Falls, NY 14302maryannoliver@wnylc.com

Bar Association of Niagara CountyPO Box 570Lockport, NY 14095brickelmer@aol.compmmcgrathesq@hotmail.com

Bar Association of the Tonawanda’sBrick, Brick & Elmer, P.C.P.O. Box 60491 Tremont StreetNorth Tonawanda, NY 14120

Public Defender Niagara County139 Niagara StreetLockport, NY 14094

Public Defender Niagara CountyNiagara County Courthouse175 Hawley StreetLockport, NY 14094-2740

Public Defender Niagara County1925 Main StreetNiagara Falls, NY 14305

Niagara County Public DefenderDavid.Farrugia@niagaracounty.com

Niagara County Conflict DefenderKathleen.Kugler@niagaracounty.com

ORLEANS COUNTY

Public Defender Orleans Countypublicdefender@orleansny.com

Orleans County Bar AssociationOrleans County District Attorney’s Officecacole@courts.state.ny.uscradick@apfwlaw.com

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Appendix D

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Serves Orleans County)

WYOMING COUNTY

Wyoming County Bar Association11 Exchange PlaceAttica, NY 14011jwujcik@daddandnelson.com

Assigned Counsel Plan of Wyoming County Bar Assn.P.O. Box 23811 Exchange StreetAttica, NY 14011

Attica Legal Aid Bureau, Inc. & Public Defender Wyoming County18 Linwood AvenueWarsaw, NY 14569attlegal@yahoo.com

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903

9TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT - DUTCHESS, ORANGE, PUTNAM, ROCKLAND, WESTCHESTER COUNTIES

DUTCHESS COUNTY

Paul Ackerman, Esq.Corporation Counsel62 Civic Center, Plz. 3rd FloorPoughkeepsie, NY 12601

Dutchess County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 4865Poughkeepsie, NY 12602

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley331 Main Street, 2nd FloorPoughkeepsie, NY 12601

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Judicial Department170 Old Country Road. Suite 500Mineola, NY 11501(Also serves Dutchess County)lherman@nycourts.govmneville@nycourts.gov

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Department, Ninth Judicial District Office140 Old Orangeburg Road, Building 1Orangeburg, NY 10962(Also serves Dutchess County)jdayter@nycourts.gov

Public Defender Dutchess County22 Market StreetPoughkeepsie, NY 12601publicdefender@dutchessny.gov

Hudson Valley Bankruptcy Bar Association63 Washington StreetPoughkeepsie, NY 12601

ORANGE COUNTY

Orange County Bar AssociationP.O. Box 88198 Main StreetGoshen, NY 10924Kevin F. Preston, Esq.Orange County Bar Association

MacVean, Lewis, Sherwin & McDermott, P.C.34 Grove Street,PO Box 310Middletown, NY 10940

Michael K. Burke, Esq.Orange County Bar AssociationBurke, Miele & Golden40 Matthews Street, Suite 209Goshen, NY 10924

Women's Bar Assn. of Orange & Sullivan CountiesP.O. Box 911Warwick, NY 10990

Kara J. Cavallo, Esq.President, Women's Bar Association of Orange andSullivan CountiesJacobowitz & Gubits, LLP158 Orange AvenueWalden, NY 12586

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley1 Corwin Ct.Newburgh, NY 12550

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Judicial Department170 Old Country Road, Suite 500Mineola, NY 11501(Also serves Orange County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Department, Ninth Judicial District Office140 Old Orangeburg Road, Building 1Orangeburg, NY 10962(Also serves Orange County)

Assigned Counsel Plan of Orange CountyP.O. Box 102815 Matthews Street, Suite 102Goshen, NY 10924lawoffice@mdsternlaw.com

Legal Aid Society of Orange County, Inc.P.O. Box 328, 3rd Floor14 Scotchtown AvenueGoshen, NY 10924gabramson@lasocny.org

PUTNAM COUNTY

Putnam County Bar AssociationStamatia Dewbury, PresidentP.O. Box 44Carmel, NY 10512info@putnamcountybar.org

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley90 Maple AvenueWhite Plains, NY 10601Barbara Finkelstein, Esq., CEObfinkelstein@lshv.org(Also serves Putnam County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Department, Ninth Judicial District Office140 Old Orangeburg Road, Building 1Orangeburg, NY 10962(Also serves Putnam County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Judicial Department170 Old Country Road, Suite 500Mineola, NY 11501(Also serves Putnam County)

Putnam County Legal Aid Society, Inc.47 Gleneida AvenueCarmel, NY 10512legalpcaid@verizon.netdsquirrell@pclegalaid.com

Rural Law Center of New York22 U.S. Oval, Suite 203Plattsburgh, NY 12903(Also serves Putnam County)

ROCKLAND COUNTY

Columbian Lawyers of Rockland County35 Fourth AvenueNyack, NY 10960gnd354@aol.com

Rockland County Bar Association, Inc.337 N. Main Street, Suite 1New City, NY 10956office@rocklandbar.org

Assigned Counsel Plan of Rockland County49 Maple StreetNew City, NY 10956keith@BF-Legal.comkeith@braunfotelandfrendel.com

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Appendix D

Legal Aid Society of Rockland County, Inc.2 Congers RoadNew City, NY 10956info@legalaidrockland.org

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley90 Maple AvenueWhite Plains, NY 10601(Also serves Rockland County)

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley7 Perlman Dr.Spring Valley, NY 10977

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Judicial Department170 Old Country Road, Suite 500Mineola, NY 11501

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Department, Ninth Judicial District Office140 Old Orangeburg Road, Building 1Orangeburg, NY 10962

Public Defender Rockland County11 New Hempstead RoadNew City, NY 10956licataj@co.rockland.ny.us

WESTCHESTER COUNTY

Columbian Lawyers Assn. of Westchester CountyPappalardo & Pappalardo, L.L.P.700 White Plains Road, Suite 355Scarsdale, NY 10583johnd@pappalardolaw.com

Eastchester Bar AssociationMcCarthy Fingar L.L.P.11 Martine AvenueWhite Plains, NY 10606gboggio@mccarthyfingar.com

Federal Bar CouncilSuite L-100123 Main StreetWhite Plains, NY 10601-3104federalbar@federalbarcouncil.com

Mamaroneck-Harrison-Larchmont Bar Assn.Grean & Ward222 Grace Church Street, Suite 206BPort Chester, NY 10573dpward@dpward.net

New Rochelle Bar AssociationP.O. Box 1863New Rochelle, NY 10802president@nrbar.org

Northern Westchester Bar Association3453 E. Tremont Avenue

Bronx, NY 10461mailto:mseedorf@seedorflaw.com

Ossining Area Bar Association130 Marlborough RoadBriarcliff Manor, NY 10510

Peekskill Bar AssociationP.O. Box 1051011 Park StreetPeekskill, NY 10566

Port Chester-Rye Bar Association445 Hamilton Avenue, 14th FloorWhite Plains, NY 10601agioffre@cuddyfeder.com

Westchester County Bar AssociationOne N. Broadway, Suite 512White Plains, NY 10601executivedirector@wcbany.org

Westchester County Bar Association4 Westchester Park Drive, Suite 155White Plains, NY 10604President@wcbany.org

Westchester Women's Bar AssociationP.O. Box 926Hartsdale, NY 10530president@wwbany.orgdgebhardt@mccarthyfingar.com

White Plains Bar AssociationStern, Keiser & Panken, L.L.P.1025 Westchester Avenue, Suite 305White Plains, NY 10604info@whiteplainsbar.orglkeiser@skpllp.com

Yonkers Lawyers AssociationP.O. Box 115Yonkers, NY 10704YLA@yonkerslawyersassociation.com

Yorktown Bar Association2000 Maple Hill StreetYorktown Heights, NY 10598adurante@dbtlaw.net

Empire Justice CenterJohn Jay Legal Services, PACE University School of Law80 N. BroadwayWhite Plains, NY 10603info@empirejustice.org

Empire Justice Center30 S. Broadway, 6th FloorYonkers, NY 10701

The Legal Aid Society of Westchester County150 Grand Street, Suite 100White Plains, NY 10601cjd@laswest.orgKRN@laswest.org

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley90 Maple AvenueWhite Plains, NY 10601

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley100 E. First Street, 8th Floor, Suite 810Mount Vernon, NY 10550

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley1 Park Place, 3rd FloorPeekskill, NY 10566

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley30 S. BroadwayYonkers, NY 10701

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Judicial Department170 Old Country Road, Suite 500Mineola, NY 11501(Also serves Westchester County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Department, Ninth Judicial District OfficeBuilding 1140 Old Orangeburg RoadOrangeburg, NY 10962(Also serves Westchester County)

Pro Bono Partnership237 Mamaroneck Avenue, Suite 300White Plains, NY 10605president@wbbany.orgjiacono@iaconolaw.netnward-willis@kblaw.comjeffrey.levin.law@gmail.com

10TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT (NASSAU AND SUFFOLK COUNTIES)

NASSAU COUNTY

Brehon Law Society of Nassau County, New YorkGrey & Grey, L.L.P.360 Main StreetFarmingdale, NY 11735bokeefe@greyandgrey.com

Columbian LawyersDistrict Court99 Main StreetHempstead, NY 11550clanassau@aol.com

Long Beach Lawyers Association164 W. Park AvenueLong Beach, NY 11561-0058

Nassau County Bar Association15th & West Sts.Mineola, NY 11501info@nassaubar.org

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Appendix D

Nassau Lawyers' Association of Long Island, Inc.300 Garden City Plz., Suite 326Garden City, NY 11530-3331

Network of Bar LeadersDeMartini & Yi, L.L.P.69 E. Jericho Tpk., Suite 100Mineola, NY 11501networkofbarleaders@gmail.comkyi@deyillp.com

Hofstra Law ClinicMaurice A. Dean School of Law108 Hofstra Univ.Hempstead, NY 11549-1080

Lawyer Referral Service Queens County Bar Association90-35 148th StreetJamaica, NY 11435-4097info@qcba.org

Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, N.Y.NSBanks@nclas.org - Attorney in ChiefBrian Davis, President40 Main Street, Suite 300Hempstead, NY 11550kmoston@nclas.org

Nassau County Bar AssociationAssigned Counsel Defender Plan, Inc.15th and West Sts.Mineola, NY 11501NCACDP@nassau18b.org

Nassau/Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc.400 Main StreetRiverhead, NY 11901-2480jseigel@wnylc.com

Nassau/Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc.1757 Veterans Highway, Suite 50Islandia, NY 11722

Nassau/Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc.1 Helen Keller Way, 5th FloorHempstead, NY 11550-3903jseigel@wnylc.com

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal ServiceSecond Judicial Department170 Old Country Road, Suite 500Mineola, NY 11501mneville@nycourts.gov

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal ServiceSecond Department, Tenth Judicial District OfficeOne Court StreetRiverhead, NY 11901

Lois Schwaeber, Esq.Director of Legal ServicesThe Safe Center LI15 Grumman Road West, Suite 1000Bethpage, New York 11714lschwaeber@tscli.org

SUFFOLK COUNTY

Amistad Long Island Black Bar AssociationSuite 3300320 Carleton AvenueCentral Islip, NY 11722amistadblackbar@gmail.com

Commercial Lawyers Conference, Inc.Smith Carroad Levy & Wan5036 Jericho Tpke.Commack, NY 11725twan@smithcarroad.com

Suffolk County Bar AssociationJustin M. Block, President560 Wheeler RoadHauppauge, NY 11788-4357scba@scba.org; jane@scba.org

Suffolk County Criminal Bar Association320 Carleton Avenue, Suite 1000Central Islip, NY 11722

Suffolk County Women's Bar Association225 Broadhollow Road, Suite 200Melville, NY 11747suffolkcountywomensbar@gmail.com

Assigned Counsel Defender Plan of Suffolk CountyP.O. Box 5591120 Fourth AvenueBay Shore, NY 11706info@scacp.org

Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County Criminal OfficeLegal Aid Society of Suffolk CountyArthur M. Cromarty Court Complex300 Center Dr., 1st FloorRiverhead, NY 11901admin@sclas.orgldmulry@optonline.com

Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County District Court OfficeLegal Aid Society of Suffolk CountyJohn P. Cohalan, Jr. Court Complex400 Carleton Avenue, 4th FloorCentral Islip, NY 11722(Mailing Address)Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County District Court OfficeP.O. Box 9082Central Islip, NY 11722

admin@sclas.org

Empire Justice CenterPublic Advocacy Center, Touro Law Center, Room 222225 Eastview Dr.Central Islip, NY 11722mdegennaro@empirejustice.org

Lawyer Referral Service Queens County Bar Association90-35 148th StreetJamaica, NY 11435-4097info@qcba.org

Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County Administrative OfficeJohn P. Cohalan, Jr. Court Complex400 Carleton Avenue, 4th FloorCentral Islip, NY 11722admin@sclas.org

Nassau/Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc.400 Main StreetRiverhead, NY 11901-2480jseigel@wnylc.com

Nassau/Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc.1757 Veterans Highway, Suite 50Islandia, NY 11722jseigel@wnylc.comNassau/Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc.1 Helen Keller Way, 5th FloorHempstead, NY 11550-3903

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Judicial Department170 Old Country Road, Suite 500Mineola, NY 11501mneville@nycourt.gov

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second DepartmentTenth Judicial District OfficeOne Court StreetRiverhead, NY 11901

Additional list for SuffolkBabylon Town Attorneybaffa@townofbabylon.com;Brookhaven Town Attorneyaeaderesto@brookhaven.org;East Hampton Town AttorneyMSendlenski@ehamptonny.gov;Huntington Town Attorneytownattorney@HuntingtonNY.gov;Islip Town Attorneytownattorney@islipny.gov;New York State Bar Association;NYS Attorney Generalkimberly.kinirons@ag.ny.gov;Riverhead Town Attorneyrfk@townofriverheadny.gov;Shelter Island Town Attorneyldowd@shelterislandtown.us;

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Appendix D

Smithtown Town Attorneytownattorney@tosgov.com>;Southold Town Attorneybill.duffy@town.southold.ny.us;Brown, DennisDennis.Brown@suffolkcountyny.gov

11TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT (QUEENS COUNTY)

Columbian Lawyers Association, Inc.P.O. Box 630151Little Neck, NY 11363info@columbianlawyers.net

John Marshall Lawyers Association, Inc.114-06 Jamaica AvenueRichmond Hill, NY 11418

Long Island City Lawyers Club3119 Newtown Avenue, Suite 501Long Island City, NY 11102-1392

Queens County Bar Association90-35 148th StreetJamaica, NY 11435-4097info@qcba.org

Queens County Women Bar Assoc.Borough Hall StationP.O. Box 585Kew Gardens, NY 11424

Appellate Advocates111 John Street, 9th FloorNew York, NY 10038(serves Queens and New York County)

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund99 Hudson Street, 12th FloorNew York, NY 10013-2815info@aaldef.org(serves Queens and New York County)

Assigned Counsel Plan for the City of New York253 Broadway, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10007(serves Queens and New York County)

Community Legal Resource NetworkCUNY School of Law2 Court Sq.Long Island City, NY 11101

Hofstra Law ClinicMaurice A. Dean School of Law108 Hofstra Univ.Hempstead, NY 11549-1080(serves Queens and Nassau/Suffolk County)

Lawyer Referral ServiceQueens County Bar Association90-35 148th StreetJamaica, NY 11435-4097

Lawyers Alliance for New York171 Madison Avenue, 6th FloorNew York, NY 10016info@lawyersalliance.org(Also serves Queens County)

Legal Action Center of the City of New York, Inc.4th Floor225 Varick StreetNew York, NY 10014lacinfo@lac.org(Also serves Queens County)

The Legal Aid Society--Queens County Civil PracticeQueens Neighborhood Office120-46 Queens Blvd., 3rd FloorKew Gardens, NY 11415

The Legal Aid Society--Queens CountyJuvenile Rights Division153-01 Jamaica Avenue, 3rd FloorJamaica, NY 11432

The Legal Aid Society--Queens Countytrountree@legal-aid.orgCriminal Defense Practice120-46 Queens Blvd.Kew Gardens, NY 11415

Legal Services NYC40 Worth Street, 6th FloorNew York, NY 10013(serves Queens and New York County)

Legal Services NYC1 West 125th Street, 2nd FloorNew York, NY 10027(serves Queens and New York County)

MFY Legal Services, Inc.299 Broadway, 4th FloorNew York, NY 10007dschaefer@mfy.org(serves Queens and New York County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Judicial Department170 Old Country Road, Suite 500Mineola, NY 11501

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Department,Second, Eleventh & Thirteenth Judicial District OfficeCreedmoor Psychiatric Center80-45 Winchester Blvd., 1st Flr., Bldg. 73 CBU #25

Queens Village, NY 11427

Queens Law Associatesjvaccarino@qlanyc.org118-21 Queens Blvd., Suite 212Forest Hills, NY 11375

Queens Legal Services Corporation Long Island City Office89-00 Sutphin Blvd., Suite 206Jamaica, NY 11435

Sanctuary for Families Center for Battered Women30 Wall Street, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10005(Also serves Queens County)

12TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT (BRONX COUNTY)

Bronx County Bar Association198 East 161st StreetBronx, NY 10451mary@bronxbar.com

Bronx Women's Bar AssociationP.O. Box 779New York, NY 10025-0779

Northern Westchester Bar Association3453 E. Tremont AvenueBronx, NY 10461mseedorf@seedorflaw.com

Office of the Appellate Defender First Department Assigned Counsel Corp.11 Park Place, Suite 1601New York, NY 10007info@appellatedefender.org

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund99 Hudson Street, 12th FloorNew York, NY 10013-2815info@aaldef.org

Assigned Counsel Plan for the City of New York253 Broadway, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10007(also New York County)Center for Appellate Litigation120 Wall Street, 28th FloorNew York, NY 10005-4003rdean@cfal.orgmalperstein@cityhall.nyc.gov

Lawyer Referral Service Queens County Bar Association90-35 148th StreetJamaica, NY 11435-4097(serves Bronx and Queens County)

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Lawyers Alliance for New York171 Madison Avenue, 6th floorNew York, NY 10016(serves Bronx and New York County)sdelany@lawyersalliance.orglabel@lawyersalliance.org

Legal Action Center of the City of New York, Inc.225 Varick Street, 4th FloorNew York, NY 10014(serves Bronx and New York County)lacinfo@lac.org

The Legal Aid Society--Bronx County Civil Divisionphjones@legal-aid.org260 E. 161st Street, 8th FloorBronx, NY 10451

The Legal Aid Society--Bronx County Criminal Defense PracticeThe Legal Aid Society--Bronx County260 E. 161st Street, 10th FloorBronx, NY 10451

The Legal Aid Society--Bronx County Juvenile Rights Division900 Sheridan Avenue, Room 6-C12Bronx, NY 10451Legal Services NYC

ksoberanis@ls-nyc.org40 Worth Street, 6th FloorNew York, NY 10013(serves Bronx and New York County)

Legal Services NYC-Bronx349 E. 149th Street, 10th FloorBronx, NY 10451

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service First Department41 Madison Avenue, 26th FloorNew York, NY 10010(serves Bronx and New York County)

MFY Legal Services, Inc.299 Broadway, 4th FloorNew York, NY 10007dschaefer@mfy.org(serves Bronx and New York County)

Sanctuary for Families Center for Battered Women30 Wall Street, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10005(serves Bronx and New York County)

13TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT (RICHMOND COUNTY)

Richmond County Bar Association152 Stuyvesant Place, Suite 203Staten Island, NY 10301

Appellate Advocates111 John Street, 9th FloorNew York, NY 10038(Also serves Richmond County)

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund99 Hudson Street, 12th FloorNew York, NY 10013-2815mailto:info@aaldef.org(Also serves Richmond County)

Assigned Counsel Plan for the City of New York253 Broadway, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10007(Also serves Richmond County)

Lawyers Alliance for New York171 Madison Avenue, 6th FloorNew York, NY 10016mailto:info@lawyersalliance.org(Also serves Richmond County)

Legal Action Center of the City of New York, Inc.225 Varick Street, 4th FloorNew York, NY 10014mailto:lacinfo@lac.org(Also serves Richmond County)

The Legal Aid Society--Staten Island60 Bay Street, 3rd FloorStaten Island, NY 10301

Legal Referral Panel Richmond County Bar Assn.152 Stuyvesant Place, Suite 203Staten Island, NY 10301rcbaweb@gmail.com

Legal Services NYC40 Worth Street, 6th FloorNew York, NY 10013(Also serves Richmond County)

Legal Services NYC1 West 125th Street, 2nd FloorNew York, NY 10027(Also serves Richmond County)

MFY Legal Services, Inc.299 Broadway, 4th FloorNew York, NY 10007(Also serves Richmond County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Judicial Department170 Old Country Road, Suite 500Mineola, NY 11501(Also serves Richmond County)

Sanctuary for Families Center for Battered Women30 Wall Street, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10005(Also serves Richmond County)

NYS Mental Hygiene Legal Service Second Department, Second, Eleventh & Thirteenth Judicial District OfficeCreedmoor Psychiatric Center80-45 Winchester Blvd., 1st Floor, Bldg. 73 CBU #25Queens Village, NY 11427(Also serves Richmond County)AB@Bisignanolaw.com

Richmond County Bar Assoc. Supreme Court CommitteeDan@gabormarottalaw.comPresident - Richmond County Bar Associationbtskolnik@aol.comPresident - SIWBAdawngreen@siwba.comPast President - SIWBA

Robert Mulhall, Esq.President, Staten Island Trial Lawyers Assoc.President SITLA1001 Clove RoadStaten Island, NY 10301

Richmond County Bar Association152 Stuyvesant Place, Ste. 203Staten Island, NY 10301Phone: 718-442-4500Fax: 718-442-2019chris@ccaputo.com

Allyn J. Crawford, PresidentRichmond County Bar Association 25 Hyatt Street, Suite 203Staten Island, NY 10301

Appendix E: Submissions Received from the E-Filing Advisory Committees

Appendix E Submissions Received from the E-Filing Advisory Committees

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Appendix F: Comments from County Clerks

Appendix F Comments from County Clerks

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Appendix G: Comments from Bar Associations and Other Groups

Appendix G Comments from Bar Associations

and Other Groups

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Appendix H: Comments from Unaffiliated Attorneys and Other Individuals

Appendix H Comments from Unaffiliated

Attorneys and Other Individuals

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APP-246

Appendix I: Comments from Bar Associations and Other Groups

Appendix I Comments from Bar Associations

and Other Groups

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App. I – 1

APPENDIX I RESPONSES TO COMMENTS

We address here the comments we have received in connection with this report.

Technical Suggestions

Some submissions contain suggestions or requests for technical improvements or

changes to the NYSCEF application. Comments, for example, address changes that would

allow attorneys who have withdrawn from or been released from a representation to note

easily their change of status in the “Case Details” section of the NYSCEF case file;

modification of the “My Cases/Appeals” section to allow attorneys to separate their past

representations from those that are still active; and alterations to system buttons to enhance

navigation within case files. Because these suggestions and the answers we would give are

technical and detailed, we will not lengthen this report by addressing each suggestion. We

have, however, noted all of these suggestions and will be considering the advisability of

adopting them and, with regard to any we decide to adopt, when they might be

implemented.

Resources

The Managing Attorneys and Clerks Association urged in its submission that the

Judiciary Budget should include adequate funding for future development of the NYSCEF

application and the Statewide Electronic Filing Resource Center. The Association wrote

that it believes that “NYSCEF and the staff who support it warrant special consideration in

the budget process ….” The Unified Court System responded to this submission, noting

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its recognition of the importance of NYSCEF and the e-filing project and stating that it will

give the recommendations careful attention.

Various legal services groups urge significant expansion of court and County Clerk

activity, which would require additional resources.

Working Copies

Some submissions recommended that courts should work exclusively with the

electronic version of all documents filed and that judges should not require the submission

of hard copies (“working copies”) in addition.1 The Unified Court System is well aware

of this concern. As we have noted in the past, including last year, we agree that judicial

requirements for submission of working copies do not represent the maximum efficiency

achievable through e-filing. We therefore seek to encourage judges to use NYSCEF files

only. We are having some success in that regard. Many courts have judges who do not

require working copies. In the Supreme Court, Civil Branch, New York County, for

example, NYSCEF staff and the Administrative Judge have urged the Justices there to

operate what are called “Paperless Parts,” that is, Parts in which attorneys do not submit

working copies unless the Part makes a specific request therefor on the basis of need, such

as where the exhibits on a motion include some original documents in which handwriting

is not readily legible. That court has reached the point that 24 Justices operate Paperless

Parts. We will continue to pursue these efforts.

1 Comment of Ms. Marie Smith, Legal Secretary, Jan. 3, 2019; Letter of Steven Beard, Esq., Jan. 3, 2019; Comment of Linda Markowitz, Esq., Dec. 12, 2018; Comment of David Bliven, Esq., Dec. 12, 2018; Letter of Jacob Inwald, Esq., Legal Services NYC, Jan. 4, 2019.

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Notice to Counsel

One attorney reported that a clerk in Surrogate’s Court deleted some e-filed

documents, but that counsel was not informed of this.2 Counsel suggests that NYSCEF be

modified so that a message is sent to counsel on a case if this occurs. We have updated the

NYSCEF Surrogate system so that in the future notice of changes such as this will be

communicated by NYSCEF e-mail to all parties participating in e-filing.

Family Court

One attorney wrote that e-filing in Family Court would be a mistake because there

are situations in which attorneys meet with clients at the court and must prepare a

handwritten petition and have it signed at the courthouse or need to seek immediate relief.3

It may be possible to address situations that might be exceptions to an e-filing regime in

rules for e-filing in the Family Court. There are exceptions in the rules for e-filing in civil

cases in Supreme Court. Final rules for Family Court e-filing have not been drafted.

Before e-filing becomes operational in Family Court, the UCS will engage in extensive

consultation with the bar and all interested groups so that any exceptional situations can be

studied and addressed. Input will also be sought from the Family Court E-Filing Advisory

Committee.

2 Comment of Daniel P. Romano, Esq., Dec. 12, 2018. 3 Comment of Denise R. Munson, Esq., Jan. 10, 2019.

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Issues in One County

A bar group submitted a letter containing some observations critical of aspects of

e-filing in St. Lawrence County4 and a follow-up to the first letter.5 Court filings in that

county have only just begun, with about 200 cases having been e-filed there since

inception. Only 19 Requests for Judicial Intervention have been filed in these cases so far.

Some of the criticisms initially posed seem to relate to the fact that e-filing is still in its

early stages in that jurisdiction. Indeed, the second letter stated that some concerns initially

raised “appear connected to the program’s infancy in St. Lawrence County ….”6

Concern was initially expressed about the NYSCEF Statewide Resource Center,7

but in the second letter it was reported that the issues previously identified had been

clarified and are being addressed or appear to have been isolated incidents related to

unusual circumstances that are not likely to be repeated. Concern was raised about the

navigability of the website, but that appears to be an issue confined to new users not yet

accustomed to the functioning of the site.

Additional training was initially requested. The second letter reported, however,

that the initial training had been so well publicized that new users had apparently been

overlooking the training links that exist on the site. Efforts have been and will continue

to be made to inform new users about the training opportunities on the site, which include

remote training sessions online and a training site that allows users to experiment with all

NYSCEF functionalities as much as they wish, at no charge.

4 Letter of Nicole M. Duve`, President, St. Lawrence County Bar Assn., Jan. 4, 2019. 5 Letter of Nicole M. Duve`, President, St. Lawrence County Bar Assn., Jan. 11, 2019. 6 Letter of Nicole M. Duve`, President, St. Lawrence County Bar Assn., Jan. 11, 2019. 7 Another submission states that one attorney was critical. Letter of Victoria M. Esposito, Esq., Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Jan. 3, 2019.

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The initial letter states that court staff would benefit from a user manual. Such a

manual for Filing Users is already posted on the NYSCEF site under “Training Resources.”

A manual for court staff is being developed, but has been delayed due to recent updates to

functionality.

NYSCEF administrators will continue to monitor the situation and address any

concerns as raised, as is done in all of the other counties authorized at present.

Integration of NYSCEF

UCS is well aware of the utility of integrating NYSCEF with other court and non-

court applications. We explain in the main body of the report things e-filing staff have

been doing in this regard. Two attorneys suggest that NYSCEF should be integrated with

UCS case management applications, which provide information online about an attorney’s

cases and can transmit e-mail notices when developments in the cases occur in court, such

as when a motion is adjourned.8 NYSCEF, in contrast, is a document filing system. We

have had in mind for some time that the integration of NYSCEF with the other applications,

including the court’s e-Track case notification system, would significantly improve the

experience of practitioners in New York. Integration, however, could be a major

undertaking for technical reasons. As we move forward with NYSCEF and as the other

applications evolve, we will continue to look into what can be done in this regard that will

be effective and technically achievable in a reasonable manner.

8 Letter of Steven Beard, Esq., Jan. 3, 2019; Comment of Colin E. Kaufman, Esq., Jan. 21, 2019.

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Unrepresented Litigants

Some of those who submitted comments stated that unrepresented persons should

retain the ability not to participate in e-filing. 9 We addressed the rights of the

unrepresented in the main body of this report and discuss that matter further hereafter.

Limited Scope Representation

One submission reported that an attorney in foreclosure matters was concerned

about the fact that NYSCEF would make it difficult for him to end a limited scope

representation.10 Some time ago, this exact issue was brought up. As a result, e-filing staff

worked with representatives of the legal services bar to address the issue and, after much

consultation, developed a form for the termination of a limited appearance (NYSCEF Form

EF-27), which was recently promulgated and is available on the NYSCEF website.

Electronic Orders

One submission reported that some attorneys would prefer that orders be issued

electronically rather than mailed.11 We do not understand this comment. Under current

rules and with NYSCEF’s existing functionalities, orders are scanned into NYSCEF by the

court clerk or the County Clerk. Immediately after that is done, an e-mail notice of this

action is automatically transmitted to all participating attorneys and unrepresented parties

on the case and a link to the order is embedded in the message.

9 Letter of Victoria M. Esposito, Esq., Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Jan. 3, 2019. We note that this letter says that an attorney referred to an “opt out procedure,” but said that that “is not an easy proceeding.” As we have explained, no such procedure exists. 10 Letter of Victoria M. Esposito, Esq., Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Jan. 3, 2019. 11 Letter of Victoria M. Esposito, Esq., Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Jan. 3, 2019.

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Further, we explain in the report that Justices in one county are now utilizing

electronic signing and uploading of decisions by the court. NYSCEF staff are developing

plans to expand this process.

Response to Comments from Legal Services Groups The Judiciary seeks to lift the restrictions that currently exist on the discretion of

the Chief Administrative Judge to mandate e-filing in residential foreclosure and consumer

credit cases. As described in the main body of the Report, the Chief Administrative Judge

is permitted to mandate e-filing in these cases only with regard to commencement

documents filed by an attorney for a represented party, except that mandatory e-filing is

allowed in the small number of grandfathered counties.

Two legal services groups have submitted comments that are critical of e-filing in

residential foreclosure and consumer credit actions (hereinafter sometimes jointly referred

to as “Legal Services Submissions”).12

One of the groups states that mandatory e-filing should be prohibited in all

residential foreclosure and consumer credit matters, and indeed in all categories of cases

in which there are high percentages of unrepresented defendants, including vulnerable

defendants, where (or particularly where) the cases are brought by debt buyers and high-

volume plaintiffs’ law firms with histories of engaging in sewer service and filing robo-

12 Letter of Maha Syed, Esq., Executive Director, New York Legal Services Coalition, Jan. 3, 2019 (hereinafter cited as “Syed Letter”); Letter of Jacob Inwald, Esq., Legal Services NYC, Jan. 4, 2019 (hereinafter cited as “Inwald Letter”), also enclosing Written Testimony of Catherine Isobe, Esq., Legal Services NYC, Assembly Judiciary Committee, Public Hearing, New York City, Nov. 16, 2018 (hereinafter cited as “Isobe Written Testimony ”).

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signed pleadings.13 The group contends that mandatory e-filing in residential foreclosure

and consumer credit cases in the grandfathered counties should come to an end.14

The Assembly Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on e-filing in November

2018 (hereinafter the “Public Hearing”).15 Representatives of legal service groups were

among those testifying. These witnesses acknowledged that e-filing works well for

attorneys.16

For the courts of this state, a vital concern is doing what is possible to improve

access to justice, especially for those lacking resources. E-filing offers the potential to

provide just such better access and, for litigants generally, to provide access with greater

efficiency and at reduced cost. One of the legal services groups recognizes this explicitly,

states that e-filing is “long overdue,” and says that “[w]e believe the system should be

deployed in a manner that will maximize access regardless of income, technological

competency, language ability, or familiarity with the justice system.” 17 Thus, in

considering any changes to the e-filing regime in foreclosure and consumer credit cases,

we need to avoid taking steps that will reduce potential access by litigants, including the

unrepresented who might wish to participate in e-filing. Where there are unrepresented

litigants who would wish to obtain a NYSCEF ID and password, register with NYSCEF,

and enter the system to record their participation in e-filing in a case, we should be looking

to provide the information they might need to achieve those ends. Indeed, legal services

13 Inwald Letter, Jan. 4, 2019. 14 Id. 15 Assembly Committee on the Judiciary, Public Hearing, New York City, Nov. 16, 2018. 16 Testimony of Jacob Inwald, Esq., Legal Services NYC, Tr. 87 (“it makes our lives as lawyers very easy ….”); Testimony of Kate Lockhart, Foreclosure Data Manager, Western New York Law Center, Tr. 53; Isobe Written Testimony, p. 2 (“e-filing is … a valuable tool for those represented by counsel”). 17 Syed Letter, Jan. 3, 2019.

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groups at the Public Hearing urged that UCS make available information to the

unrepresented to assist them to navigate their way into the NYSCEF system,18 which we

do, among other things, through a dedicated e-filing website for the unrepresented which

was written in simple language. 19 We are always seeking ways to enhance

communications with all users, including unrepresented persons who might wish to

consider e-filing. We will be reviewing our website and making some improvements to

the unrepresented site in 2019, including making even clearer what the minimum system

requirements to e-file are and what can be expected by unrepresented persons who choose

to e-file insofar as notification of e-filings is concerned.

Another important consideration weighing in favor of e-filing in foreclosure and

consumer credit cases is that e-filing improves the transparency of legal proceedings in this

area. One commentator who submitted a statement in response to our solicitations this year

argued that “[i]t is much more difficult for corrupt law firms and/or attorneys to conceal

fraud and deception in mortgage foreclosure filings due to the fact that NYSCEF is

available for viewing by members of the general public.”20

The Administrative Judge of the Eighth Judicial District pointed out that e-filing

provides the court with a more convenient and reliable way to organize and retrieve

documents.21 It improves the processing of documents and communications between the

court and the parties. The Judge noted that since most motions in foreclosure and consumer

18 Testimony of Maha Syed, Esq., Executive Director, New York Legal Service Coalition, Tr. 92. 19 One of the Legal Services Submissions compares the New York State Court System unfavorably to the Federal courts, noting that the Federal courts post on their website extensive information for the unrepresented who wish to participate in e-filing. Syed Letter, Jan. 3, 2019. So does NYSCEF. See the NYSCEF site at www.nycourts.gov/efile and the button linking to the unrepresented site. 20 Comment of Thomas M. Taylor, Jan. 4, 2019. 21 Letter of Hon. Paula L. Feroleto, Jan. 11, 2019.

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credit cases are from counsel outside the area, the NYSCEF system allows the court to be

confident that all papers meant for the court’s review are before it and to see quickly

whether anyone has appeared before the court who is entitled to notice of future

proceedings. This is not an easy thing to accomplish in hard-copy cases, “especially if the

County Clerk’s Office is not in the same municipality as the court [, which] is the case in

many of the counties of the 8th Judicial District.”22

Several of the witnesses from legal services groups emphasized at the Public

Hearing the need for a system in which any unrepresented person is presumed by law to be

exempt from e-filing, can only e-file if he or she chooses to do so and takes action to do

so, and is not required to opt out of the program.23 The same point is made in the Legal

Services Submissions.24 This, of course, is precisely the system that has been in place in

the state for over three years. The Judiciary supports these rights of the unrepresented and

is not requesting any changes in them. We need to keep firmly in view, therefore, that

when we speak of mandatory e-filing in these cases, that form of e-filing applies to

attorneys only and under our legislative proposal that will remain the case hereafter. 25

22 Id. 23 E.g., Testimony of Judith Goldiner, Esq., Attorney in Charge, Civil Law Reform Unit, Legal Aid Society, Tr. 57-58 (“Our main concern here is ensure that e-filing … is not an opt out system….”); Testimony of Maha Syed, Esq., Executive Director, New York Legal Services Coalition, Tr. 91-92. 24 Syed Letter, Jan. 3, 2019; Inwald Letter, Jan. 4, 2019. 25 One of the legal services groups states that e-filing procedures in the Federal courts “go much further to insure due process [than those in the state system]; all e-filed papers must also be mailed to pro se litigants.” Isobe Written Testimony, p. 3 (footnote omitted), citing Section 9.2 of the Electronic Case Filing Rules and Instructions, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Oct. 9, 2018). That section, provides, however, that service in hard copy shall be made on “[a]ttorneys and pro se parties who are not Filing or Receiving Users ….” (Emphasis added.) The rules governing electronic filing in the New York State Supreme Court similarly provide that service of interlocutory documents must be made in hard copy on all persons who are not registered filing users, meaning in the case of the unrepresented all such persons who have not decided to participate in e-filing and who have not registered with NYSCEF and consented to e-filing. Uniform Rule 202.5-b (b)(2); Section 202.5-bb (e)(5).

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Apart from the Legal Services Submissions, few of those who have commented in

response to our solicitations for this report have raised any issues about e-filing in these

two categories of cases.26

The legal services groups express concern about the problem of “sewer service” in

foreclosure and consumer credit cases, as well as sloppy practice by plaintiffs’ counsel,

and appear to harbor fear that e-filing may facilitate such “service.”27 Obviously, service

that is not made because of corrupt intentions or negligent practice on the part of plaintiffs’

counsel constitutes a serious violation of the provisions of the Civil Practice Law and Rules

and must be combatted. The legal services groups are mistaken, however, in fearing that

NYSCEF can contribute to this problem. NYSCEF has been built in such a way that it is

impossible for it to facilitate sewer service, either of process or of interlocutory papers.

The nature of the NYSCEF technology also makes it impossible for an

unrepresented litigant in one of these cases in the grandfathered counties inadvertently to

subject himself or herself to service of process or service of interlocutory documents

through NYSCEF.

Under CPLR § 304, the person commencing a matter initiates it by filing with the

County Clerk. Service on the defendant or respondent is later effectuated under the

methods provided by Article 3 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules. The party commencing

26 “These mandatory programs [in the grandfathered counties] have proved successful and there is no justification for change. The exemption for attorneys who do not have the equipment or knowledge to e-file is provided. There is no requirement for pro se parties to e-file.” Letter of Hon. Elizabeth Larkin, County Clerk, Cortland County, Member, Supreme Civil E-Filing Advisory Committee, Jan. 4, 2019. 27 Inwald Letter, Jan. 4, 2019. Mr. Inwald refers to actions brought by “debt buyers and high-volume plaintiffs’ law firms with histories of engaging in sewer service and filing robo-signed pleadings ….” It is also said that it is crucial to protect the rights of the most vulnerable in an environment in which there was recently “rampant ‘sewer service’ and the flouting of court rules” and various plaintiffs’ firms “routinely exhibit carelessness with regard to the filing and content of their court papers, in an effort to deprive homeowners of due process ….” Isobe Written Testimony, p. 4.

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the matter may initiate the case by e-filing commencement documents with the County

Clerk (CPLR § 304 (b)) where the Chief Administrative Judge has authorized e-filing in

the type of case in question. The e-filing rules provide, however, that all parties, including

parties that will thereafter appear through counsel and participate later in e-filing, must

be served with commencement documents in hard-copy format in all e-filed cases, as

provided for by Article 3 of the CPLR, just as in a purely hard-copy case.28 Thus, in all

residential foreclosure and consumer credit cases, including in the grandfathered counties

, the plaintiff must serve the defendant in hard copy even though the matter has been

commenced electronically. “Sewer service” of a summons and complaint cannot be

accomplished through NYSCEF because service of a summons and complaint is not made

through NYSCEF.

This is not, however, simply a matter of what the rules call for, fundamental though

that obviously is. NYSCEF implements the rules. Even if the plaintiff/petitioner wished to

execute electronic service of process in violation of the CPLR and to divert that service

into a sewer, it is impossible for the plaintiff/petitioner to do so. In a permitted case type in

an authorized county, NYSCEF allows the attorney for a plaintiff/petitioner to enter

NYSCEF using a valid and registered NYSCEF ID and password, to register a case with

NYSCEF, to attach commencement documents for that case to NYSCEF, to pay the filing

fee therefor through NYSCEF functionality, and then to upload the documents to

NYSCEF, thereby filing them with the County Clerk. At that point, however, service

cannot be made on any other party through NYSCEF because there is no record of any

attorney for the defendant/respondent and no self-represented appearance registered in

28 At the point of service, the vast majority of defendants/respondents are unrepresented.

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NYSCEF in connection with the case and therefore no way that the plaintiff/petitioner can

serve the documents via NYSCEF on the defendant/respondent. NYSCEF cannot “send”

these documents anywhere at this point because there is no place recorded in NYSCEF to

which the documents can be sent.29 Documents can only be transmitted through NYSCEF

to a destination if the path to that destination has been recorded in and linked to NYSCEF.

Even with respect to service of subsequent documents, inadvertent concession to

service or electronic sewer service on a technologically unsophisticated unrepresented

party cannot occur by means of NYSCEF. The kinds of sewer service of interlocutory

documents on unrepresented persons that can be hypothesized would be (i) electronic

service that is sent to a “sewer” and never reaches an unrepresented party who has chosen

to participate in e-filing, has obtained an ID and password, has registered with NYSCEF

for the case, and has consented to e-filing in the case (sewer service on an e-filing

unrepresented person); and (ii) electronic service that the plaintiff/petitioner claims was

made through NYSCEF on an unrepresented party who has not chosen to take part in e-

filing and is not registered in NYSCEF (sewer service on a non-e-filing unrepresented

person). In the former situation, the plaintiff/petitioner cannot e-file an interlocutory

document with NYSCEF but never serve that document on the e-filing unrepresented party,

thereby effectuating non-existent, fraudulent service. This is an impossibility because

service is made by NYSCEF automatically. Immediately after the document is filed with

29 The only exception to the rule of service of process and commencement papers in hard-copy form is if the defendant/respondent stipulates with the plaintiff/petitioner to accept such service electronically. Even if the parties so agree, however, the electronic service must be made outside of NYSCEF because there is no pathway within NYSCEF that would permit the delivery of these documents to be made, except in the special module of the NYSCEF system that processes small claims assessment review proceedings and tax certiorari cases. In these matters, municipalities stipulate to receive service of commencement documents in electronic form from the petitioners through NYSCEF.

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NYSCEF, a notice of its filing and a link in the notice to that filing are automatically

transmitted by NYSCEF to the participating defendants, thereby effectuating service.

Thus, a corrupt or negligent attorney for the plaintiff/petitioner who wished to place, or

negligently would have placed, the service in a sewer could not achieve that outcome

because NYSCEF would automatically make service anyway.

The second hypothetical situation, involving the unrepresented person who has not

chosen to e-file, is not possible either. In order for service of interlocutory documents to

be made through NYSCEF upon an unrepresented party, he or she must have a computer

and an e-mail address; must register with NYSCEF and obtain a valid ID and password as

an unrepresented person in that case;30 must enter NYSCEF and record that he or she is

appearing on his or her own behalf in that case; and must agree to accept service through

NYSCEF in the case. Unless all these steps are completed, there will be no electronic

pathway by which a document filed through NYSCEF can be transmitted to/served on the

defendant/respondent. NYSCEF will not automatically list that party in the “Case Details”

section of the case file as a party participating in e-filing, nor will it allow a plaintiff to

enter information for the defendant. Thus, the plaintiff cannot claim to have served the

unrepresented party through NYSCEF because NYSCEF cannot serve that person due to

the lack of a link or pathway to that person.

Nor can that non-participating party inadvertently consent to service through

NYSCEF. An unrepresented defendant/respondent is highly unlikely to take all of the steps

described above either inadvertently or through misapprehension.

In addition, the court would serve as a barrier to any attempt at sewer service.

30 An unrepresented person can obtain and use a NYSCEF ID and password only for a case in which he or she is a party. Such a person’s ID and password will not work in any other case.

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If a plaintiff were to seek a default judgment against an unrepresented defendant in

a case commenced by e-filing, the plaintiff would have to support the application with

proof of hard-copy service of process in compliance with the CPLR, just as the plaintiff

must in any hard-copy case. The plaintiff could not claim to have served the unrepresented

defendant electronically because doing so would violate the rules and, in any event, would

be impossible because NYSCEF does not allow for service of process. Absent proof of

hard-copy service in the traditional manner, the judge would deny the application.

If a plaintiff were to e-file a motion for summary judgment in an action against an

unrepresented person who has registered with NYSCEF and consented to e-filing for the

case, the plaintiff could not put that party’s copy of the motion papers in a sewer while

claiming to have served them through NYSCEF because the filing with NYSCEF would

automatically and inescapably have caused service to be effectuated on that defendant.

If that plaintiff made such a motion in an action against an unrepresented party who

has not consented to e-file and not taken the steps necessary to make that feasible, the

plaintiff could not plausibly claim to have effected service of the papers through NYSCEF.

The judge assigned to the case will, of course, wish to be sure that proof of service of

process exists and that proof of service of the motion has been provided. If the plaintiff

were to assert that the motion had been served through NYSCEF on the unrepresented

person, a glance at NYSCEF31 will disclose to the judge that that person has not registered

31 In every NYSCEF case, the “Case Details” section of the case file identifies which of the parties are participating in e-filing in that case and which parties are not and must be served in hard-copy format. It also indicates which parties have been served with a particular document via NYSCEF.

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with NYSCEF and therefore must be served in hard-copy format, that is, that the purported

electronic service is illusory and fraudulent.32

These same reasons make it impossible for a judgment to be entered in an e-filed

case without the defendant/respondent’s being aware of that fact.

Thus, we respectfully submit that the apparent concerns of the legal services groups

about the potential for sewer service through NYSCEF have no basis in fact and do not

justify denial of the Judiciary’s legislative proposal with respect to residential foreclosures

and consumer credit actions or any reduction in existing e-filing authorization.

The Legal Services Submissions and the testimony at the Public Hearing appear to

claim that there is another way in which unrepresented persons can be harmed in e-filed

cases - - where the clerk misunderstands the procedures and misinforms the unrepresented

party about how a document needs to be filed.33 The legal services groups appear to suggest

that errors of this sort occur with some frequency.

In the situation alleged, there is no defect or weakness in NYSCEF itself or its

related procedures; the problem posed is purely one of clerk error.

If one is asserting that some clerks somewhere in the state at some time made errors

or make errors, it is important to try to define in concrete terms the nature and scope of the

32 A witness at the Public Hearing testified about a case in Kings County in which the bank had made a motion and e-filed it, ignoring the fact that the homeowner defendant had not chosen to take part in e-filing. Tr. 82-83. In that case, NYSCEF would have shown to the Justice upon a glance at the Case Details page for that case that the defendant was not taking part in e-filing and that the motion therefore had never been served. 33 Testimony of Catherine Isobe, Esq., Staff Attorney, Legal Services NYC, Tr. 81. In part, it appears, the witnesses wish to see that there are “dedicated staff to assist homeowners who walk into the clerk’s office ….“ Id. Legal services representatives have commended one of the grandfathered counties (Suffolk) for providing information to the unrepresented in an effective manner. The County Clerk of that county reports that neither she nor her staff received any comments, calls, letters or other information suggesting that defendants had not received proper notice or that due process rights were violated. Letter of Hon. Judith A. Pascale, Dec. 21, 2018.

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problem claimed, when it has occurred, and where it has occurred. Without data, we are

on uncertain ground as to the extent of a problem. At this point, as to the timing of incidents

claimed, we are, as we shall see, still unsure whether we are looking at the same incidents

that were raised in 2015/2016, which we already acknowledged and resolved, or whether

we are facing different incidents from some time in the period 2016-2018.

The UCS held a public meeting with legal services groups about e-filing in 2017.

At that meeting, because of our concern about what we felt to be the vagueness of criticisms

that had been raised by the groups and the lack of hard data supporting them, including

uncertainty as to the timing of alleged incidents, and in the interest of being able to address

promptly any issues that might arise, we requested that UCS e-filing staff be advised

whenever any such incident or other issue were to arise thereafter. Although a Legal

Services Submission acknowledges with appreciation “the ongoing dialogue we have had

with your office,”34 e-filing staff were informed in 2018 about only a tiny number of

problems, which were quickly resolved.

Despite this, at the Public Hearing, some witnesses raised concerns that inaccurate

information about e-filing had been given with some frequency to unrepresented persons

by clerks,35 which concerns are echoed in the Legal Services Submissions.36 The witnesses

provided and the Submissions contain summary assertions evidently based on what some

staff attorneys have told the writers, not hard data about the number of times such

34 Inwald Letter, Jan. 4, 2019. 35 Testimony of Kate Lockhart, Foreclosure Data Manager, Western New York Law Center, Tr. 49 (“Often times there’s misinformation at the clerk’s level, at the county clerk’s office ….”) 36 One of the writers of a Legal Services Submission asserts that there have been “many cases” of clerks providing erroneous information. The same writer, though, does praise the clerks and court staff in Suffolk County and the Southern Tier courts. Syed Letter, Jan. 3, 2019.

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miscommunication has occurred nor precisely where in the state these incidents have

occurred. It is also quite important to note that it is unclear when these things allegedly

transpired. Since the e-filing staff was not informed about these incidents at the time they

allegedly occurred (perhaps in 2018 or perhaps earlier), it was not possible for us to

investigate and take immediate responsive action, as we would have done, by contacting

the court or County Clerk staff to identify the issue and get it resolved promptly and

permanently.

Similarly, it is unclear whether the legal services groups or their staff members

brought incidents to the attention of the Chief Clerk or County Clerk in the venue or venues

in which these events are thought to have taken place at or about the time the alleged

incidents occurred. In the cases of the two counties that figured most prominently in the

testimony at the Public Hearing, Erie and Kings, the court administration of the former and

the County Clerk of the latter report that in recent years filing issues pertaining to

unrepresented persons have not been brought to their attention by the legal services groups.

The witnesses named only one of the seven grandfathered foreclosure counties - -

Erie - - as a place where miscommunications allegedly occurred. The witness testifying

about Erie reported that problems allegedly exist there in the County Clerk’s Office, but

was not precise about the nature and extent of these alleged issues. The witness also stated,

however, that “I understand that there has been improvement and some more training and

it has gotten better ….” 37 It is reasonable, then, to ask, when did the problems alleged

occur and what is the actual situation today in that venue?

37 Testimony of Kate Lockhart, Esq., Tr. 48-49, 54. The witness also testified to some issues regarding staffing and training in three surrounding counties, but these are not grandfathered counties and the testimony did not describe the difficulties claimed with precision, either as to the nature or scope of the difficulties and the time when they are alleged to have occurred.

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The Administrative Judge of the Eighth Judicial District, which encompasses Erie

County, after learning about the testimony that had been given at the Public Hearing,

reported that claims of misinformation being given by clerks in cases involving

unrepresented litigants had been raised in late 2015 or early 2016. The issues had been

discussed at that time among representatives of the court, the County Clerk’s Office, and

legal services, and the issues had been resolved. The problem had not been that clerks

were trying to compel the unrepresented to e-file or otherwise misunderstanding their

rights. Rather, there had been some confusion on the part of clerks on occasion as to the

role that legal services attorneys were fulfilling in specific cases. Sometimes, when

contacted by a legal services representative with hard-copy document in hand, the clerk

had thought that the representative was counsel of record for the defendant/respondent and

a participant in e-filing when in fact the defendant/respondent was proceeding on his or her

own behalf and the representative was merely assisting the unrepresented person to get a

hard-copy document filed. The Judge stated that, although the court expressed that it was

willing and eager to address any issues that might arise, no further concerns about filings

by the unrepresented were thereafter brought to the attention of court administration.38

As to the other venue that was prominently discussed at the Public Hearing, a

witness testified that clerks in Kings County, which is not a grandfathered county, made

errors in cases involving the unrepresented, including rejection of answers, and that this

can result in a default judgment and ultimately the loss of the home.39 Here again, we are

faced with the problem of a lack of precise information about the incidents that are said to

38 Letter of Hon. Paula L. Feroleto, Jan. 23, 2019 (Appendix J). 39 Testimony of Catherine Isobe, Esq., Tr. 82; Isobe Written Testimony, p. 2.

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have occurred; the witness did not state with specificity how often this is believed to have

happened, nor when.

As to the question of the timing of the alleged incidents, the witness stated that the

problems cited had been observed prior to the legislative change in 2015 “and even

afterwards.”40 But what does “even afterwards” mean ? The first few months of 2016, as

clerks adjusted to the new legal regime ? Later than that ?

One of the Assembly Members inquired of another witness from the same

organization how many cases had occurred in which defendants did not receive their rights,

“everything was done electronically and they lost their home.” 41 As we have pointed out,

even in a foreclosure case in a grandfathered county, it is not the fact that “everything is

done electronically ….” Process is not served in that manner. As to the alleged frequency

of such issues, the witness stated, “I don’t know, but we could give you numbers.” The

witness added, “I can imagine it happens with some frequency ….” 42

There is no record of anyone bringing any information about these asserted

incidents to the attention of UCS e-filing staff despite their solicitation of such

communications. Nor perforce have any statistics been provided to the e-filing staff. The

small number of communications, mentioned earlier, that were brought to the attention of

e-filing staff did not involve any complaints or reports that the answers of unrepresented

persons were being rejected or the like, but rather were of a mundane variety and quickly

resolved.

40 Isobe Written Testimony, p. 2. 41 Tr. 83. 42 Testimony of Jacob Inwald, Esq., Tr. 83 (emphasis added).

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After the Hearing, the County Clerk of Kings County learned about the testimony

that had been given. In December 2018, she contacted the senior of the two witnesses, who

did not have specific information, but referred her to the other witness as the person who

would have such information. The County Clerk accordingly promptly met with that

witness to discuss the issues. The reported matter of rejected answers had never before

that been brought to the attention of the County Clerk by the witness or staff attorneys of

her organization. In the meeting, the witness recited one instance of an answer having been

rejected. A clerk had not refused to accept a hard copy answer from a person known to be

an unrepresented litigant; rather, there had been confusion over the status of an attorney

who was not counsel of record but had presented the document on behalf of an

unrepresented party not participating in e-filing simply in order to assist that litigant. After

further discussions, the facts had been clarified, and the answer had been accepted.43

The witness provided no information beyond this about rejected documents. The

County Clerk asked the witness to present details about any prior issues so that they might

be reviewed and to direct her staff to alert the County Clerk about any past, current, or

future issues. No concerns about past or current issues involving the rejection of

documents were thereafter communicated to the County Clerk.44 The County Clerk states

that attorneys from the legal services group in question file answers on behalf of

unrepresented litigants and, more often, unrepresented persons file their own answers, and

the answers are accepted as hard-copy filings by the Office.45 Thus, there does not appear

to be a factual basis to support the belief that clerks in Kings County are currently

43 Letter of Hon. Nancy T. Sunshine, County Clerk, Kings County, Jan. 28, 2019 (Appendix J). 44 Id. 45 Id.

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misinforming unrepresented litigants who are not participating in e-filing about the need

to e-file answers or other documents and rejecting hard-copy documents because of this.

Nor has specific evidence been submitted that such errors are being committed elsewhere.

As to the hypothesis that a clerk might misinform an unrepresented litigant that he

or she is required to e-file, it should be understood that that litigant must be served with a

court-approved Notice of Electronic Filing (Appendix L) in hard-copy format along with

the summons and complaint. This notice states in clear language, the content of which was

coordinated with the legal services community, that the unrepresented person is exempt

from e-filing. Thus, the Court System has sought to put every unrepresented person on

notice at the outset of the matter that he or she is not obliged to e-file.

Further, if a hypothetical clerk sought to persuade a non-participating

unrepresented person to e-file documents, the clerk would have difficulty achieving that

objective since, as explained, that person would have to have a computer and an e-mail

address, would have to register and receive an ID and password, and would have to enter

NYSCEF and record his or her representation before any document could be e-filed.

If a hypothetical clerk were mistakenly to decline to accept an answer for filing

from a non-participating unrepresented person, that person would still be able to serve the

answer on the plaintiff in hard-copy format, as the law requires.

Beyond these important considerations, no mention was made in the testimony at

the Public Hearing and none is made in the Legal Services Submissions about the

settlement conference process in residential foreclosure cases and how that process might

relate to the alleged, but undocumented defaults. This lacuna is significant. CPLR 3408

and court rules provide extraordinary protections for unrepresented litigants in residential

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foreclosure actions. CPLR 3408 mandates that in any such action involving a home loan

where the defendant resides in the home, the court shall conduct a mandatory settlement

conference within 60 days after proof of service is filed. Among other things, the court

shall advise a self-represented defendant of the nature of the action and of his or her rights

and responsibilities. The court shall provide notice of the conference to the parties, which

is mailed in paper form by the court, thus precluding any possibility of sewer service of the

notice. At the settlement conference, the court must advise any defendant who has not

answered or moved of the requirement to answer the complaint, explain what is required

to answer, inform the defendant of the consequences of a failure to answer, and provide

information about available resources to assist the defendant to avoid foreclosure. Further,

CPLR 3408 (m) provides that a defendant who appears at the conference but who has failed

to answer shall be presumed to have a reasonable excuse for the default and shall be

permitted to serve and file an answer without waiver of defenses, with the default to be

vacated upon service and filing of an answer.46 In view of this rule, it is difficult to see

how any defendant in such a case who might be misled by a hypothetical clerk who

mistakenly believes that the defendant is under an obligation to e-file can lose his or her

home because of the failure to file an answer.

Although an adequate factual basis has not been presented to support the central

assertion made by the legal services groups - - the alleged failure of some clerks somewhere

to respond with accurate information to questions or actions of the unrepresented - - and

although it is unclear whether any such incidents involve more than temporary

misidentification of the role of the legal services attorney in a case, we believe that the

46 CPLR 3408 is implemented by Uniform Rule 202.12-a.

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answer to any such situation as might arise is for the court and the County Clerk to provide

additional information to the clerks so that correct information is always given to the

unrepresented. That objective can be achieved, as is shown by the Federal e-filing program

and by the work of the clerks in the grandfathered county of Suffolk and in Southern Tier

courts, which are praised in some of the Legal Services comments. By contrast, the

principal criticisms raised are shadowed by doubt, and in any event are focused on only

one grandfathered county of the seven grandfathered foreclosure counties and one non-

grandfathered county of the 35 counties in which there is e-filing in residential and

consumer credit cases on a consensual basis or on a mandatory basis for commencement

documents by counsel only. Against this backdrop, it would surely be an unwise, self-

defeating, and excessive response to the potential problem of clerk error were the State to

provide that no litigant anywhere in New York, including unrepresented persons who might

wish to e-file, can e-file in a residential foreclosure or consumer credit case.

The Court System is, of course, anxious to avoid errors by clerks of any kind in any

cases anywhere, and particularly misinformation given to the unrepresented in e-filed

cases. So, as an additional measure in case any mistakes might be being made anywhere

in the state, the Chief Administrative Judge will be writing to all Administrative Judges

and County Clerks in e-filing counties in early 2019 to remind them that the law provides

that the unrepresented are exempt from e-filing and to request that they remind their staff

members of relevant procedures. In 2019, we will be pursuing additional efforts to make

communications with court and County Clerk staff about e-filing procedures for the

unrepresented. We will be scheduling additional training for court and County Clerk clerks

and other staff.

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A witness at the Public Hearing testified that some attorneys use Notices of

Electronic Filing that wrongly state that the case in question is one subject to mandatory e-

filing, citing three incidents in Kings County (not a grandfathered county).47 The e-filing

rules provide that this Notice, which again must be served in hard copy with the hard-copy

commencement documents in accordance with Article 3 of the CPLR, shall be “in a form

approved by the Chief Administrator ….”48 A like provision applies where actions are

commenced on a consensual basis.49 Thus, it is improper for attorneys to serve notices of

their own devising.

In 2018, the UCS promulgated revised forms of Notice of Electronic Filing

(Appendix L) and posted a notice of their issuance in a prominent position on the NYSCEF

home page. These forms were prepared after input was sought and received from the legal

services community so as to promote simplicity and clarity in the language used. The form

for a consensual case, in prominent fashion and in clear language, informs the recipient

that if he or she is unrepresented, “You will be served with all documents in paper and you

must serve and file your documents in paper, unless you choose to participate in e-filing.”50

The same language appears in a prominent position on the form to be used in mandatory

cases51 and the form to be used in cases in which only the commencement is mandatory

(foreclosure and consumer credit cases in many counties, those not included in the

grandfathering).52 The forms also provide information on where the unrepresented person

47 Id., Tr. 81-82. 48 Uniform Rule 202.5-bb (b)(3). 49 Uniform Rule 202.5-b (b)(2)(ii). 50 Form EF-3. All forms are accessible on the NYSCEF site at nycourts.gov/efile. 51 Form EFM-1. 52 Form EFM-1A. UCS also revised a form of Notice Terminating Limited Appearance and Participation in Electronic Filing for foreclosure cases in accordance with suggestions from the legal services community. This form is EF-27.

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can get additional information, including the address of the UCS e-filing site for

unrepresented persons.

One of the Legal Services Submissions urges the Court System to take action to

police attorneys’ use of the proper form.53 The legal services groups may not be aware that

the Court System has already been taking action to address the issue. To help ensure that

the correct UCS-approved form of Notice of Electronic Filing is served with the

commencement documents, NYSCEF transmits to the party commencing the case, before

service, a notification acknowledging receipt of the commencement documents and

advising that the filer must serve the proper Notice of Electronic Filing in hard-copy format

with the commencement documents. This notification contains a link to the exact form of

Notice of Electronic Filing required for the type of case at issue. The several forms of

Notice are accessible at the NYSCEF Forms Menu. Every commencing party in every case

receives such a notification. This is significant action by NYSCEF. In view of it, the

number of incidents of service of the incorrect form should be notably minimized. There

is no excuse for an attorney to be using his or her own incorrect personal forms after having

received such a notice. If an attorney does this, it is not the result of a defect in NYSCEF

nor indifference on the part of the Court System, but because the attorney does not follow

the rules and ignores individualized notice to do so.

Furthermore, early in 2019, a message was sent by the Statewide Coordinator for

Electronic Filing to every single attorney who has commenced a foreclosure action

anywhere in New York State through the NYSCEF system and to all attorneys for

53 Inwald Letter, Jan. 4, 2019. The letter urges that clerks reject the filing of incorrect forms and that attorneys who file such forms should be sanctioned.

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defendants in NYSCEF foreclosure cases reminding them that e-filing is not generally

mandatory in these cases; that where it is mandatory it is so only with respect to the

commencement documents (except for the grandfathered counties); that the unrepresented

are statutorily exempt from e-filing; that commencing counsel must serve the UCS-

approved Notice of Electronic Filing; and that the Notice must be the form appropriate to

the kind of e-filed matter being commenced.

Even if we are only facing an occasional mistake by a clerk in a particular venue or

two somewhere in the state, which can and does happen sometimes even in hard-copy

matters, we believe that a more targeted mechanism should be put in place to assure

immediate notification and definitive resolution of any problems that may arise. The Legal

Services Submissions call for continued contact between the UCS and these groups in the

interest of improving the e-filing program. As we have explained, we have sought such

contact in the past. The UCS now proposes that we create a special Legal Services E-Filing

Advisory Committee54 where legal services representatives from around the state can meet

with e-filing staff biannually to discuss concerns and to work with UCS e-filing staff to

address any issues that may be found to exist and make improvements in the way the Court

System interacts with the unrepresented in regard to e-filing.

The County Clerk of Kings County correctly notes that “[t]here are no technical

issues that cannot be addressed and quickly remedied, whether the mistake is by the filing

party or by the clerk, provided that there is communication.”55 In view of the facts that only

54 There are legal services representatives on some of our existing Advisory Committees, but these are court-specific Committees on which also serve many representatives of the bar outside the legal services universe. We note that two legal services members of our Committees also serve on the UCS Permanent Commission on Access to Justice. 55 Letter of Hon. Nancy T. Sunshine, County Clerk, Kings County, Jan. 28, 2019 (Appendix J).

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a handful of problems were reported to UCS e-filing staff in 2018 and yet legal services

representatives testified and assert in the Legal Services Submissions that issues have at

some time arisen with some uncertain, but greater frequency, we believe that it would be

beneficial if we can achieve enhanced communications in this area. We think that it would

be preferable for all concerned, including unrepresented litigants, if legal services

representatives could bring any issues that might hereafter arise to the attention of e-filing

staff at the time they occur rather than raise concerns in general fashion at an occasional

public meeting. We therefore propose in addition to establish a special e-mail alert box to

receive information specifically from legal services groups about issues that may arise, as

they arise, so that e-filing staff will be able to investigate the issues and take immediate

remedial action. This e-mail box would be for the use of legal services groups and their

staff members statewide. We would ask the group leaders to distribute the e-mail box

address to all staff attorneys statewide who appear in courts where e-filing is operational

and to direct them to alert UCS e-filing staff via this box whenever they encounter a

problem regarding e-filing anywhere in the state. We suggest that the creation of such a

notification system be discussed at the first meeting of the Legal Services E-Filing

Advisory Committee.

We also urge legal services attorneys to bring any issues they may encounter to the

attention of the local court administration and the County Clerk at the time the problems

or perceived problems are detected.

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Although the Legal Services Submissions criticize mandatory e-filing in residential

foreclosure and consumer credit cases, they also argue that additional resources are needed

to allow unrepresented persons to take part in e-filing.56

As noted, one of the Legal Services Submissions commends e-filing in the Federal

courts. As practiced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New

York, e-filing is more sweeping than in New York State. In this Federal system, all

documents in all new civil, criminal, and miscellaneous cases must be e-filed. 57 All

attorneys in these cases must e-file.58 As we have seen, e-filing in New York is limited in

various case types. In New York, as in the Federal system, all unrepresented parties are

exempt from the mandate to e-file.59 Unless unrepresented parties choose to and do

become e-filing participants, all documents served by and served upon the unrepresented

must be filed and served in hard-copy format.60 The structure of the Federal e-filing system

hardly suggests that the answer to e-filing in residential foreclosure and consumer credit

cases is to prohibit it.61

56 Syed Letter, Jan. 3, 2019; Inwald Letter, Jan. 4, 2019. 57 United States District Court, Southern District of New York, Electronic Case Filing Rules & Instructions Secs. 1.1, 13.7 (Oct. 9, 2018). 58 Id. Sec. 2.1. 59 Id. Sec. 1.1. 60 Id. Secs. 1.1, 9.2. 61 The Legal Services Submission applauds the fact that the Federal e-filing program in the Southern District has a Pro Se Intake Unit for the receipt of hard-copy filings by non-participating unrepresented persons and for the furnishing of information to the unrepresented, that an unrepresented person who wishes to participate must take a training course, and that such participation must be permitted by a Judge on motion. Inwald Letter, Jan. 4, 2019; Isobe Written Testimony, pp. 3-4. The success of Suffolk County, a grandfathered county, and Southern Tier courts shows that it is possible to provide accurate information without a dedicated office analogous to the Pro Se Intake Unit. Further, UCS is prepared to discuss with the Legal Services E-Filing Advisory Committee that we propose to establish the institution of a requirement for unrepresented litigants to take a training course before they may receive an ID and Password. One of the Submissions speaks of the need to have e-filing stations and resources in each court to assist unrepresented persons to scan and file documents. Inwald Letter, Jan. 4, 2019. In the Southern District, the Pro Se Intake Unit scans and files documents into the e-filing system that the unrepresented person who is not participating in e-filing presents in hard copy. This is evidently done so that the electronic file will be complete. The unrepresented person who does participate in e-filing as a Filing User

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One of the Legal Services Submissions suggests that, in order to promote the use

of NYSCEF by unrepresented persons who wish to participate in e-filing, it would be

helpful to allow any of these persons who lack a credit card to pay fees in cash.62 Fees are

now paid in NYSCEF cases by credit card online. We will look into the possibility of

accommodating the use of NYSCEF for any such persons lacking a credit card by allowing

them to pay in cash as an exemption from the generally-applicable procedure. But this

matter must and will be discussed with the County Clerks, who collect the court fees.

For these reasons, we believe that the concerns of the legal services groups do not

provide a justification for refusing to enact the Judiciary’s legislative proposal for the

lifting of the restrictions upon the Chief Administrative Judge’s discretion in residential

foreclosure and consumer credit actions.

needs to have, or have regular access to, a PC computer, a printer, and a scanner in order to take part and is not allowed to deliver documents to the Intake Unit for scanning for the purposes of filing and serving documents. It is up to the Filing User to scan or upload his or her documents in order to e-file and e-serve them. On the SDNY website, see “ECF System Requirements ” under “ECF;” “Motion for Permission for Electronic Case Filing” at Sec. 2.2 of the ECF Rules & Instructions, and Sec. 1.1 thereof. In the NYSCEF system, an unrepresented person likewise needs to meet the system requirements for participating in e-filing if he or she wishes to take part and needs to scan or upload his or her documents. The person must have a computer with internet access, an e-mail address that is checked regularly, software for viewing PDF/A documents, and a scanner or software to create documents in PDF/A format. See “E-Filing Basics” on the NYSCEF website for the unrepresented at nycourts.gov/efile. The system requirements ensure that prospective Filing Users can participate in e-filing conveniently and in a way that protects and advances their interests. 62 Inwald Letter, Jan. 4, 2019.

APP-277

Appendix J: Correspondence

Appendix J Correspondence

199

Appendix J

APP-279

200

Appendix J

APP-280

201

Appendix J

APP-281

Appendix K: Letter, New York State Association of County Clerks

Appendix K Letter, New York State

Association of County Clerks

205

Appendix K

APP-283

206

Appendix K

APP-284

Appendix L: Notice of Electronic Filing (Mandatory Commencement)

Appendix L Notice of Electronic Filing

(Mandatory Commencement)

209

Appendix L

APP-286

210

Appendix L

APP-287

211

Appendix L

APP-288

212

Appendix L

APP-289

213

Appendix L

APP-290

214

Appendix L

APP-291