The Supreme Court has recognized that properly grounded summary judgment motions can have the salutary effect of focusing and/or reducing the issues for trial, or of avoiding unnecessary trials altogether. At the same time, inadequately grounded or premature summary judgment motions have the untoward effect of delaying the progress of a lawsuit and increasing its cost. Moreover, the Court has observed that summary judgment motions are at times filed without sufficient consideration being given to other vehicles for achieving a prompt resolution of particular issues or the entire case. Accordingly, if after meeting and conferring as outlined above a party wishes to file a summary judgment motion, that party must first seek leave of Court.

The Court requires strict compliance with Local General Rules 56.1(a) and 56.1(b) in the briefing of all summary judgment motions. In addition, to assist the Court in reviewing the factual record submitted in connection with summary judgment motions, the Court requires the following:

A courtesy copy of the memorandum of law, depositions and other materials relied upon in support of the motion (as required by Local Rule 56.1(a)(1)-(3)) or in opposition to the motion (as required by Local Rule 56.1(b)(1)-(3)) must be delivered to chambers the same day the original is filed in the Clerk’s office. The courtesy copy of the compendium must be securely bound, must separately tab each document, and must contain an index identifying what document is contained under each tab.

All statements of undisputed material facts offered by the moving party under Local Rule 56.1(a)(3), or statements of additional facts offered by the responding party under Local Rule 56.1(b)(3), must list the facts in short, numbered paragraphs that refrain from argument. Argument must be reserved for the moving party’s memorandum of law. Each numbered fact statement must contain a specific citation to affidavits, depositions or other materials that support the fact statement, as well as to the tab(s) in the compendium where those materials may be found. Failure to provide support for a statement of fact may result in that alleged "fact" being disregarded.

All responses to statements of undisputed material facts offered by the responding party under Local Rule 56.1(b)(3), or responses to statements of additional facts offered by the moving party under Local Rule 56.1(a), shall be in a format similar to that used in answering a complaint: that is, the response must repeat each numbered paragraph of the fact statement, and then immediately following each numbered statement must state whether the alleged fact is "undisputed" or "disputed." As with the fact statements submitted under Rule 56.1(a)(3) and 56.1(b)(3), the responses to those fact statements must refrain from argument. The significance or lack of significance of a disputed or undisputed fact may be argued in the respondent’s legal memorandum. If a particular fact is "undisputed," nothing more should be said in the response. If a particular fact assertion is "disputed" in whole or in part, the response must state what part of the assertion is disputed and must contain a specific citation to the supporting affidavits, depositions or other materials as well as to the tab(s) in the compendium where those materials may be found. Failure to provide support for an alleged fact dispute may result in that fact being deemed admitted.

In accord with Local Rule 56.1, absent prior leave of Court, a movant shall not file more than 80 separately numbered statements of undisputed material fact, and a party responding to a summary judgment motion shall not file more than 40 separately numbered statements of additional facts under Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(B). The Court reminds parties that the fact statements under Local Rule 56.1(a)(3) and Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(B) “shall consist of short numbered paragraphs.”