In less than two weeks, there have been several changes to the response of the New York Federal & State Courts to COVID-19.  This blog post is to provide an update to our prior blog post that may be found here.

New York Federal Courts

SDNY

• All jury trials are now suspended until at least June 1, 2020.
• In-court appearances are restricted to “emergency matters”

NDNY

• Most criminal proceedings are now temporarily being held remotely via Skype.

New York State Court

Court of Appeals 

The Court of Appeals will not hear oral argument during the April/May session and the building is closed to the public until further notice.  The Court will continue to accept submissions by mail and Court-PASS.

All State Courts 

As of April 6, 2020, all essential and emergency court matters—throughout New York City and in every Judicial District outside the City—will be heard virtually, with all interactions taking place by video or telephone. This includes:

Pursuant to the Order of Judge Marks (which may be found here), the prohibition of filing new non-essential matters will continue.  Starting April 13, 2020, however, courts will take the preliminary steps to open remote access to court for non-essential pending cases.  Attorneys may make requests for conferences to address discovery disputes and other ad hoc concerns.  Judges will also recommence deciding fully submitted motions.

Surrogate’s Court 

Effective April 13, 2020, New York County has instituted new guidelines, which may be found here. Notably, the Court will be adjourning all matters scheduled to be heard through May 31, 2020.