202.5-bb. Electronic Filing in Supreme Court; Mandatory Program
Application.
There is hereby established a pilot program in which all documents
filed and served in Supreme Court shall be filed and served by
electronic means in such classes of actions and such counties as
shall be specified by order of the Chief Administrator in accordance
with chapter 367 of the laws of 1999, as amended.
Except to the extent that this section shall otherwise require, the
provisions of section 202.5-b of these rules shall govern this pilot
program.
Commencement of Actions Under this Section.
Mandatory commencement in general. Except as otherwise
provided in this section, every action authorized by subdivision (a)
of this section shall be commenced by electronically filing the
initiating documents with the County Clerk through the NYSCEF
site.
Emergency exception. Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this
subdivision, an action otherwise required to be commenced
electronically may or shall be commenced by the filing of initiating
documents in hard copy where permitted or required by statute or
court order, and may be so commenced provided such documents
are accompanied bythe affirmation or affidavit of the filing attorney
or party stating that: (i) the statute of limitations will expire on the
day the documents are being filed or on the following business day;
and (ii) the attorney, party or filing agent therefor is unable to
electronically file such documents because of technical problems
with his or her computer equipment or Internet connection. In the
event a filer shall file initiating documents in hard copy pursuant to
this paragraph, each such document shall include the notice required
by paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of section 202.5-b of these rules,
and the filer shall file those documents with the NYSCEF site
within three business days thereafter. For purposes of this section,
such an action shall be deemed to have been commenced
electronically.
Service of initiating documents. Personal service of initiating
documents upon a party in an action that must be commenced
electronically in accordance with this section shall be made as
provided in Article 3 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules, or by
electronic means if the party served agrees to accept such service.
Such service shall be accompanied by a notice, in a form approved
by the Chief Administrator, advising the recipient that the action is
subject to electronic filing pursuant to this section. A party served
by electronic means shall, within 24 hours of service, provide the
serving party or attorney with an electronic confirmation that the
service has been effected.
Filing and Service of Documents After Commencement in
Actions Under this Section.
All documents to be filed and served electronically. Except as
otherwise provided in this section, filing and service of all
documents in an action that has been commenced electronically in
accordance with this section shall be by electronic means.
Addition of parties after commencement of action.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a party to be
added in an action that has been commenced electronically in
accordance with this section shall be served with initiating
documents in hard copy together with the notice specified in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of this section. A proposed
intervenor or other non-party who seeks relief from the court in such
an action shall make his or her application for such relief by
electronic means as provided by the NYSCEF system.
Emergency exception; other hard copy filings. Notwithstanding
paragraph (1) of this subdivision, where documents are required to
be filed and served electronicallyin accordance with such paragraph
(1), such documents may nonetheless be filed and served in hard
copy where permitted by paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of section
202.5-b of these rules. In the event a filer shall file and serve
documents in hard copy pursuant to this paragraph, each such
document shall include the notice required by paragraph (1) of
subdivision (d) of section 202.5-b, and the filer shall, as required,
file those documents with the NYSCEF site within three business
days thereafter.
County Clerk and Clerk of Court Not to Accept Hard
Copies of Documents for Filing Where Electronic Filing Is
Required. As provided in section 202.5(d)(1) of these Rules, a
County Clerk and a Chief Clerk of Supreme Court, as appropriate,
shall refuse to accept for filing hard copies of documents sought to
be filed in actions where such documents are required to be filed electronically.
Exemption From the Requirement of Electronic Filing.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, an attorney or a representative of a
property owner designated as such as provided in Real Property Tax
Law § 730 (“small claims assessment filing agent”), or a party who
is not represented by an attorney in an action that is required to be
commenced electronically, or a person who is a proposed intervenor
or other non-party who seeks relief from the court in such an action,
may claim exemption from having to file and serve documents
electronically in accordance with this section by filing with the
County Clerk and the clerk of the court in which the action is or will
be pending a form, to be prescribed by the Chief Administrator, on
which:
if an attorney or small claims assessment filing agent, he or she
certifies, in good faith that he or she:
lacks the computer hardware and/or connection to the Internet
and/or scanner or other device by which documents may be
converted to an electronic format; or
lacks the requisite knowledge in the operation of such computers
and/or scanners necessary to comply with this section (for purposes
of this paragraph, the knowledge of any employee of an attorney, or
any employee of the attorney’s law firm, office or business who is
subject to such attorney’s direction, shall be imputed to the
attorney); or
he or she indicates that he or she is not represented by an
attorney and wishes to be exempt from having to file and serve
documents electronically in accordance with this section.
Nothing in this section shall prevent a judge from exempting an
attorney from having to file and serve documents electronically in
accordance with this section upon a showing of good cause therefor.
Where an attorney, party, proposed intervenor or other non-party
who seeks relief from the court in an action that is subject to this
section is exempt from having to file and serve documents
electronically in accordance with this section, he or she shall serve
and file documents in hard copy, provided that each such document
shall include the notice required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (d)
of section 202.5-b of these rules. The County Clerk or the court,
with the approval of the Chief Administrative Judge, may require a
person who is exempt from having to file and serve documents
electronically to submit an additional, unbound hard copy of
documents being presented in hard copy to the court.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, all other attorneys, parties and
others seeking relief from the court in such action shall continue to
be required to file and serve documents electronically, except that,
whenever they serve documents upon a person or party who is
exempt from having to file and serve documents electronically in
accordance with this section, they shall serve such documents in
hard copy, bearing full signatures, and shall file electronically proof
of such service.