S.D.N.Y. Division of Business Rule 4 — Civil Actions or Proceedings (Filing and Assignment)
A published court requirement that applies in New York. Category: Local Rules. Effective February 12, 2026. Verified against the official source (S.D.N.Y. — Local Rules (U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York)) on November 2, 2026.
Summary
S.D.N.Y. Division of Business Rule 4 — Civil Actions or Proceedings (Filing and Assignment): the court's own rule, verbatim from Rules for the Division of Business Among District Judges, Southern District of New York (Effective February 12, 2026), official PDF, sha-custodied. Court-level requirement: governs the assignment and transfer of cases among the district judges of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York; adopted for the internal management of the court's case load.
Requirement
(a) Filing with the Clerk All civil actions and proceedings shall be numbered consecutively by year upon the filing of the first document in the case. When a complaint or the first document is filed in a civil action or proceeding, counsel shall accurately complete and file a Civil Cover Sheet consistent with Rule 18 below. Counsel shall file the Civil Cover Sheet in the same manner — electronically or paper form — as the complaint. (b) Assignment by the Clerk by Lot Each civil action and proceeding, except applications for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, upon being filed and each appeal from the bankruptcy court upon being docketed in this court shall be assigned by lot within each designated category to a district judge for all purposes. An action, case, or proceeding may not be dismissed and thereafter refiled for the purpose of obtaining a different judge. If an action, case, or proceeding, or one essentially the same, is dismissed and refiled in this court, or removed or transferred to this court, it shall be assigned to the same judge. It is the duty of every attorney appearing to bring the facts of the refiling to the attention of the clerk.
Source of truth
(a) Filing with the Clerk All civil actions and proceedings shall be numbered consecutively by year upon the filing of the first document in the case. When a complaint or the first document is filed in a civil action or proceeding, counsel shall accurately complete and file a Ci
- Source health
- Healthy · checked November 14, 2026
- Effective date
- February 12, 2026
- Last verified
- November 2, 2026benchpath-nyfed-rules-2026-11-02
Change history
- November 13, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
- November 6, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
- November 5, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
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