Loc. R. Civ. P. 5.1 — Filing and Serving Papers
A published court requirement that applies in New York. Category: Local Rules. Effective January 15, 2026. Verified against the official source (W.D.N.Y. — Rules: Individual, Local & Federal (U.S. District Court, Western District of New York)) on November 3, 2026.
Summary
Loc. R. Civ. P. 5.1 — Filing and Serving Papers: the court's own rule, verbatim from the Local Rules of Civil Procedure, United States District Court for the Western District of New York, effective January 15, 2026 (official PDF, sha-custodied). Court-level requirement: applies in every civil case before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, alongside the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (the rules are numbered to conform to them) and any judge-specific procedures.
Requirement
(a) Filing Procedures. All civil cases filed in this Court are assigned to the Electronic Case Filing System (“ECF”). The procedures for electronic filing and any exceptions to the electronic filing requirements are set forth in the Administrative Procedures Guide for Electronic Filing which is available on the Court’s website, http://www.nywd.uscourts.gov. All pleadings and other papers shall be filed and served in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Administrative Procedures Guide for Electronic Filing. (b) Filing Fees. A party commencing an action or removing an action from a state court must pay to the Clerk of Court the statutory filing fee, found in the District Court Schedule of Fees available on the Court’s website, http://www.nywd.uscourts.gov, before the case will be docketed and process issued. Indigent litigants should refer to Loc. R. Civ. P. 5.2(c) for information on obtaining relief from this requirement. (c) Case Assignment. Upon filing, civil cases are assigned to a Judge in either Buffalo (typically, cases arising in Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming counties), or Rochester (typically, cases arising in Chemung, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne and Yates counties). The Court may transfer cases within the District, sua sponte. Parties requesting transfer of a case from Buffalo to Rochester, or vice versa, shall file a written motion requesting such relief, returnable before the Judge to whom the case is originally assigned. (d) Date-Stamped Copies. Parties requesting date-stamped copies of filed documents must provide a paper copy for date-stamping, and a self-addressed, adequately-sized envelope with proper postage affixed. (e) Related Cases. Each attorney appearing in a civil case has a continuing duty to notify the Clerk promptly when the attorney has reason to believe that said case is related to some other pending civil or criminal action(s) because of the similarity of facts and legal issues or because the cases arise from the same transactions or events, such that its assignment to the same Judge would avoid unnecessary duplication of judicial effort. This includes civil forfeiture cases that are related to a pending criminal action. As soon as the attorney becomes aware of such a relationship in two or more cases where the relationship was not already identified on the civil cover sheet, the attorney shall notify the Clerk of Court and the assigned Judges by filing a letter on the docket of the pertinent cases advising of the relevant facts. (f) Title 11. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(a) any and all cases under Title 11 and any and all proceedings arising under Title 11 or arising in or related to a case under Title 11 are referred to the Bankruptcy Judges for this district. If a Bankruptcy Judge or District Judge determines that entry of a final order or judgment by a Bankruptcy Judge would not be consistent with Article III of the United States Constitution in a particular proceeding referred under this Local Rule and determined to be a core matter, the Bankruptcy Judge shall, unless otherwise ordered by the District Court, hear the proceeding and submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law to the District Court. The District Court may treat any order of the Bankruptcy Court as proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law in the event the District Court concludes that the Bankruptcy Judge could not have entered a final order or judgment consistent with Article III of the United States Constitution. (g) Service by Overnight Delivery. All papers, other than a subpoena or a summons and complaint, may be served on counsel of record by overnight delivery service at the address designated by the attorney for that purpose, or if none is designated, at the attorney’s last known address. Service by overnight delivery shall be complete upon deposit of the paper(s), enclosed in a properly addressed wrapper, into the custody of the overnight delivery service, prior to the latest time designated by the service for overnight delivery. Overnight delivery service shall be deemed service by mail for purposes of Fed. R. Civ. P. 5 and 6. “Overnight delivery service” means any delivery service which regularly accepts items for overnight delivery to any address within the Court’s jurisdiction. (h) Letters. Letters addressed to Judges who accept letters, including letter motions required by Loc. R. Civ. P. 5.5(d)(5), (6) and 7(a)(2)(C) or permitted by the assigned Judge’s individual practices and rules, may be filed electronically.
Source of truth
(a) Filing Procedures. All civil cases filed in this Court are assigned to the Electronic Case Filing System (“ECF”). The procedures for electronic filing and any exceptions to the electronic filing requirements are set forth in the Administrative Procedures Guide for Electroni
- Official source
- W.D.N.Y. — Rules: Individual, Local & Federal (U.S. District Court, Western District of New York)
- Source health
- Healthy · checked November 14, 2026
- Effective date
- January 15, 2026
- Last verified
- November 3, 2026benchpath-nyfed-rules-2026-11-03
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