Nearly every time I am drafting a motion (or opposition to one) in an e-filed case in New York, I get the same question: do we need to attach each of the documents referenced as exhibits, particularly the ones that have already been e-filed with the court?
The question is important, not only because it is incredibly tedious to compile, format, and label numerous exhibits (then check it all to make sure you haven’t made any mistakes), but also because it is unbelievably time-consuming. So lawyers often wonder whether they need to go through all the trouble, especially when they have already e-filed most of the documents as part of other proceedings in the case.
E-filing, using the NYSCEF system, in New York has been around for a while. But the rules of practice related to it are changing all the time. One of the rules, in the CPLR, was amended in 2014 to add a permissible shortcut to e-filed cases. But few lawyers are aware of it, or at least they can’t remember the rule when it comes down to the deadline and they are compiling the exhibits for their motion. Then they ask me, and I can’t remember it and have to look it up every time.
To make my job easier, and yours, I’m summarizing the rule here.
Short answer: no, in an e-filed case you do not have to attach as an exhibit a document that already appears on the NYSCEF docket for that index number. You simply reference the document and cite to the docket number where it was previously submitted to the court.
For your internal files, here is the relevant text:
