Dinkins v. The City of New York et al

Filing 21

ORDER This case has been assigned to me for all purposes. The parties should abide by this Court's Special Rules of Practice in Civil Pro Se Cases, which are attached to this Order. This case has been assigned to me for all purposes. It is he reby ORDERED that a conference will be held on July 24, 2024, at 2:00 P.M. The conference will be telephonic. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Warden or other official in charge of the Orleans Correctional Facility in Albion, NY, or other facility in custody of Shaquille S. Dinkins, produce inmate Shaquille S. Dinkins, DIN: 23R1394, to an office in the facility with a reasonable degree of privacy to enable him to participate in a court conference through means of a teleconference from the facilit y to the United States Courthouse, Southern District of New York, on July 24, 2024, commencing at 2:00 P.M. until completion. If this time and date presents an inconvenience, the Warden or the Warden's designee should promptly inform Chambers by calling [phone]. The clerk is directed to mail a copy of this order to the pro se Plaintiff. (And as further set forth herein.) (Signed by Judge Lorna G. Schofield on 6/5/2024) (jca)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
SHAQUILLE S. DINKINS,
Plaintiff,
-againstTHE CITY OF NEW YORK, ET AL.,

24-CV-1604 (LGS)
ORDER

Defendants.
LORNA G. SCHOFIELD, District Judge:
This case has been assigned to me for all purposes. The parties should abide by this
Court’s Special Rules of Practice in Civil Pro Se Cases, which are attached to this Order.
This case has been assigned to me for all purposes. It is hereby ORDERED that a
conference will be held on July 24, 2024, at 2:00 P.M. The conference will be telephonic.
Plaintiff, who is currently incarcerated, is proceeding pro se (without an attorney). For parties
represented by counsel, all pretrial conferences must be attended by the attorney who will serve
as principal trial counsel. The parties shall ensure they are all dialed into the conference call by
the appointed conference time. By the date of the initial pretrial conference, counsel for any
represented party is required to register as a filing user on ECF.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Warden or other official in charge of the Orleans
Correctional Facility in Albion, NY, or other facility in custody of Shaquille S. Dinkins,
produce inmate Shaquille S. Dinkins, DIN: 23R1394, to an office in the facility with a
reasonable degree of privacy to enable him to participate in a court conference through means of a
teleconference from the facility to the United States Courthouse, Southern District of New York,
on July 24, 2024, commencing at 2:00 P.M. until completion. At the date and time set forth
herein, counsel for the defendants shall place the call to the facility and, with all parties on the
line, dial in to a teleconference number provided in an order issued by the Court at least 24 hours
prior to the conference date. If this time and date presents an inconvenience, the Warden or the
Warden’s designee should promptly inform Chambers by calling [phone].
Counsel for defendants must (1) transmit this Order to the Warden forthwith; (2) contact
the Orleans Correctional Facility forthwith to arrange the call and to determine the telephone
number at which the plaintiff will be reachable at the above time and date.
The purpose of the conference is to discuss the possibility of settlement, any possible
motions the parties may wish to make, and the schedule for discovery. The parties should be
prepared to discuss the type of discovery that will likely be sought. No later than 14 days
before the initial pretrial conference, the parties are directed to confer and jointly submit a
proposed case management plan based on the Court’s template, which is available at
http://nysd.uscourts.gov/judge/Schofield.

The parties are further directed to include with the Proposed Civil Case Management Plan
one copy of the parties’ pleadings and a joint letter, not to exceed 5 pages, providing the
following information in separate paragraphs:
(1) A brief statement of the nature of the case, the principal claims and defenses, and the
major legal and factual issues that are most important to resolving the case, whether
by trial, settlement or dispositive motion;
(2) A brief statement by Plaintiff as to the basis of subject matter jurisdiction and venue,
explaining why Plaintiff believes this matter is properly brought before this Court, and
a brief statement by each other party as to the presence or absence of subject matter
jurisdiction and venue;
(3) A brief description of any (i) motions any party seeks or intends to file, including the
principal legal and other grounds in support of and opposition to the motion, (ii)
pending motions and (iii) other applications that are expected to be made at the status
conference;
(4) A brief description of any discovery that has already taken place, and any discovery
that is likely to be admissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence and material to
proof of claims and defenses raised in the pleadings. (This is narrower than the
general scope of discovery stated in Rule 26(b)(1));
(5) A computation of each category of damages claimed, see Fed. R. Civ. P.
26(a)(1)(A)(iii);
(6) A statement describing the status of any settlement discussions and whether the parties
would like a settlement conference; and
(7) Any other information that the parties believe may assist this Court in resolving the
action.
If this case has been settled or otherwise terminated, the parties are not required to appear
if a stipulation of discontinuance, voluntary dismissal, or other proof of termination is sent to
Chambers before the date of the conference ([e-mail]).

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Any request for an extension or adjournment shall be made only by letter as provided in
Pro Se Rule 1.C (see below) and must be received at least 48 hours before the deadline or
conference. Unless the parties are notified that the conference has been adjourned, it will be held
as scheduled.
DATE AND PLACE OF CONFERENCE: July 24, 2024, at 2:00 P.M. to be held
telephonically in accordance with instructions on the first page of this order.
The clerk is directed to mail a copy of this order to the pro se Plaintiff.

Dated: June 5, 2024
New York, New York

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SPECIAL RULES & PRACTICES IN CIVIL PRO SE CASES
JUDGE LORNA SCHOFIELD, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Pro Se Office
United States District Court
Southern District of New York
500 Pearl Street, Room 230
New York, New York 10007
[phone]
1. Communications
A. By a Pro Se Party. All communications with the Court by a pro se party must be sent to
the Pro Se Office and must include an Affidavit of Service or other statement affirming
that the pro se party sent a copy to all other parties or to their counsel if they are
represented. No documents or Court filings should be sent directly to Chambers.
B. By Parties Represented by Counsel. Communications with the Court by a represented
party shall be governed by Judge Schofield’s Individual Rules and Practices in Civil
Cases, available at http://nysd.uscourts.gov/judge/Schofield. Such communications must
be accompanied by an Affidavit of Service affirming that the pro se party was served
with a copy of the communication.
C. Requests for Adjournments or Extensions of Time. All requests for adjournments or
extensions of time must be made in writing and must state: (1) the original date(s); (2) the
number of previous requests for adjournment or extension; (3) whether these previous
requests were granted or denied; and (4) whether the adversary consents and, if not, the
reasons given by the adversary for refusing to consent. If the requested adjournment or
extension affects any other scheduled dates, a represented party must submit a proposed
Revised Scheduling Order. A pro se party may, but is not required to, submit a proposed
Revised Scheduling Order. Requests for extensions of deadlines regarding a matter that
has been referred to a Magistrate Judge shall be directed to that assigned Magistrate
Judge. Absent an emergency, any request for adjournment of a court conference shall be
made at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled appearance. Requests for extensions
ordinarily will be denied if made after the expiration of the original deadline.
2. Filing of Papers.
A. By a Pro Se Party. All papers to be filed with the Court by a pro se party, along with
any courtesy copies of those papers, must be sent to the Pro Se Office, United States
Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, Room 230, New York, New York 10007, and must include
an Affidavit of Service or other statement affirming that the pro se party sent copies to all
other parties or to their counsel if they are represented. If counsel for a party in a pro se
case files and delivers a Notice of Waiver of Paper Service pursuant to section 2(C)
below, the pro se party will no longer be required to (1) send copies to counsel who filed
the waiver or (2) file a corresponding Affidavit of Service but will still need to submit

paperwork to the Pro Se Office for filing on ECF.
B. By Parties Represented by Counsel. Counsel in pro se cases must serve a pro se party
with a paper copy of any document that is filed electronically and file with the Court a
separate Affidavit of Service. Submissions filed without proof that the pro se party was
served will not be considered.
C. Waiver of Paper Service by Counsel. Counsel in pro se cases designated to the ECF
system may waive paper service upon themselves and rely on service through the ECF
system by electronically filing a Notice of Waiver of Paper Service (available at
http://nysd.uscourts.gov/file/forms/waiver-of-rule-5-service-for-pro-se-cases and in the
Pro Se Office) and delivering a paper copy of such Notice to the pro se party. Where
such Notice is filed, the pro se party will no longer be required to: (1) serve paper
documents on the counsel who filed the waiver or (2) file proof of service of such
document. Counsel in pro se cases designated to the ECF system are strongly
encouraged to file such a waiver.
3. Discovery. All requests for discovery must be sent to counsel for the opposing party.
Discovery requests must not be sent to the Court.
4. Motions
A. Filing and Service. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, papers filed in opposition to
a motion must be served and filed within four weeks of service of the motion papers, and
reply papers, if any, must be served and filed within two weeks of receipt of opposition
papers.
B. Courtesy Copy. All motion papers should include one courtesy copy. All courtesy
copies shall be clearly marked as such.
C. Oral Argument. The Court will determine whether argument will be heard and, if so,
will advise the parties of the argument date.
D. Pro Se Notices. Parties who file a motion to dismiss, a motion for judgment on the
pleadings or a motion for summary judgment must provide the pro se party with a copy
of the notices required under Local Civil Rules 12.1 or 56.2.
5. Initial Case Management Conference. The Court will generally schedule an initial case
management conference within four months of the filing of the Complaint. An incarcerated
party may not be able to attend this or other conferences, but may be able to participate by
telephone or video conference.
6. Trial Documents
A. Pretrial Statement. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, within 30 days of the
completion of discovery, a pro se party shall file a concise, written Pretrial Statement.
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This Statement need take no particular form, but it must contain the following: (1) a
statement of the facts the pro se party hopes to prove at trial; (2) a list of all documents or
other physical objects that the pro se party plans to put into evidence at trial; and (3) a list
of the names and addresses of all witnesses the pro se party intends to have testify at trial.
The Statement must be sworn by the pro se party to be true and accurate based on the
facts known by the pro se party. The pro se party shall file an original of this Statement
with the Pro Se Office and an Affidavit of Service or other statement affirming that the
pro se party sent a copy to all other parties or their counsel if they are represented. Two
weeks after service of the pro se party’s Statement, counsel for any represented party
must file and serve a similar Statement containing the same information.
B. Other Pretrial Filings. At the time of filing the Pretrial Statement, any parties
represented by counsel must also submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of
law, if the case is to be tried before only a judge without a jury, or a proposed jury
charge, if it will be tried before a jury. The pro se party may also file either proposed
findings of fact and conclusions of law or a proposed jury charge, but is not required to
do so.
If you have any questions about these rules and practices, please contact the Pro Se Office at
[phone].

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