Wade Clark Mulcahy LLP

In Reyes v. City of New York, 2025 NY Slip Op 03545 (1st Dept June 10, 2025), the Appellate Division, First Department issued a clear directive to trial courts across New York County and Bronx County: judges may not require prior permission or a pre-motion conference as a condition to filing a motion. The decision reinforces long-standing appellate precedent and curtails a growing local practice that had effectively restricted access to motion practice under the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR).

The case arose from a plaintiff’s motion under CPLR §3126 to strike the defendants’ answer, or alternatively, under CPLR §3124 to compel discovery. The Supreme Court, New York County, denied the motion on procedural grounds, citing the plaintiff’s failure to first “conference the matter” with the court as required by its Part Rules. The First Department unanimously reversed.

Relying on its prior holding in Costigan & Co. v. Costigan, 304 A.D.2d 464 (1st Dept 2003), the Court reaffirmed that “the court may not condition the making of a motion on prior judicial approval.” While courts may encourage parties to resolve disputes before motion practice, they may not impose a blanket rule prohibiting the filing of motions absent a conference. Such restrictions, the Court explained, improperly interfere with a litigant’s statutory right to seek relief under the CPLR and conflict with statewide procedural standards. The appellate panel remanded the matter for consideration of the motion on its merits.

Practically, Reyes carries immediate significance for practitioners in New York City’s trial courts – particularly in the Bronx and New York County – where some parts had adopted rules requiring “leave to move” or pre-motion conferences as prerequisites to motion practice. The First Department has now made clear that such requirements are improper. While judges may still direct or encourage conferences to manage their dockets, they cannot deny or refuse to entertain a motion solely because counsel did not first obtain judicial permission to file it. For litigators, Reyes restores predictability and uniformity to motion practice. Parties may once again move under the CPLR without first seeking judicial consent. If a court wishes to address a motion before deciding it, the proper course is to conference the matter—not to bar its filing.