SUPREME COURT, CIVIL BRANCH

QUEENS COUNTY

SELF REPRESENTED INFORMATION OFFICE

NOTE: PERSONS WITHOUT COUNSEL ARE ADVISED TO CONSULT AN ATTORNEY.

NEITHER THE SELF REPRESENTED INFORMATION OFFICE NOR ANY MEMBER OF
THE COURT'S STAFF MAY OFFER LEGAL ADVICE, PREPARE YOUR PAPERS OR
ACT AS YOUR ATTORNEY.

COURT "ORDERS" "JUDGMENTS"

SUBMIT, SETTLE, ENTRY

AN OVERVIEW

A Court ORDER may be generally defined as a determination of a court (usually in

writing although occasionally orders are delivered orally (right from on the bench) that

resolves a request (motion) by a party to a lawsuit for some specific relief.

(Remember, a motion is defined as a specific request (or prayer) for specific relief

from a court in the form of an order.) A judgment is, generally speaking, a determination

by a court (either by a judge or justice acting alone or together with a jury) that sets forth

the final results of an entire case or of a discrete claim for relief in a case. For example,

a judgment may award plaintiff a specific sum of money based upon the court's finding that

the defendant negligently injured the plaintiff causing injury.

Orders are always signed by a judge or justice. (Remember, in Queens Supreme

Court the judge's proper title is justice.) Judgments may be signed by a justice or by the

County Clerk in accordance with a written directive (or decision) issued by a justice.

Obviously, before a justice signs an order, the order must be drafted (written) (the correct

legal term is drawn) either by one of the parties or by the justice.

 For most orders, this is done by the justice himself or herself in the form of a short

form order. (See, Appendix 1.) Occasionally, however, the justice will direct that the

prevailing (winning) party on a motion to draw (prepare) a long form order for the justice's

signature and either "submit" or "settle" the order.

In the case of Funk v Barry, 89 NY2d 364 (that is, Volume 89 of the casebooks

called New York Second, page 364), the New York Court of Appeals (New York's highest

court) explained:

"When a decision ends with the directive to 'submit order' the court is
generally directing the prevailing party to 'draw[] the order and present[] it to
the judge . . . who looks it over to make sure it reflects the decision properly,
and then signs or initials it' (Siegel, Practice Commentaries, McKinney's
Cons Laws of NY, Book 70, CPLR C2220:4, at 170). This procedure calls
for no notice to the opponent (id.).

A directive to 'settle' by contrast 'is reserved for more complicated

dispositions, such as orders involving restraints or contemplating a set of
follow-up procedures' (id.). Because the decision ordinarily entails more
complicated relief, the instruction contemplates notice to the opponent so
that both parties may either agree on a draft or prepare counter-proposals
to be settled before the court. . . . The common element in both directives is
that further drafting and judicial approval of the judgment or order is
contemplated." (Funk v Barry, 89 NY2d 364, at 367.)

Accordingly, should a party make or oppose a motion and then receive a favorable

decision, which directs that an order be "submitted or settled," that party must properly

draw (prepare) the proposed order and then take the proper procedural steps to arrange

for it to be put before the court for the justice's signature.

The basic rules covering these procedures are found in the Civil Practice Law and

Rules (the "CPLR" for short), Sections 2219 and 2220 and in Volume 22 of the New York

Code Rules and Regulations ("22 NYCRR" for short), Rule 202.4P (see, Appendix 2 and

3). In drawing a proposed order, it is especially important to follow CPLR 2219

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requirement that the proposed order "state the court . . . the place and date of the

signature, recite the papers used on the motion and give the determination or directive in

such detail as the judge deems proper. (A sample long form order is attached as

Appendix 4.)

If the judge's decision merely directed "submit order" once the order is drawn, the

prevailing party just submits it to the Court, but this should (must) be done within

sixty (60) days of the justice's decision.

If the justice's decision says settle order or submit order on notice, unless otherwise

specifically directed by the court, the prevailing party must draw the order, attach the order

to a notice of settlement (this is usually done by completing the notice of settlement box

in the lower left hand corner of a blue back (see, Appendix 5) and serving on the other

parties to the lawsuit at least five (5) days before its settlement date (ten (10) days if the

order is served by mail). The order together with the notice of settlement must be served

and presented to the court within sixty (60) days of the justice's decision. The party settling

the order must also submit an original affidavit of service showing the proposed order and

notice of settlement was served on all other parties to the case. A form is available from

the Self Represented Information Office for this purpose.

Proposed counter orders must be made returnable on the same day and place as

the original order and served at least two (2) days before the return day (seven (7) days

if served by mail).

Once the prevailing party has served and settled the order, it may or may not be

amended by the justice before he/she signs it.

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 Once the order (or judgment) is signed, the prevailing party needs to insure that it

is entered by the Queens County Clerk and that a copy of the signed order with notice of

entry is served on the other parties to the lawsuit. It is this service which commences the

losing party a thirty (30) day time limit in which to appeal.

Entry in this context is defined as the formal filing in the County Clerk's Office and

recording in the County Clerk's records (called minutes) of an order or judgment after it is

signed by the County Clerk. The "entry" date is the actual date stamped by the County

Clerk on the original Order or Judgment.

Generally speaking, after a justice or judge signs an order, the court's own clerks

arrange to have the order sent to the County Clerk who then "enters" it.

Therefore, in order to have an "entered" order to serve on his/her adversaries, the

prevailing party must obtain a copy of the signed (by the judge or justice or County Clerk)

entered (stamped with the entry [filed] date by the County Clerk) from the County Clerk.

Once this is done, the prevailing party should serve a copy of the signed entered order with

notice of entry on all the other parties to the case.

The notice of entry is usually prepared by using the notice of entry box found on the

upper left hand part of the blue back (see, Appendix 5).

After the service is complete, the prevailing party should file with the Queens County

Clerk an original affidavit of service showing that a copy of the signed entered order with

notice of entry was actually served on all the other parties to the case. A form affidavit of

service is available from the Self Represented Information Office.

However, for judgments, the prevailing party must appear before the Judgment

Clerk in the Office of the County Clerk, Room 100 and request entry of judgment.

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 It is the prevailing party's responsibility to prepare the proper papers for this. These

papers are called the judgment-roll and are set forth in CPLR 5017 (see, Appendix 6).

Once the papers are in proper form, the County Clerk will sign and enter the

judgment (CPLR 5016) (see, Appendix 6). Once this is done, the prevailing party should

serve a copy of the signed judgment with notice of entry on all other parties using the same

procedures as for an order previously explained herein.

It is this final service which starts the clock on the losing party's time to appeal.

(Remember, after this service is complete, an original affidavit of service stating this was

done should be filed with the Queens County Clerk.