Per Diem Attorney Services in Westchester County

Read This First: Westchester Closes Settlement Conferences to Per Diem Counsel

The Westchester Supreme Court Civil Case Management Rules, revised effective September 2, 2025, say it in one sentence: "No answering services or per diem counsel are permitted to attend settlement conferences."

That rule is county-wide, and our office follows it. We do not cover settlement conferences in Supreme Court, Westchester County. The attorney of record appears at those, and no substitution is available from this office or from any other per diem service. If a firm offers to send someone in your place to a Westchester settlement conference, that firm has not read the county rules.

Two parts restate the rule and harden it. Justice Diane M. Clerkin and the Medical Malpractice Part both provide that, "Absent emergent circumstances properly and timely communicated to the Court, per diem appearances will not be recognized and the failure of an attorney of record to appear as directed may constitute a default." Justice James L. Hyer, in the matrimonial part, writes that "Per diem counsel are not permitted." Our office does not accept assignments in Justice Clerkin's part or in the Medical Malpractice Part, and matrimonial matters fall outside our practice in any event.

The rest of the county is a different question, and the honest answer is more useful than a sales pitch. Read the next section before you assume Westchester is closed to you, and read the motion section before you pay anyone to stand on a return date.

What Our Office Covers in Westchester County

• Depositions, EBTs, EUOs, and 50-h hearings. No part rule in the county reaches deposition work, because a deposition is not a court appearance. This is the largest part of what we do in Westchester. See our deposition and EBT page for how we handle the examination and the report.
• Preliminary and compliance conferences. The county rule calls for "an attorney thoroughly familiar with the action and who is authorized to act on behalf of the party." That is a competence-and-authority standard, not a ban, and it is the standard we already meet in every county we serve.
• Orders to show cause in the parts that require an appearance. Justice David F. Everett's rules provide that, "Unless indicated otherwise, an in-person court appearance is required on the return date of all orders to show cause." Other parts direct an appearance case by case.
• Motions where the court directs oral argument. Rare in this county, and the next section explains why.

What we do not cover here: settlement conferences anywhere in the county, any appearance in Justice Clerkin's part, any appearance in the Medical Malpractice Part, and matrimonial matters. We would rather turn down the assignment than send someone the court will not recognize.

Motions: In Most Westchester Parts There Is Nothing to Cover

Nearly every civil part in Westchester County decides motions on submission, with no appearance on the return date unless the court specifically directs oral argument. Before you retain anyone to cover a Westchester motion, read the part rules, because in most parts the answer is that nobody needs to be there and nobody needs to be paid.

The part rules say so in almost identical language:

• Justice William J. Giacomo: "all motions are by submission only," returnable any Monday at 9:30 a.m., and "Personal appearances are not required on the return date."
• Justice Robert S. Ondrovic: "All motions will be decided by submission and personal appearances on the return date are not required unless the Court specifically directs oral argument."
• Justice Walter Rivera: "All motions will be decided by submission. There will be no appearances on a motion's return date unless specifically stated by the Court."
• Justice Linda S. Jamieson: "motions on submission only," returnable on any Friday the court is in session, with "no oral arguments... on any motions unless directed by the Court."
• Justice Charles D. Wood: "All motions are submitted without appearances and without oral argument, unless the court orders otherwise."
• Justice Paul I. Marx: "There will be no oral argument on any motion or Order to Show Cause unless directed by the Court."
• Justice Damaris E. Torrent, IAS Part 28: "Unless otherwise directed by the Court, all motions are decided on submission only."

Justices Everett, Murphy, Koba, Squirrell, Zuckerman, Quiñones, Walsh, and Clerkin publish the same submission-only practice in their own words. Justice Doris M. Gonzalez's published rules do not state a motion practice, so we check with the part rather than guess.

Two county-wide motion rules cost out-of-county firms real money. No discovery motion may be filed until a pre-motion conference has been requested and held, and a motion filed before that conference may be denied. A post-note-of-issue summary judgment motion is due within 60 days of the note of issue, opposition within 30 days, and reply within 10 days, and an untimely motion cannot be rescued by styling it a cross-motion. The court also requires a certificate of compliance under 22 NYCRR 202.8-b, and each exhibit uploads as a separate, separately identified PDF.

Conferences: Familiarity and Authority, Not a Warm Body

Westchester County has no Preliminary Conference Part. Under the county rules, "A preliminary conference should be held before the assigned IAS Justice." Where the conference is non-substantive or amounts to a stipulation to be so-ordered, no in-person conference is held at all. Where the stipulation is not timely returned signed, the court schedules an appearance.

The first compliance conference date is set in the preliminary conference order, roughly 150 days before the discovery cutoff, and the conference is conducted by the assigned IAS Justice or that justice's Principal Law Clerk. Discovery continues during any adjournment.

What the parts demand of whoever appears is consistent, and it is the reason the settlement-conference ban does not extend to conferences generally. Justice Ondrovic: "Only an attorney thoroughly familiar with the action and authorized to act on behalf of a party shall appear." Justice David J. Squirrell: "All attorneys appearing, either as attorney of record or of counsel, must be fully familiar with the matter(s) on which they appear and must be authorized to enter into both substantive and procedural agreements." Justice Torrent provides that a failure on that standard "may be regarded as a default." Justices Everett, Koba, Murphy, and Rivera publish the same requirement, and Justices Murphy and Rivera add that counsel must appear ready to discuss all matters, including settlement.

In practice that means the attorney who appears for you has read the file before the conference, knows where discovery actually stands, knows what is outstanding and from whom, and can agree to a schedule and bind your client on it without a phone call to your office. That is what we send. If we cannot meet that standard on a given case because the file has not reached us in time, we say so and decline rather than send someone to be turned away.

A few parts set their own conference practice. Justice Wood holds preliminary conferences on Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. and compliance conferences on Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Justice Torrent conducts preliminary and compliance conferences virtually by Microsoft Teams while holding settlement conferences in person in Courtroom 800. Justice Jamieson holds all conferences in person unless otherwise instructed, and a party may request to appear virtually on a showing of good cause.

Depositions, EBTs, EUOs, and 50-h Hearings

None of the per diem restrictions above reach deposition work. A deposition is not a court appearance, no part rule governs who may take or defend one, and the Westchester Civil Case Management Rules say nothing about them. Our office covers EBTs, EUOs, and 50-h hearings anywhere in Westchester County, at the reporting service, at opposing counsel's office, at a hospital, or remotely.

You get a written report the same business day, covering what the witness said on every subject that matters, the productions called for, the spaces left in the record, and an assessment of how the witness will present. Full detail is on our deposition and EBT services page.

Adjournments: The County Rule, Then the Part Traps

An out-of-county firm that assumes a stipulation adjourns a Westchester motion will default. The county rule and the individual parts both have to be satisfied, and several parts treat an unconfirmed adjournment as no adjournment at all.

County-wide. A motion return date "may not be adjourned more than three (3) times and the return date may not be adjourned for a period exceeding a total of sixty (60) days." Requests go to the Motion Support Office in writing, on notice, by email to MotionSupportWestchester@nycourts.gov, at least two business days before the return date. "In no event will an adjournment be granted after the time to move or submit opposition or reply papers has expired."

The part traps, each of which has its own failure mode:

• Justice Giacomo takes no adjournment requests at all. "This Part cannot accept requests for adjournments of any pending motions. The parties must file requests for adjournments in the Motion Support Office." Stipulations are not honored. On conferences, "Unless the parties receive confirmation from the IAS Part Clerk that a conference has been rescheduled, the parties shall appear for the conference as originally scheduled."
• Justice Ondrovic requires 36 hours. The rule is stated in capitals: a request must come "36 HOURS IN ADVANCE," and "THEREAFTER THE PARTIES MUST APPEAR ON THE RETURN DATE." Two adjournments is the maximum absent good cause, and non-appearance may draw a default judgment, sanctions, costs, and fees.
• Justice Torrent adjourns nothing until staff says so. "NO MOTION SHALL BE CONSIDERED ADJOURNED UNLESS A MEMBER OF THE COURT'S STAFF NOTIFIES THE PARTIES." Requests go in writing two days ahead.
• Justice Clerkin takes stipulations out of the picture. "Appearances may not be adjourned by stipulation. Only the Court has the authority to grant an adjournment."
• Justice Quiñones: "Unless the parties have received Court's approval of an adjournment, no motion is considered to have been adjourned." Two business days, by email to Motion Support.
• Justice Squirrell: 48 hours in writing via NYSCEF, and a request is "NOT effective unless and until approved by the Court."
• Justice Koba: 48 hours, by email to the Part Clerk only, and "parties should not assume that the request... has been granted unless specifically advised by the Court."
• Justice Murphy: consent adjournments are capped at 60 days and are not effective "unless the Part Clerk, the Court's Secretary or the Court's Law Clerk has conveyed the Court's approval."
• Justice Walsh: by letter to the Senior Court Clerk via NYSCEF, on consent of all opposing counsel, "by no later than 12:00 noon of the date preceding the scheduled date."
• Justice Everett: 36 hours, with the stipulation filed on NYSCEF and emailed to the Part Clerk.
• Justices Rivera and Zuckerman: two business days, filed on NYSCEF and emailed to the Part Clerk or the Motion Support Clerk.
• Justice Marx keeps conference adjournments off the docket: they go by email to the Part Clerk only, and his rules instruct counsel, "DO NOT upload conference adjournment requests to NYSCEF."
• Justice Wood: the request uploads to NYSCEF with all parties copied, and "Unless the parties receive confirmation from the Court that a conference has been rescheduled, the parties must appear for the conference as originally scheduled."

When our office is covering the appearance, we confirm the adjournment status with the part before the date rather than relying on the stipulation, because in this county the stipulation is not the thing that adjourns the appearance.

The Courthouse and the Calendar

Supreme and County Court, Westchester County, sits at 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, White Plains, NY 10601, in the downtown blocks between Quarropas Street and Martine Avenue. The main number is (914) 824-5100, and the building is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Civil Division is on the ninth floor at (914) 824-5300, fax (914) 824-5873. Parking downtown is metered, and the courthouse is reachable by Bee-Line bus and by Metro-North.

Two designations turn up in the rules and deserve a caution rather than a confident answer. Justice Everett's courtroom is published as "Courtroom 201 (Annex)" and the Motion Support Office is published as being on the "8th floor Courthouse Tower." The court publishes no separate street address for either, and our office has not verified whether they sit in the main building or in a connected one. We confirm the room with the part before an appearance instead of assuming.

Calendar call. The only county-wide time the court publishes is the Trial Assignment Part: "Calendar call in the Trial Assignment Part ('TAP') will be at 9:15 a.m. promptly." Individual parts generally call at 9:30 a.m. Justice Marx adds that "Unexcused tardy arrivals will not be tolerated," and the county rules provide that "Defaulting or late appearances by counsel, in the absence of an adequate excuse, may be subject to sanctions and/or costs." No second call is published anywhere in the county rules or in any part rules, so we plan on the first call and our attorney is in the room before it.

Key offices, with the clerks who actually answer: the Motion Support Office, Clerk Gerard DePaulo, 8th floor Courthouse Tower, (914) 824-5343. The Settlement Conference Part, Hon. Lewis J. Lubell, Clerk Amanda Hall, Room 1200, (914) 824-5350. The Trial Assignment Part, Hon. Paul I. Marx, Clerk Joseph Tuohy, Room 1600, (914) 824-5623.

Courtroom assignments are stated as of the Term 9 assignment order, covering August 17 to September 13, 2026. The court reassigns by term, so we confirm the part and the room before every appearance. For the full bench, the specialized parts, and the practitioner notes, see our Westchester County Supreme Court guide and our Westchester County judges directory.

Virtual Appearances Are the Court's Call, and the Link Goes to NYSCEF

Westchester uses Microsoft Teams for virtual appearances. The format is ordered or permitted by the assigned IAS Justice rather than chosen by counsel, and recording is not allowed.

One mechanical detail matters for anyone sending a covering attorney: the Teams link is emailed only to the service email addresses on the parties' NYSCEF accounts. It does not reach the attorney appearing unless your office forwards it. When we cover a virtual conference in this county, we ask you for the link as soon as the court sends it, and we confirm receipt the day before rather than the morning of.

Practice varies by part. Justice Torrent holds preliminary and compliance conferences virtually. Justice Zuckerman's preliminary conferences "will normally, but not exclusively, be conducted virtually." Justice Jamieson holds conferences in person unless otherwise instructed. The Medical Malpractice Part requires a written request three business days out and holds all preliminary conferences in person unless otherwise designated.

Two More Things Westchester Does Its Own Way

Presumptive Mediation

Civil part proceedings in the Ninth Judicial District are eligible for presumptive mediation absent contrary direction, with exemption available on good cause. Once the Order of Reference issues, the parties have 10 days to select a mediator, the first session is held within 30 days of the mediator's acceptance, and the mediation is completed within 45 days of the Order of Reference. Parties are required to attend all mediation sessions, and attorneys are strongly encouraged to attend. Those deadlines run whether or not anyone is watching them, and they are the ones out-of-county firms miss.

Electronic Filing

The court publishes its own categories for consensual and mandatory e-filing, and the Westchester joint protocols and the Ninth Judicial District e-filing page are not worded identically. Check the current protocol for your case type rather than relying on a general rule, and we will do the same before an appearance.

Flat-Rate Pricing

Per diem services are available to attorneys and law firms only. Coverage is billed at a flat rate per session rather than by the hour, with no surcharge for a long wait or a difficult calendar, and morning and afternoon sessions are billed separately. Depositions, EBTs, and 50-h hearings carry their own flat rates, and an additional charge applies when an interpreter is needed.

Published rates are on our per diem services page and our deposition page. We quote the exact rate when we confirm the assignment, and we tell you when an appearance is one the county rules will not let us cover, before you are billed for anything.

How It Works: Three Steps, 15 Minutes

1. Send the assignment. Call 212-233-0666, text 917-686-3827, or use the order form. Give us the case name, the index number, the assigned justice, the appearance type, the date, and anything specific you want raised.
2. We confirm within 15 minutes. A person answers, not an automated reply. If the appearance is a Westchester settlement conference, a matter in Justice Clerkin's part, or a Medical Malpractice Part matter, we tell you that we cannot cover it and why, in the same reply.
3. We appear and we report. You get a written report the same business day: what was ordered, what was discussed, what the court directed, and what you need to do next, with the scanned order attached.

Who Handles Your Appearance

Every Westchester assignment is handled by Fred Abramson personally or by a vetted covering attorney, and this office has been appearing in New York courts for 28 years. We match the attorney to the courthouse, the justice, and the case type.

The reason this page opens with a rule that costs us work is the same reason firms keep sending us their coverage. The attorney who appears for you should know the part before the case gets there, and a firm that has not read the county rules will find that out on the record, in front of the justice, at your client's expense.

Book an Appearance

For same-day and emergency requests, call 212-233-0666 or text 917-686-3827. For everything else, use the form or email fabramson@abramsonlegal.com.