Opinion
21 CV 06946(AJN)
11-19-2021
Jacqueline M. Lajara Plaintiff, v. Commissioner of Social Security Defendant.
ORDER
ALISON J. NATHAN, DISTRICT JUDGE:
By separate order, the Court has assigned this case to the assigned Magistrate Judge for a report and recommendation on any motion for judgment on the pleadings. To conserve resources, to promote judicial efficiency, and in an effort to achieve a faster disposition of this matter, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties must meet and confer to discuss whether they are willing to consent, under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), to conducting all further proceedings before the assigned Magistrate Judge.
If both parties consent to proceed before the Magistrate Judge, counsel for Defendant must, within two weeks of the date on which Defendant notices an appearance, ECF file a fully executed Notice, Consent, and Reference of a Civil Action to a Magistrate Judge form, a copy of which is attached to this Order. If the Court approves that form, all further proceedings will then be conducted before the assigned Magistrate Judge, rather than before the undersigned. Any appeal would be taken directly to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, as it would be if the consent form were not signed and so-ordered. An information sheet on proceedings before magistrate judges is also attached to this Order.
The form is also available at http://nysd.uscourts.gov/file/forms/consent-to-proceed-before-us-magistrate-judge.
If either party does not consent to conducting all further proceedings before the assigned Magistrate Judge, the parties must file a joint letter, within two weeks of the date on which Defendant notices an appearance, advising the Court that the parties do not consent, but without disclosing the identity of the party or parties who do not consent. The parties are free to withhold consent without negative consequences.
Chambers will mail a copy of this order to the pro se litigant and note its mailing on the public docket.
SO ORDERED.