AD2 Filing Rules Guide
A working checklist for filings in the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department. This guide is a preparation aid, not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for the Court’s own rules, forms and clerk instructions, which control and change over time. Verify each item against the current rules before you file.
Digital document standards
22 NYCRR § 1250.9; AD2 Digital Submission requirements
- Every PDF must be text-searchable. Scanned pages require OCR before submission — image-only pages are a common rejection ground.
- Documents must carry PDF bookmarks to each brief point, each record document and each exhibit.
- Pages must be right-side-up, in order, and free of blank or duplicated pages.
- Do not password-protect, encrypt or restrict printing on filed PDFs.
Volumes and file size
AD2 Digital Submission Portal limits
- Oversized records and appendices must be split into sequential volumes, each within the portal's per-file size limit.
- Each volume needs its own cover page identifying the volume number and the page range it contains.
- Keep continuous pagination across volumes so citations to the record remain accurate.
Order to Show Cause packages
Current official AD2 Order to Show Cause form
- Use the current official AD2 OSC form — superseded forms are returned.
- Assemble in order: (1) Order to Show Cause, (2) affirmation or affidavit in support, (3) the order or judgment sought to be reviewed, (4) exhibits, (5) proof of service.
- Confirm every signature area, including the Associate Justice signature block on the OSC itself.
- Where interim relief, a TRO or a stay is sought, confirm with the Court whether personal presentation of the OSC is required.
Captions and identifiers
AD2 practice
- The caption must match the Appellate Division docket number, the underlying court and index or docket number, and the parties' appellate designations (appellant, respondent, petitioner).
- Identify the order or judgment under review by date and by the judge who signed it.
- Never file one document that mixes unrelated matters or motions.
Filing destination
NYSCEF / AD2 Digital Submission Portal / Motions Department / Clerk's Office
- Choose the destination the Court authorizes for the specific document type; e-filed matters generally go through NYSCEF.
- Select the correct portal document type — a mislabeled submission may never reach the assigned part.
- Where the Court requires it, put the AD2 docket number and the motion identifier in the submission subject line.
Service, deadlines and fees
CPLR; AD2 rules
- Serve every person entitled to notice, at current service addresses, and file proof of service with the package.
- Track both the filing deadline and the return date; reply, supplemental and late papers may require leave of the Court.
- Where leave is required, the request for leave — with the reason the papers are necessary — is packaged before the proposed filing.
- Confirm the required fee or the specific basis for an exemption (for example, poor-person relief or a statutory exemption).
Substance stays under your control
Professional responsibility
- Automated tools may correct technical defects — metadata, bookmarks, rotation, volume splitting, ordering.
- Case numbers, party names, dates, legal arguments, quotations and citations must be verified by a human before filing.
- Anything that cannot be verified from an authoritative source stays flagged UNVERIFIED — HUMAN REVIEW REQUIRED, and filing is blocked.
Run the preflight
Upload your filing package and the assistant checks each requirement above, corrects technical defects automatically, and withholds the filing-ready PDF package until AD2 PREFLIGHT reports PASS.
Start a preflight →