How to File a Motion to Consolidate in New York

To file a motion to consolidate in New York, you prepare a notice of motion, supporting affirmation, and memorandum of law asking the court to combine two or more pending actions under CPLR 602 because they share a common question of law or fact, then serve every party in every affected case at least eight days before the return date.¹² The specifics turn on where the cases are pending, what relief you actually want, and whether the judge is convinced that combining them will save time without creating new problems.

Confirm the Cases Qualify

CPLR 602(a) has one substantive threshold: the actions must involve a common question of law or fact.¹ The parties do not need to be identical, the claims do not need to match, and the facts do not need to line up completely. Enough overlap that handling the cases together makes more sense than running parallel proceedings is what the statute is asking for.

Practical indicators of that overlap are what judges look for: shared witnesses, duplicative evidence, and the risk of contradictory rulings if the cases stay separate. Three tenants suing the same landlord over the same broken staircase is the easy case. Two businesses suing the same company on separate but nearly identical contracts can also qualify. Cases built on fundamentally different legal theories or unrelated facts are unlikely to meet the threshold, even when they share a defendant.

Decide Which Court to File In

If both cases are in the same court before the same judge, the motion goes to that judge. Things get more structured when the cases sit in different courts.

CPLR 602(b) lets a higher court pull a case up from a lower one. When one action is in Supreme Court and another is in a court like Civil Court, Supreme Court can remove the lower action to itself and consolidate or order a joint trial.¹ County courts have the same authority over cases pending in city, municipal, district, or justice courts within the county. The rule runs one direction only. A lower court cannot pull a case down from Supreme Court, so cross-level consolidation motions always go to the higher court.

When both cases are in the same level of court but sit in different counties, file where consolidation would be most efficient. Courts weigh where the majority of witnesses and evidence are located, and a court presiding over a more advanced case may resist absorbing one that would slow it down.

Decide What You’re Actually Asking For

CPLR 602(a) gives the judge three options, and your notice of motion should specify which one you want.¹

Full consolidation merges the actions. The court designates a lead case, and the separate matters cease to exist as independent proceedings. Discovery, motions, and trial all move as a single unit. This fits when the cases are closely related enough that one trial can resolve everything without confusing the jury.

A joint trial keeps the cases formally separate but hears them together. Each keeps its index number, and the jury renders separate verdicts. This is common in medical malpractice actions where multiple patients sue the same provider for similar but distinct injuries. Shared liability evidence is presented once, damages are assessed individually. Judges favor joint trials when full consolidation would risk muddling issues or prejudicing a party whose case differs factually from the others.

The statute also permits partial coordination, such as consolidated discovery with separate trials, or joint pretrial motions with severance available later. Ask for the specific arrangement that fits your situation rather than treating this as all-or-nothing.

Prepare the Motion Papers

A consolidation motion follows standard motion practice under CPLR 2214 and the Uniform Civil Rules. The Uniform Civil Rules require you to specify the exact relief sought and to include copies of all pleadings and other documents the court needs to make an informed decision.³

A typical package includes:

A Notice of Motion specifying the return date and the relief requested, including any request for removal under CPLR 602(b).
An Affirmation in Support laying out the factual and legal basis for consolidation, identifying the common questions, the shared witnesses or evidence, and the waste or inconsistency risk in running the cases separately.
A Memorandum of Law arguing why consolidation serves efficiency and fairness.
Copies of the pleadings from every case involved so the judge can see the overlap directly.

The Supreme Court motion filing fee is $45.⁴ If the case sits in the NYSCEF electronic filing system, all motion documents must be filed electronically through NYSCEF, and once the case is in the system paper filing of motion papers is generally not available. After an order granting consolidation is issued, it is filed in NYSCEF under the appropriate document type so the clerk can update case management.

All motions in Supreme Court must be returnable before the assigned judge, and papers must be filed on or before the return date.⁵ Individual part rules often add requirements: page limits, pre-motion conferences, formatting specifics. Check the assigned judge’s part rules before filing. A local-rule slip is one of the quickest routes to an adjournment or a denial on procedural grounds.

Serve Every Party in Every Affected Case

Under CPLR 2214(b), the notice of motion and supporting papers must be served at least eight days before the return date. Answering papers are due at least two days before the return date on that eight-day notice. If the movant serves sixteen days in advance and demands it, the answering deadline extends to seven days before the return date, which gives both sides more room to brief the issues.² Service by mail requires adding the additional mailing time the CPLR calls for, so you serve earlier.

Every party in every affected case gets served, not only the parties in your case. If three lawsuits are involved, all parties across all three must receive the papers. Proof of service must be filed with the court before the motion is heard. Missing a party invites adjournment, or worse.

If you need emergency relief while consolidation is being decided, such as a stay in one of the actions, bring the motion by order to show cause instead of standard notice. An order to show cause requires the judge to sign off on the proposed relief and the manner of service before you serve.

What the Judge Will Weigh

Judges have broad discretion, and your affirmation should speak directly to the factors they consider. The core question is whether consolidation genuinely reduces duplication without producing new problems.

Points that favor consolidation include overlapping witnesses and evidence, the risk of inconsistent verdicts if the cases proceed separately, and meaningful savings in court time and party resources. In mass tort matters where many plaintiffs sue over the same defective product or environmental exposure, consolidation of liability issues can make overwhelming sense even when damages need individual treatment.

Points that cut the other way include cases at very different procedural stages, jury confusion when distinct legal theories or factual disputes get combined, and prejudice to a party who would be forced to wait or absorb higher litigation costs. A plaintiff near trial who would be pulled back into early-stage discovery has a strong argument against consolidation, as does a defendant who would suddenly face a combined presentation making the case look larger than any single claim warrants. Where combining actions would force jurors to track different liability standards or keep straight which evidence applies to which claim, judges often order a joint trial with separate verdicts instead of full consolidation, or deny the motion.

After the Ruling

If consolidation is granted, the court issues an order specifying how the combined case will be managed. That order usually designates a lead case under which all future filings are made and may direct the parties to file amended or consolidated pleadings. The judge decides whether consolidation covers the entire case through trial or only pretrial matters like discovery and motions. When individual damages vary significantly, the court may consolidate liability but allow separate damages phases. A new scheduling order typically follows, and the judge may impose conditions to prevent prejudice, such as allowing separate opening statements or limiting certain evidence to particular claims.

If the motion is denied, the cases proceed independently. A denial is often without prejudice, so you can renew if circumstances change, for example when a new related action is filed or when the cases reach a similar procedural stage.

Denials are appealable. An order denying consolidation is appealable as of right under CPLR 5701(a)(2)(v) when it affects a substantial right.⁶ Appellate courts give trial judges considerable deference on these decisions, and reversing requires showing abuse of discretion rather than a different judgment call. Most denials survive review.

One Boundary: Federal Cases

You cannot consolidate a New York state court case with a federal case. Federal courts have their own mechanism under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a) for combining actions before the same federal judge on a similar common-question standard.⁷ Related actions pending in both systems proceed in parallel, though counsel sometimes coordinate discovery informally.

1
New York State Senate. New York Code CPLR Article 6 – 602 – Consolidation
2
NYCOURTS.GOV. CPLR 2214 – Motion Papers; Service; Time
3
NYCOURTS.GOV. 202 – Uniform Civil Rules for the Supreme Court and the County Court
4
New York Courts dot gov. Filing Fees – N.Y. State Courts
5
Legal Information Institute. N.Y. Comp. Codes R. and Regs. Tit. 22 202.8 – Motion Procedure
6
New York State Senate. New York CVP 5701 – Appeals to Appellate Division From Supreme and County Courts
7
Legal Information Institute. Rule 42 – Consolidation; Separate Trials