Rule 25-a Relating To Virtual Evidence Courtrooms Added To Commercial Division Rules

Posted: October 6, 2025 / Written by: Jeffrey M. Eilender, Samuel L. Butt, Joshua Wurtzel, Thomas A. Kissane, Channing J. Turner / Categories Commercial, Trial

Rule 25-a Relating To Virtual Evidence Courtrooms Added To Commercial Division Rules

By Administrative Order, dated September 30, 2025, Commercial Division Rule 25-a was added to the Commercial Division Rules, effective November 10, 2025. The new rule, relating to Virtual Evidence Courtrooms, reads as follows:

Rule 25-a. Virtual Evidence Courtrooms

(a) Purpose. To promote the effective, efficient, and accessible management of trial evidence, the Commercial Division encourages the use of Virtual Evidence Courtrooms (VECs) for managing and presenting evidence during trials. VECs may be used to facilitate real-time access to trial exhibits and other relevant documents.

(b) Definition and Application. A "Virtual Evidence Courtroom" (VEC) is a secure web-based platform for organizing, storing, and sharing evidentiary materials in real time. A VEC may be used to present documents to the court, parties, witnesses and, where applicable, a jury. Documents uploaded to a VEC are not considered to have been filed with the court. A VEC is not part of the official County Clerk’s record and, the documents uploaded to the VEC are available only to those individuals given access by the court; they are not available and accessible to the public. When a VEC is used and documents must be filed with the court, they must be separately uploaded to the NYSCEF docket in the case. While VECs will typically contain the evidence to be offered by the parties, issues relating to what materials may be uploaded to the VEC and when shall be determined by the justice presiding over the case in consultation with counsel.

(c) Use and Access Control. The use of a VEC is encouraged in cases that are particularly complex and document intensive. Accordingly, the parties should confer regarding the proposed use of a VEC prior to the pretrial conference in the matter. At the pretrial conference itself, or at any other appropriate time, the court should discuss the use of a VEC with counsel. Thereafter, the parties may request, or the court may direct, with or without consent, the establishment of a VEC for use at trial. Once use of the VEC has been authorized, the parties, in consultation with the court, should agree to access rights and the assignment of secure, role-based permissions to all authorized parties so as to ensure compliance with the parties’ discovery and confidentiality obligations.

(d) Confidentiality, Security Measures, and Data Retention. The VEC platform currently incorporated into the NYSCEF system complies with the Office of Court Administration’s standards for data security and confidentiality, including encryption, user authentication, and secure access protocols. The party uploading a document to the VEC is responsible for ensuring all information uploaded to the VEC complies with all applicable laws, rules or court orders relating to confidentiality or privacy. Furthermore, NYSCEF’s VEC platform enables the presiding justice to delete documents from the VEC. Whether, and if so, when and under what circumstances some or all the documents on the VEC should be removed will be determined by the presiding justice, in consultation with the parties to the case.

Contact the Commercial Division Blog Committee at commercialdivisionblog@schlamstone.com if you or a client have questions concerning this new rule or virtual evidence courtrooms.