(a) Entry and filing. An order determining a motion shall be entered and filed in the office of the clerk of the court where the action is triable, and all papers used on the motion and any opinion or memorandum in writing shall be filed with that clerk unless the order dispenses with such filing. When a statute or civil practice rule requires such filing and entry in a county other than that in which the order was made, the party prevailing on the motion shall file the order and the papers used on the motion with the proper clerk after receiving them. If a party fails to file any papers required to be filed under this subdivision, the order may be vacated as irregular, with costs.
R 2220.Entry and filing of order; service.
Article 22. Stay, Motions, Orders and Mandates · Last amended 1964 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 2220 requires an order deciding a motion, along with the papers used on it, to be entered and filed with the clerk where the action is triable, and provides that an order is served by serving a copy of it.
Full Text of CPLR 2220
(b) Service. Service of an order shall be made by serving a copy of the order.
Plain-English Summary
An order isn't finished doing its job the moment a judge signs it. CPLR 2220 requires it, and the papers submitted on the motion, to be entered and filed with the clerk of the court where the action is triable, unless the order itself dispenses with filing. When the filing has to happen in a county different from where the order was made, the party who prevailed on the motion takes responsibility for getting the order and papers to the right clerk once received.
That filing requirement has teeth: if a party required to file the papers doesn't, the order can be vacated as irregular, with costs against the party who dropped the ball. It's a modest sanction, but it keeps the incentive on the winning side to complete the paperwork rather than declare victory and move on.
Service of the order is deliberately simple: subdivision (b) says service of an order is made by serving a copy of it. That single sentence replaced a tangle of older distinctions between court orders and judge's orders that once dictated whether the original or a certified copy had to change hands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a New York court order have to be filed after it's signed?
Yes. CPLR 2220(a) requires an order determining a motion, along with the papers used on it, to be entered and filed with the clerk of the court where the action is triable, unless the order dispenses with filing.
What happens if the winning party doesn't file the order and motion papers?
The order may be vacated as irregular, with costs, under CPLR 2220(a).
How do I properly serve a court order in New York?
By serving a copy of the order. CPLR 2220(b) sets that as the standard, replacing older distinctions between how court orders and judge's orders were served.
If my order needs to be filed in a different county than where it was signed, who takes care of that?
The party who prevailed on the motion, once that party receives the order and the motion papers, under CPLR 2220(a).
Does the deadline to appeal start running when the order is signed or when it's filed?
CPLR 2220 governs entry and filing, but the appeal clock generally runs from service of a copy of the order with notice of its entry, which is why prompt entry and filing matter to both sides.
Advisory Committee Notes
The first two sentences of subd (a) are derived from RCP 71, 72 and 73. All orders, whether made by court or judge, are required to be entered and filed with the supporting papers. RCP 71 does not explicitly require the entry of orders but only states that the papers must be filed when an order is entered. However, the rule in practice is that court orders must be entered while judge orders generally need not be. There is no reason for such a distinction. CPA § 101 seems to require the entry and filing of all orders made in a special proceeding, and does not distinguish between court and judge orders or intermediate and final orders. The clerk who should file the order is the clerk of the court where the action or special proceeding is triable. See CPA § 7; NY R Civ P 15; new CPLR rule 2102. The second sentence of rule 71, forbidding entry unless the motion papers are filed and the order signed, is omitted as unnecessary, since such defects permit the order to be vacated under the last sentence of the new provision. This sentence replaces the similar phrase in both rules 71 and 72. Rules 72 and 73 have been considerably shortened in their transposition to this subdivision but no change in substance is intended. The provision in the second sentence of rule 72 that an opinion is part of the record on which the order was made is unnecessary, since it is covered by new rule 5526, governing the contents of a record on appeal. Entry and filing in a different county will be required when a motion is made under new §§ 2212 and 2213 in a county other than the one where the case is triable. See NY Civ Prac Act § 130; NY R Civ P 63.
The former rules said nothing as to the service of orders generally; the matter was regulated by practice provisions relating to the service of particular kinds of orders and by case law. See 1 Carmody-Wait, Cyclopedia of New York Practice, 707–09 (1952). If the order is a court order under former law, it will have been filed, and a copy must be served; if it is a judge order, the original is exhibited and a copy delivered. Since under the new rules all orders will be entered, a copy is authorized to be served in all cases. Certification by an attorney is allowed to cover those cases where an order is obtained from the judge out of court, and it is desirable that service be made before it can be entered by the clerk. In such a case the service must of necessity be made without a notice of entry. Subsequent service of a notice of entry would be necessary to start the time to appeal running. If the losing party desires to appeal and the order has not been entered, he can have it entered himself. See CPA §§ 612, 624, 632; new CPLR § 5513.
Revision Notes [1964]The 1964 amendment was proposed because the requirement of certification was unduly burdensome and served no useful purpose.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, § 1; amd by Judicial Conference (1964).
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: how to enter and file a New York court orderCPLR order vacated as irregularNew York order service requirementsfiling motion papers after order New York