(a) Preparation and Filing. A judgment-roll shall be prepared by the attorney for the party at whose instance the judgment is entered or by the clerk. It shall be filed by the clerk when he enters judgment, and shall state the date and time of its filing.
R 5017.Judgment-roll.
Article 50. Judgments Generally · Last amended 1994 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 5017 requires a judgment-roll to be prepared and filed with every entered judgment and spells out exactly which papers, including pleadings, the verdict or decision, and appellate records, must go into it depending on how the case was resolved.
Full Text of CPLR 5017
(b) Content. The judgment-roll shall contain the summons, pleadings, admissions, each judgment and each order involving the merits or necessarily affecting the final judgment. If the judgment was taken by default, it shall also contain the proof required by subdivision (f) of section 3215 and the result of any assessment, account or reference under subdivision (b) of section 3215. If a trial was had, it shall also contain the verdict or decision, any tender or offer made pursuant to rules 3219, 3220 or 3221, and any transcript of proceedings then on file. If any appeal was taken, it shall also contain the determination and opinion of each appellate court and the papers on which each appeal was heard. In an action to recover a chattel, it shall also contain the sheriff’s return. In an action on submitted facts under rule 3222, the judgment-roll shall consist of the case, submission, affidavit, each judgment and each order necessarily affecting the final judgment. The judgment-roll of a judgment by confession under section 3218 shall consist of the affidavit and a copy of the judgment.
Plain-English Summary
A judgment on its own is a conclusion without its supporting record attached. CPLR 5017 requires that record, the judgment-roll, to be assembled and filed alongside every judgment, so the case's paper trail stays connected to its outcome. The attorney for the party at whose instance judgment is entered, or the clerk, prepares the roll, and the clerk files it when entering judgment, noting the date and time of filing.
What goes into the roll depends on how the case reached judgment. At a baseline, every judgment-roll contains the summons, the pleadings, any admissions, and every judgment and order that involves the merits or necessarily affects the final judgment. From there, the contents branch out by procedural path. A default judgment requires including the proof needed under CPLR 3215(f) and the results of any assessment, account, or reference conducted under CPLR 3215(b). A case that went to trial requires the verdict or decision itself, along with any tender or offer made under CPLR 3219, 3220, or 3221, and any transcript on file. If an appeal happened, the roll picks up each appellate court's determination and opinion, plus the papers the appeal was heard on. A chattel recovery action adds the sheriff's return, and a case submitted on agreed facts under CPLR 3222 has its own leaner roll: the case, the submission, the affidavit, and the judgments and orders necessarily affecting the final judgment. A confession of judgment under CPLR 3218 has the simplest roll of all: just the affidavit and a copy of the judgment.
This tailored approach means the judgment-roll always reflects the actual path the case took to reach its conclusion, giving anyone who later needs to review the judgment, whether for appeal, enforcement, or a collateral proceeding, a complete and specific record rather than a generic file.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a judgment-roll in a New York case?
It's the compiled record required by CPLR 5017 that must be prepared and filed along with an entered judgment, containing the summons, pleadings, and other papers tied to the outcome.
Who prepares the judgment-roll?
The attorney for the party at whose instance the judgment is entered prepares it, or the clerk does, and the clerk files it when entering judgment.
What does a judgment-roll contain for a case that went to trial?
It must include the verdict or decision, any tender or offer made under CPLR 3219, 3220, or 3221, and any transcript of proceedings then on file, along with the baseline items required in every roll.
What does a default judgment's judgment-roll require?
It must include the proof required under subdivision (f) of CPLR 3215 and the result of any assessment, account, or reference conducted under subdivision (b) of that section.
Is the judgment-roll different for a judgment by confession?
Yes. Under CPLR 5017, a judgment-roll for a confession of judgment under CPLR 3218 consists only of the affidavit and a copy of the judgment.
Advisory Committee Notes
(See also Advisory Committee notes preceding § 5001, under subheading “Entry, docketing and transcripts.”).
This rule is derived from RCP 202 CPA § 1115 and the first sentence of CPA § 607.
Subd. (a) of this rule is a rewording of subparagraphs 1 and 8 of rule 202. CPA § 503, which stated that a judgment could not be enforced until the judgment-roll was filed, is omitted as unnecessary. Subd. (a) of this rule requires filing of the judgment-roll where judgment is entered and the judgment cannot be docketed until “immediately after filing the judgment-roll.” Section 5018(a).
Subd. (b) of this rule is derived from subparagraphs 2 through 5 of rule 202 and the first sentence of § 607. The scope of subparagraph 5 of rule 202 and the first sentence of § 607 has been broadened to include all determinations and opinions of appellate courts. The phrase “and each paper on file, or a copy thereof” in subparagraph 2 of former rule 202 is omitted. Such a phrase makes unnecessary all the other items enumerated in the rule. Those papers required have been specified in the rule. Other papers are on file and may be obtained when they are required. Otherwise, the rule makes no change in the papers that must go into the judgment-roll, but simply condenses the former provisions and conforms their terminology to that of the new CPLR.
The usual practice was to file originals of the required papers but copies might have been filed instead by the express terms of former rule 202. The same practice is permitted under the new CPLR by virtue of rule 2101(e). Subparagraph 7 of former rule 202, which covered papers pertaining to any proceeding at special or trial term subsequent to appeal but before entry of final judgment, has been omitted because this subd. (b) includes the papers there referred to within the term “each order involving the merits or necessarily affecting the final judgment.” A transcript on file is the equivalent of the former case or bill of exceptions. The last two sentences of subd. (b) incorporate, for convenience, the content of the judgment-roll in an action on submitted facts and in the case of a judgment by confession. These were formerly found in CPA §§ 544 and 548.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, eff Sept 1, 1963; amd, L 1994, ch 89, § 1, eff May 10, 1994.
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
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