USDC SDNY UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DOCUMENT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ELECTRONICALLY FILED CHAIM LIPSITZ, DOC #: ___ DATE FILED: _ 01/17/2024 Plaintiff, -against- 24 Civ. 146 (AT) SHNEIOR HAREL and NATALIE ABALLI, ORDER Defendants. ANALISA TORRES, District Judge: On January 16, 2024, Defendants filed a pre-motion letter requesting to file a motion to dismiss, ECF No. 5, their motion to dismiss the complaint, ECF No. 6, and a counterclaim against Plaintiff, ECF No. 7. Defendants’ letter does not comply with the Court’s Individual Rules, which require a party seeking to move to dismiss to exchange letters with opposing counsel prior to filing a pre-motion letter with the Court. See Individual Rules IV(B); see also ECF Nos. 9—10 (confirming that this exchange did not occur). Defendants also filed their motion to dismiss without waiting for the Court to review and rule on their pre-motion letter. Therefore, Defendants’ letter request and motion to dismiss are DENIED without prejudice to refiling. Regarding the counterclaim, counterclaims must be stated in a pleading. Fed. R. Civ. P. 13(a), (b), (e). A motion to dismiss is not a pleading, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 7(a) (listing pleadings), and “a party may not file a standalone counterclaim as its own pleading,” Russian School of Mathematics, Inc. v. Sinvavin, No. 23 Civ. 8103,

, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 19, 2023). The counterclaim is, therefore, DISMISSED without prejudice to renewal. By January 31, 2024, Defendant shall answer or otherwise respond to the complaint in accordance with the Court’s Individual Rules. The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate the motion at ECF No. 6. SO ORDERED. Dated: January 17, 2024 New York, New York Oj- ANALISA TORRES United States District Judge