ORDER

VALERIE CAPRONI, District Judge.

By separate Order being entered today, this case is being referred to the assigned Magistrate Judge for a report and recommendation on any motion for judgment on the pleadings. To conserve resources, to promote judicial efficiency, and in an effort to achieve a faster disposition of this matter, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties must discuss whether they are willing to consent, under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), to conducting all further proceedings before the assigned Magistrate Judge.

If both parties consent to proceed before the Magistrate Judge, counsel for the defendant must, within two weeks of the date on which Defendant enters an appearance, either mail or email directly a fully executed Notice, Consent, and Reference of a Civil Action to a Magistrate Judge form, a copy of which is attached to this order (and also available at http://nysd.uscourts.gov/file/forms/consent-to-proceed-before-us-magistrate-judge). If the Court approves that form, all further proceedings will then be conducted before the assigned Magistrate Judge rather than before me. An information sheet on proceedings before magistrate judges is also attached to this order. Any appeal would be taken directly to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, as it would be if the consent form were not signed and so ordered.

If either party does not consent to conducting all further proceedings before the assigned Magistrate Judge, the parties must file a joint letter, within two weeks on which Defendant enters an appearance, advising the Court that the parties do not consent, but without disclosing the identity of the party or parties who do not consent. The parties are free to withhold consent without negative consequences.

SO ORDERED.