Navigating Litigation in New York State

Practical Law Legal Update 0-555-4467 (Approx. 3 pages)

Navigating Litigation in New York State

by Practical Law Litigation

Published on 28 Jan 2014 • USA (National/Federal)

When litigating in New York State, counsel must be aware of the complexities of the state's court system as well as the wide variety of procedural rules applicable to litigation.

New York's court system is one of the oldest, largest and most complex in the nation. From determining which division of which court is proper to bring suit or appeal a decision to deciding which procedural rules are relevant to an action, navigating the New York court system can be daunting.

New York has several different appellate and trial courts, each with different jurisdictional mandates. New York's appellate courts are:

The Court of Appeals. New York's highest court that generally hears appeals from the four appellate divisions of the state.
The appellate division of the supreme court. New York's primary intermediate appellate court. There are four appellate divisions for each of New York's four judicial departments that hear appeals from specific trial courts.
The appellate term of the supreme court. Although each appellate division may designate appellate terms of the supreme court to hear certain appeals, so far, only the appellate divisions for the first and second departments have established an appellate term. The appellate term hears appeals from certain trial courts located in the specific appellate division.
County courts. While primarily a trial-level court, the county court hears appeals from city, town and village courts within the third and fourth judicial departments.

The main trial-level court in New York is the supreme court. While technically a single state-wide court, a branch of the supreme court exists for each county in New York State. Several branches of the supreme court have commercial divisions dedicated to hearing business-related claims, such as claims for breach of contract and shareholder derivative suits, in which damages exceed a certain threshold. There are several other trial-level courts in New York, such as the county courts, the Court of Claims and surrogate's court, each of which handles different types of cases and have different jurisdictional thresholds.

After determining the proper court in which to commence litigation, counsel must abide by the numerous procedural rules provided by state statutes and the courts, including:

The New York Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR).
The New York Criminal Procedure Laws (CPL).
The rules of practice of the various appellate courts.
The Uniform Civil Rules for the Supreme Court and the County Court.
The Commercial Division's rules.

To help practitioners cope with the complexities of litigating in New York courts, Practical Law has recently published numerous New York state-specific resources that address many of the issues counsel may face. These resources include:

Practice Notes that detail the steps for litigating a case in New York state courts, including commencing an action, seeking provisional remedies, motion practice and filing and e-filing documents with the court.
Standard Documents with integrated drafting notes that provide guidance on how to draft materials used in New York litigation, including appellate documents, proposed orders, subpoenas and orders to show cause.
Checklists that summarize the steps counsel must take when performing litigation tasks, including preparing documents filed on appeal, enforcing subpoenas and obtaining a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order.
State Q&A guides that address various litigation issues including statutes of limitation and responding to a complaint.

To access Practical Law's New York-specific resources, visit Practical Law's New York Litigation page.

Navigating Litigation in New York State | Practical Law