New York County - Civil Branch
General Overview of the Court
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF OUR COURTThe Supreme Court, Civil Branch, New York County handles civil cases (those not involving criminal offenses). The court is empowered to decide all such matters. However, the New York City Civil Court is authorized to decide civil cases in which money only in the amount of $ 25,000 or less is at stake. If a case within the reach of the Civil Court is commenced in our court, a Justice of our court may require that it go forward there.
Ours is a trial-level court, the highest such court for civil cases in the state court system in New York County. Cases are decided in our court in the first instance. Some decisions from our court may be appealed to a higher court, the Appellate Division, First Department, 27 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10010.
Located in our main courthouse at 60 Centre Street is another appellate court, the Appellate Term. This court hears appeals from the New York City Civil Court and the New York City Criminal Court for New York and Bronx Counties, including the Housing Part and the Small Claims Part.
Cases are commenced by filing of initiating papers pursuant to the relevant code of civil procedure, the Civil Practice Law and Rules, with the County Clerk of New York County in Room 141B at 60 Centre Street in Manhattan. Fees have been imposed by the Legislature for the obtaining of an index number and with regard to certain other actions or filings in court (as well as with regard to other functions of the County Clerk). The fees are listed on this site (click here).
Each case in our court is assigned to one of our Justices when a party to the case requests it by filing a Request for Judicial Intervention. Justices are designated by the Administrative Judge to handle different types of cases. Cases are assigned at random to one of the Justices designated for that category of case. In order to expedite the trial of cases, some Justices are assigned to preside over trials. Other Justices are assigned to handle cases from beginning to end in keeping with the philosophy of the Individual Assignment System that justice can be best and most efficiently done if a case remains with a single Justice throughout its life to the maximum extent possible.
The caseload in our court is large. At the end of summer 2006, about 37,000 cases were pending, not counting uncontested matrimonial matters. In 2005, the court decided 34,306 motions (which figure does not include dispositions at trial).
The Justice assigned to each case will set a schedule for the progress of the case through our court. This is often done at a conference, which is attended by attorneys for all parties or self-represented parties and the court. When specific legal issues arise in a case, a party may make a motion, an application for a decision on particular issues. Motions may affect the schedule of the case, the exchange of information between the parties about the merits of the case, or even the merits themselves. Some motions can result in the determination of the entire case. If issues remain for decision after all motions have been made, a trial may be had.
Legal papers presented to the court for action by a Justice are received and processed (e.g., recorded in the court's computer) by various administrative offices. The principal such offices (the rooms listed are located at 60 Centre Street) are:
Motion Support Office (Room 119)
Ex Parte Office (Room 315)
Matrimonial Support Office (Room 311)
Guardianship and Fiduciary Support Office (Room 148)
Trial Support Office (Room 158)
Office for the Self-Represented (Room 116)
Commercial Division Support Office (Room 148)
Our court offers several alternative dispute resolution programs. These programs provide the parties an opportunity to obtain a resolution of the lawsuit without the formality attendant to the judicial process. Such resolutions can be obtained in various cases more quickly and at less expense than may be involved in pursuing a lawsuit through to completion in court.
RULES OF PROCEDURE
Lawsuits are governed by formal rules of procedure. The most important rules are contained in the Civil Practice Law and Rules, the Uniform Rules for the Trial Courts, and the Rules of the Justices of the Supreme Court, Civil Branch, New York County. The first two of these can be found in law libraries and public libraries. Our court operates a Public Access Library where these materials can be found. The Rules of the Justices can be found on this website.
THE COUNTY CLERK
The County Clerk, the Honorable Norman Goodman, is responsible for receipt of papers commencing cases and maintenance of the official case files, which contain all papers filed with the court in each case, and the minutes or docket of each case. Cases are initiated in Room 141B in the basement at 60 Centre Street. Case files are kept in the Record Room (Room 103B in the basement at 60 Centre Street) (except for older cases). The County Clerk is also the Commissioner of Jurors for New York County. As such, he supervises the process of notifying prospective jurors to appear in court for jury service. He handles postponements as permitted by law and other aspects of jury service. The actual process of selecting a jury in a case in our court is done through the court and the County Clerk working together.
The County Clerk also has a number of other functions, identified in relevant sections of this site. These include issuance of passports, certification of records, maintenance of business filings (such as certificates of doing business), and maintenance of the judgment and lien docket.
The main office of the County Clerk is Room 161, 60 Centre Street, New York, New York 10007 (Phone: 646-386-5955).
The County Clerk should be distinguished from the Chief Clerk and Executive Officer of the court. The latter is in charge of court clerks, back offices, and court operations and programs, such as the ADR programs or our efforts at technological innovation.
September 2006
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