Visitors' Guide to Oral Argument

Oral Arguments

When the Court is in session, oral arguments are heard Tuesday through Thursday at Court of Appeals Hall in Albany. Additional days or alternate locations for arguments can be found on the Court's calendar of sessions. All arguments are open to the public and are web-streamed live.

The Court is “a hot bench,” meaning that each Judge has read and studied all the legal papers involved in a case before oral argument. As a result, the arguments often become question-and-answer exchanges with the Judges asking the lawyers about specific legal points that relate to the case.

The Bench

The Chief Judge sits in the middle and the Associate Judges alternate by seniority left to right with the most junior Associate Judge on the far right next to the window.

Attorneys Arguing the Case

All arguing counsel and co-counsel will be seated before the Court convenes. Facing the bench, appellants are seated on the left side of the Courtroom and respondents are seated on the right. Counsel in the first case to be argued is seated at the table closest to the bench. Other counsel are seated by case order at the remaining counsel tables. Seating in front of the rail is reserved for arguing counsel and co-counsel. All non-attorneys must be seated behind the rail.

Unless otherwise permitted by the Court upon advance written application, only one counsel is permitted to argue for a party. If appellant wishes to reserve time for rebuttal, a verbal request to reserve a specific number of minutes should be made to the Chief Judge prior to the beginning of appellant’s argument. The time reserved will be subtracted from the total time assigned to that party. When counsel has one minute of argument time remaining, a white light on the podium is illuminated. When argument time has expired, a red light is illuminated. Adherence to allotted argument times is required, except that counsel may continue responding to questions from the Court after the argument time has expired.

Deciding a Case

The Court normally decides cases within 4–5 weeks after the oral argument date.

Public Seating

Seating is available in the public section of the courtroom on a first-come, first-seated basis. The public section accommodates approximately 60 people.