Specialized
53-561: The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the judiciary of New York . It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil jurisdiction, with most criminal matters handled in County Court . New York is the only state in the United States where
106-448: A complaint for lack of meeting the amount in controversy is a rather high one in federal court. In 1938, Justice Owen Roberts set forth the "legal-certainty test", which is still used today: It must appear to a legal certainty that the claim is really for less than the jurisdictional amount to justify dismissal. The inability of plaintiff to recover an amount adequate to give the court jurisdiction does not show his bad faith or oust
159-696: A Commercial Division judge in Manhattan from 1996-2018, Justice Elizabeth Hazlitt Emerson served in the Suffolk County Commercial Division from 2002-2023, Justice Carolyn E. Demarest served in the Brooklyn, Kings County Commercial Division from its inception in 2002 through 2016, Justice Deborah Karalunas presided in the Onondaga County (Syracuse) Commercial Division from its inception in 2007 for over 15 years, Justice Eileen Bransten served in
212-632: A certain monetary amount (for example, $ 50,000 in New York City) that puts the claim beyond the jurisdiction of lower courts. Civil actions about lesser sums are heard by courts of limited jurisdiction, such as the New York City Civil Court , or the County Court , District Court , city courts, or justice courts (town and village courts) outside New York City. The Supreme Court also hears civil cases involving claims for equitable relief, such as injunctions, specific performance, or rescission of
265-473: A contract, as well as actions for a declaratory judgment . The Supreme Court also has exclusive jurisdiction of matrimonial actions, such as either contested or uncontested actions for a divorce or annulment . The court also has exclusive jurisdiction over "Article 78 proceedings" against a body or officer seeking to overturn an official determination on the grounds that it was arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable or contrary to law. At English Common Law,
318-439: Is a term used in civil procedure to denote the amount at stake in a lawsuit, in particular in connection with a requirement that persons seeking to bring a lawsuit in a particular court must be suing for a certain minimum amount (or below a certain maximum amount) before that court may hear the case. In United States federal courts , the term currently applies only to cases brought under diversity jurisdiction , meaning that
371-731: Is authorized to hear only specified types of cases. Trial courts of limited jurisdiction may be limited in subject-matter jurisdiction (such as juvenile , probate , and family courts in many U.S. states, or the United States Tax Court in the federal judiciary) or by other means, such as small claims courts in many states for civil cases with a low amount in controversy . Other trials do not take place in courts at all, but in quasi-judicial bodies or in administrative agencies with adjudicatory power created by statute to make binding determinations with simplified procedural practices, such as arbitration . The United States Supreme Court
424-545: Is divided into thirteen judicial districts: seven upstate districts each comprising between five and eleven counties, five districts corresponding to the boroughs of New York City, and one district on Long Island. In each judicial district outside New York City, an Administrator (or Administrative Judge if a judge) is responsible for supervising all courts and agencies, while inside New York City an Administrator (or Administrative Judge) supervises each major court. Administrators are assisted by Supervising Judges who are responsible in
477-469: Is not required to grant certification even if judges are capable. In 2020, for example, OCA denied certification to 46 of the 49 judges who applied for it, citing budget cuts and a hiring freeze. These additional six years of service are available only for elected Supreme Court Justices, not for "Acting" Justices whose election or appointments were to lower courts. A referendum to increase the retirement age to 80 for Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges
530-582: Is primarily an appellate court, but has original jurisdiction in cases involving a diplomatic official or a state. Because different U.S. states apply different names to their courts, it is often not evident whether a court has general or limited jurisdiction or indeed is a trial court at all. For instance, the Maine District Court is a court of limited jurisdiction, but the Nevada District Courts are courts of general jurisdiction. Likewise,
583-460: Is referred to as a bench trial . In the United States, a trial court of general jurisdiction is authorized to hear some type of civil or criminal case that is not committed exclusively to another court. The United States district courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction of the federal judiciary ; each state has a system establishing trial courts of general jurisdiction, such as
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#1732837816650636-757: The Delaware Court of Common Pleas is a court of limited jurisdiction, but the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas are courts of general jurisdiction. Similarly, the California Superior Courts are trial courts of general jurisdiction, but the Superior Court of Pennsylvania is an appellate court, and the New Jersey Superior Court is both. Amount in controversy Amount in controversy (sometimes called jurisdictional amount )
689-564: The Judiciary Act of 1789 , pursuant to its powers under Article III of the U.S. Constitution , the amount being $ 500. It was raised to $ 2,000 in 1887, to $ 3,000 in 1911, to $ 10,000 in 1958, to $ 50,000 in 1988, and finally to the current $ 75,000 in 1996. The use of the word "exceeds" in Section 1332 implies that the amount in controversy must be more than $ 75,000; a case removed from state court to federal court must be remanded back to state court if
742-589: The New York City Civil Court , New York City Criminal Court , City Courts in the 1st and 2nd Departments, and District Court . (City Courts in other departments appeal to the County Courts instead.) The 1st Department has a single Appellate Term covering Manhattan and The Bronx . The 2nd Department has two Appellate Terms. The Appellate Term for the 2nd, 11th and 13th Judicial Districts covers Brooklyn , Queens , and Staten Island , and generally sits at 141 Livingston Street in Brooklyn. The Appellate Term for
795-725: The circuit courts in Florida, the superior courts in California, and the New York Supreme Court in New York state. Most trial courts are courts of record , where the record of the presentation of evidence is created and must be maintained or transmitted to the appellate court. The record of the trial court is certified by the clerk of the trial court and transmitted to the appellate body. Not all cases are heard in trial courts of general jurisdiction. A trial court of limited jurisdiction
848-542: The 1995 Commercial Courts Task Force, facilitated the 2006 Commercial Division Focus Group study, and has chaired the Commercial Division Advisory Council since 2013 (through at least May 2024). Appeals from Supreme Court decisions, as well as from the Surrogate's Court, Family Court, and Court of Claims, are heard by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division . This court is intermediate between
901-716: The 8th District (located in Buffalo), and the Albany, Bronx, Kings, Nassau, Onondaga, Queens, Suffolk and Westchester County Supreme Courts. These are specialized business courts , with a defined jurisdiction focusing on business and commercial litigation. The jurisdictional amount in controversy required to have a case heard in the Commercial Division varies among these Commercial Division courts, ranging from $ 50,000 in Albany and Onondaga Counties to $ 500,000 in New York County, but
954-828: The 9th and 10th Judicial Districts covers Nassau , Suffolk , Westchester , Rockland , Orange , Dutchess , and Putnam Counties; it generally rotates between the Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains , the Nassau County Supreme Court Building in Mineola , and the Cohalan Court Complex in Central Islip . They occasionally sit at other locations within their jurisdiction. Appellate terms consist of between three and five justices of
1007-584: The Appellate Division or the Appellate Term). As a result, New York City has too few judges to handle New York City's caseload, which is more than 100,000 cases annually; the population-based formula in the state Constitution does not account for the millions of non-resident workers and visitors in the city, nor the 315,000 business associations that operate in the city. Elected New York Supreme Court justices can be moved or temporarily reassigned anywhere in
1060-463: The Commercial Division rules (Section 202.70) are otherwise uniform. The first specialist commercial judges assigned to the pilot Commercial Parts in 1993 were Justices Ira Gammerman , Myriam Altman, Herman Cahn, and Beatrice Shainswit. Among other long serving Commercial Division Justices, these judges served at least a decade: Justice Cahn continued on as a Commercial Division judge in Manhattan from 1995 until 2008, Justice Charles Ramos served as
1113-484: The Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States." At that time, such cases had the same amount in controversy requirement as the diversity cases. Congress eliminated this requirement in actions against the United States in 1976 and in all federal question cases in 1980. Where a single plaintiff has multiple unrelated claims against a single defendant, that plaintiff can aggregate those claims – that is, add
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#17328378166501166-653: The Manhattan Commercial Division from 2008 to 2018, Justice Timothy S. Driscoll has served in the Nassau County Commercial Division since 2009 (as of May 2024), and Justice Thomas A. Stander served in the Monroe County Commercial Division from its inception for ten years. One constant throughout the Commercial Division history has been the involvement of New York attorney Robert L. Haig, who, among other things, co-chaired
1219-554: The New York Supreme Court and the New York Court of Appeals. There is one Appellate Division, which for administrative purposes comprises four judicial departments. Decisions of the Appellate Division department panels are binding on the lower courts in that department, and also on lower courts in other departments unless there is contrary authority from the Appellate Division of that department. The Appellate Division of
1272-483: The New York Supreme Court in New York City. A similar practice is done in the 9th Judicial District (which covers the New York suburban counties of Orange , Dutchess , Westchester , Rockland and Putnam ), in which County and Family Court judges have been designated as acting Supreme Court justices, serving part-time on that court. However, this practice also strains the resources of the courts that "lend" justices to
1325-648: The New York trial courts are published selectively in the Miscellaneous Reports . A judge of the New York Supreme Court is titled a justice . The number of justices of the Supreme Court in each New York Supreme Court judicial district (including justices assigned to the Appellate Division) is set forth by the New York State Constitution. Once a decade, the state Legislature may increase
1378-674: The Supreme Court are responsible for oversight of the related programs. With respect to criminal cases, the Criminal Branch of Supreme Court tries felony cases in the five counties of New York City, whereas they are primarily heard by the County Court elsewhere. Misdemeanor cases, and arraignments in almost all cases, are handled by lower courts: the New York City Criminal Court ; the District Court in Nassau County and
1431-539: The Supreme Court called the Appellate Division serves as the highest intermediate appellate court in New York. Under the New York State Constitution, the New York State Supreme Court has unlimited jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases, with the exception of certain monetary claims against the State of New York itself. In practice, the Supreme Court hears civil actions involving claims above
1484-500: The Supreme Court in each judicial department is authorized to establish "appellate terms". An appellate term is an intermediate appellate court that hears appeals from the inferior courts within their designated counties or judicial districts, and are intended to ease the workload on the Appellate Division and provide a less expensive forum closer to the people. Appellate terms are located in the 1st and 2nd Judicial Departments only, representing Downstate New York . These hear appeals from
1537-523: The Supreme Court is not the state's court of last resort (which would be the New York Court of Appeals ), but it is a trial court . Also, although it is a trial court, the Supreme Court sits as a "single great tribunal of general state-wide jurisdiction, rather than an aggregation of separate courts sitting in the several counties or judicial districts of the state." The Supreme Court is established in each of New York's 62 counties . A separate branch of
1590-399: The Supreme Court, New York County is divided into 2 Trial Assignment parts, 10 conference and trial parts, 1 youth part, 1 narcotics/felony waiver part, 1 integrated domestic violence part, and 16 trial parts which include 1 Judicial Diversion part, 1 Mental Health part, 1 Veteran's Court part, and 1 JHO part. In New York City, all major civil cases are heard in civil terms. The court system
1643-554: The Supreme Court, appointed by the Chief Administrative Judge with the approval of presiding justice of the appropriate appellate division. The court sits in three-judge panels, with two justices constituting a quorum and being necessary for a decision. Decisions by the Appellate Term must be followed by courts whose appeals lie to it. In New York City, all felony cases are heard in criminal terms. The Criminal Term of
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1696-436: The Supreme Court. Supreme Court justices are elected to 14-year terms. Justices are nominated by judicial district nominating conventions, with judicial delegates themselves elected from assembly districts. Some (political party) county committees play a significant role in their judicial district conventions, for example restricting nomination to those candidates that receive approval from a party screening committee. Sometimes,
1749-445: The amount in controversy is exactly $ 75,000.00. Congress did not create a consistent federal question jurisdiction , which allows federal courts to hear any case alleging a violation of the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States, until 1875, when Congress created the statute which is now found at 28 U.S.C. § 1331 : "The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions arising under
1802-490: The amount in controversy requirement against each individual defendant.” The 5–4 decision in Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Services, Inc. , 545 U.S. 546 (2005), held that a federal court has supplemental jurisdiction over claims of other plaintiffs who do not meet the jurisdictional amount for a diversity action, when at least one plaintiff in the action does satisfy the jurisdictional amount. The standard for dismissing
1855-419: The amounts together – to satisfy the amount in controversy requirement. In cases involving more than one defendant, a plaintiff may aggregate the amount claimed against multiple defendants “only if the defendants are jointly liable .” Middle Tennessee News Co., Inc. v. Charnel of Cincinnati, Inc. , 250 F.3d 1077, 1081 (7th Cir. 2001). However, “if the defendants are severally liable, plaintiff must satisfy
1908-620: The awkward position of having to argue to the federal court that plaintiffs could theoretically recover a sum in excess of $ 75,000, while simultaneously maintaining that plaintiffs are not entitled to anything at all. Each state has the power to set its own amount in controversy requirements for its own courts, but every state must offer some outlet for citizens to sue for violations of their rights, even if they are seeking no money. Most states have several levels of trial courts, with different amount-in-controversy requirements which must be met to gain access to higher levels of courts. For example, in
1961-447: The court is able to hear the case only because it is between citizens of different states. In such cases, the U.S. Congress has decreed in 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) that the court may hear such suits only where "the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $ 75,000." This amount represents a significant increase from earlier years. Congress first established the amount in controversy requirement when it created diversity jurisdiction in
2014-595: The court system merged the operations of two separate criminal courts—the Bronx County Criminal Court and the Criminal Term of Bronx County Supreme Court—into a single trial court of criminal jurisdiction known as the Bronx Criminal Division. Trial court A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction , in which trials take place. Appeals from
2067-447: The decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review ( appellate courts ). Most appellate courts do not have the authority to hear testimony or take evidence, but instead rule solely on matters of law. In the trial court, evidence and testimony are admitted under the rules of evidence established by applicable procedural law and determinations called findings of fact are made based on
2120-443: The delegates. The process was challenged in litigation which ultimately resulted in a U.S. Supreme Court decision in N.Y. State Board of Elections v. Lopez Torres (2008), in which the justices unanimously upheld the constitutionality of New York's judicial election system. Under state law, New York Supreme Court justices have a mandatory retirement age : a justice's term ends, even if his or her 14-year term has not yet expired, at
2173-545: The end of the calendar year in which the justice reaches the age of 70. However, an elected Supreme Court Justice may apply for a "certification" from the Office of Court Administration (OCA) to continue in office, without having to be re-elected, for three two-year periods, until final retirement at the end of the year in which the Justice turns 76. A judge applying for certification to continue to serve must pass cognitive tests , but OCA
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2226-399: The evidence. The court, presided over by one or more judges , makes findings of law based upon the applicable law. In most common law jurisdictions, the trial court often sits with a jury and one judge; in such jury trials , the jury acts as trier of fact . In some cases, the judge or judges act as triers of both fact and law, by either statute, custom, or agreement of the parties; this
2279-492: The five western towns of Suffolk County ; city courts; and justice courts. In 1993, Administrative Judge Stanley S. Ostrau established pilot Commercial Parts in the New York County Supreme Court. Two years later, Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye established a trial level Commercial Division, beginning in New York County (Manhattan) and Monroe County (the 7th Judicial District). The Commercial Division has expanded to
2332-416: The jurisdiction. Nor does the fact that the complaint discloses the existence of a valid defense to the claim. But if, from the face of the pleadings, it is apparent to a legal certainty that the plaintiff cannot recover the amount claimed or if, from the proofs, the court is satisfied to a like certainty that the plaintiff never was entitled to recover that amount, and that his claim was therefore colorable for
2385-516: The lord chancellor, not as a part of his equitable jurisdiction, but as the king's delegate to exercise the Crown's special jurisdiction, had responsibility for the custody and protection of infants and the mentally incapacitated. Upon the organization of the Supreme Court in New York the Legislature transferred so much of the law as formed a part of the king's prerogative to it. The Appellate Divisions of
2438-418: The number of justices in any judicial district, but Article VI of the state Constitution sets a population-based cap on the number of justices in each district, based on census data. As a result of the population-based cap, some areas have overloaded courts. New York City has a cap of 171 justices (and only some of the New York Supreme Court justices in New York City serve in trial parts, with others assigned to
2491-517: The on-site management of the trial courts, including court caseloads, personnel, and budget administration, and each manage a particular type of court within a county or judicial district. The Administrator is also assisted by the District Executive and support staff. The district administrative offices are responsible for personnel, purchasing, budgets, revenue, computer automation, court interpreters, court security, and case management. Opinions of
2544-527: The parties cross-endorse each other's candidates, while at other times they do not and incumbent judges must actively campaign for re-election. Judicial conventions have been criticized as opaque, brief and dominated by county party leaders. In practice, most of the power of selecting justices belongs to local political party organizations, such as the Kings County Democratic County Committee (Brooklyn Democratic Party), which control
2597-480: The plaintiff moves to remand to state court. Several U.S. states prohibit plaintiffs in such cases from demanding a specific amount of money in the ad damnum section of their complaints, because of serious problems with unscrupulous attorneys gaining undue publicity by simply demanding outrageous damages numbers that they cannot possibly prove at trial. Therefore, many such complaints cannot and do not state an amount in controversy on their face, which puts defendants in
2650-439: The purpose of conferring jurisdiction, the suit will be dismissed. The validity of the amount of damages claimed is considered a threshold issue of law for a judge to decide at the commencement of the case. The legal certainty test is often heavily litigated in personal injury or wrongful death cases, in the situation where they are removed by a defendant to federal court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction, and then
2703-596: The state of Virginia , the lowest level of court, the Virginia General District Court has exclusive jurisdiction to hear cases where the amount in controversy is $ 4,500 or less, and shares authority with the Virginia Circuit Court to try cases involving sums between $ 4,500 and $ 25,000 for injury to property cases or $ 4,500 and $ 50,000 for personal injury and wrongful death cases. The Virginia Circuit Court, in turn, has exclusive jurisdiction where
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#17328378166502756-422: The state, although typically such moves or reassignments are within the judge's judicial district. To address the imbalance, the New York court system designates other courts' judges (such as those sitting on the lower-level New York City Civil Court , New York City Criminal Court , and New York City Family Court , as well as the statewide New York Court of Claims ) as "acting" Supreme Court justices to serve on
2809-564: Was defeated by New York voters in 2013. The New York Supreme Court is the oldest Supreme Court with general original jurisdiction. It was established as the Supreme Court of Judicature by the Province of New York on May 6, 1691. That court was continued by the State of New York after independence was declared in 1776. It became the New York Supreme Court under the New York Constitutional Convention of 1846. In November 2004,
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