New York Practice
The CPLR rules all courts in the state of New York; individual court rules will prevail over the CPLR. The CPLR, however, governs all New York Supreme Courts.
There are four acts:
1. The NYC Civil Court Act
2. The Uniform District Court Act (only exist in Nassau and Suffolk counties on LI)
3. The Uniform City Court Act
4. The Uniform Justice Act (town and village courts)
If you are in any of these courts, you must look at their individual acts, particularly article 2, which will govern the subject matter jurisdiction of the court (maximum monetary amounts, etc.).
This class focuses on the Supreme Court of New York.
The CPLR is divided into articles. Each article governs a particular area; in court attorneys refer to the articles by number.
The Supreme Court can hear any kind of action; law suits in equity, criminal law, etc. This is like the Federal system whereas Jersey has a Court of Chancery and a Criminal Court.
An “action” in NY is a civil lawsuit. Within this there is a “special proceeding” which is a short way, i.e., sans discovery and motion practice, to resolve the issue. The most common is an article 78 special proceeding, which is against a body or officer.
CPLR 104
The construction of a provision should be interpreted as to the intent of the rule, not interpreted how lawyers say the rule should be construed.
Siegel: The CPLR is provided to litigants as a means to an end. The rules are not the be all and end all in and of themselves. Guggig: “Bullshit. You can win cases on procedural grounds alone.”
For class action suits, the questions that address the entire class override those that pertain to named plaintiffs.
If alleging fraud, the fraud must be alleged with particularity in NY, just as it is in Federal Court.
Two ways to answer a complaint: Move to Dismiss or Answer.
There is no fiduciary duty between an insurer and an insured, except under certain very narrow circumstances (facts and circumstances). It’s an individualized case, which under the CPLR means that the issue cannot be certified as a class.
Ethical obligation is only to reveal only controlling cases in oral argument. You should, however, be sure to include them in your briefs so you can present your point of view on contradictory cases (making them not directly on point).
CPLR 2004
The Court in its discretion can increase CPLR time limits for litigants (just not statutes of limitations).
Talk turned to about what to do when an adversary asks for extra time to produce an answer. Professional courtesy somewhat demands that it should be granted after consulting with your Client, but if the request is denied, an attorney can make an ex parte motion to obtain a delay, raising a motion to call a judge and then have the judge give your adversary an enormous delay.
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
The topics a Court is allowed to hear. There are courts of limited jurisdiction (by subject matter, amount, etc.) . Only the Supreme Court is a court of general jurisdiction in New York.
Jurisdiction is conferred either by statute or state Constitution. Parties cannot waive subject matter jurisdiction.
Subject matter jurisdiction can be raised at any time, even on appeal. It is one of the few items you can raise on appeal that was not raised below.
A court of general jurisdiction is vested with all of the subject matter jurisdiction a court can have.
There are only two types of cases the Supreme Court cannot hear:
1. Suits against the state of New York, which must be heard in the Court of Claims
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2. Claims which Congress have granted exclusive jurisdiction to federal courts (ERISA, bankruptcy, etc.)
A court of limited jurisdiction is limited, such as to maximum monetary amounts, criminal jurisdiction, etc. The NY Court of Appeals is of limited jurisdiction, and is governed by statute and the NY Constitution.
See p14 of Siegel for a flow chart of NY court flows.
NY Court of Appeals
With two exceptions, the NY Court of Appeals only hears questions of law, not fact except:
1. When the death penalty is imposed (these go directly from Supreme Court to the Court of Appeals and the facts can be examined)
2. On appeal from the Appellate Division, if the Appellate Division finds the Supreme Court got the facts wrong, then the Court of Appeals can re-examine the facts.
The Court of Appeals can issue an advisory opinion when the question is certified by the SCOTUS, any Federal Circuit Court, or from the highest court of any other state, and the issue is a question of NY law.
Appellate Division of NY
There are four departments of appellate courts:
1. Manhattan and the Bronx
2. Other three NYC Boroughs, some LI and local counties
3. Eastern half of upstate NY (sits in Albany)
4. Western half of NY
Decisions entered in those departments are binding on the Supreme Courts in that department; they are persuasive in other departments.
Jurisdiction is almost always appellate, very rarely is it in original jurisdiction (except for attorney admission to the bar).
Cases only where a question of law is at issue can begin at this level, but it rarely happens.
Supreme Court of NY
A court of general jurisdiction and original jurisdiction. It can hear cases that should have been heard in some other court, such as one that does not meet the monetary claim requirements (e.g., less than $25K).
Each Supreme Court can create it’s own Appellate Term, only the 1st and the 2nd departments have created these.
Court of Claims
Exclusive jurisdiction over claims made by the state against an individual, or claims by an individual against the state. Each county has a Court of Claims.
Problem with the Court of Claims: If there are multiple defendants in a civil case, the state needs to be sued in the Court of Claims, and all other defendants will be sued in another (likely the Supreme) court.
If the State brings a court against an individual in Supreme Court, any counterclaim against the state must be heard in the Court of Claims.
Civil Court of NYC
Has a limit of $25K for subject matter jurisdiction.
***see handwritten notes***
County Courts
County courts are courts of limited jurisdiction:
· $25K cap (value of all claims aggregated)
· All parties must be residents or have business offices in the county
· Misdemeanor actions, not felonies (must go to State Supreme Court)
· Appeals go to the appellate term, not the appellate division.
NY County Courts
Limited jurisdiction, can only hear misdemeanors, not felonies (must go to State Supreme Court); $25K cap, replevin actions where chattel is less than $25K, Civil court can hear cases relating to real property worth less than $25K.
In Nassau County and Suffolk County (LI), there is a $15K limitation on jurisdiction.
Towns and Villages all over the state also have courts of limited jurisdiction; not relevant to this class.
If you are in a NYC civil court and you have asserted multiple causes of action against a defendant which, in the aggregate reach a limit higher than $25K but each is less than $25K, the court can hear the cause of action.
NYC lower courts also go to appellate term.
Cause of Action Brought in Wrong Court
If a plaintiff raises a cause of action in the wrong court, the plaintiff has the ability to make a motion using 325(a) to a NYC civil court and it can be sent up to where subject matter jurisdiction exists. In county courts, you must make the motion to the appropriate Supreme Court for transfer.
CPLR 325(b) on the other hand, covers when discovery reveals that the subject matter jurisdiction is no longer available (exceeds $25K, e.g.), a motion must be passed to the next highest) Supreme Court, and also make a simultaneous motion to increase the monetary demand.
CPLR 325(c) Plaintiff brings a cause of action in the Supreme Court thinking that the cause of action is worth more than $25K, then discovers it’s worth less. You can get a faster trial in a lower court, you may able to get a better settlement if you offer to send the case down – make a motion to the Supreme Court. If the defendant has a counterclaim, defendant must give consent for transfer.
The judge has a big stick for remanding a case down; every case before the Supreme Court has a general preference, which allows a case to move up the queue to be heard. If a case is denied a general preference it is stuck at the bottom of the queue and will never be heard. The plaintiff can then appeal but the standard of review is abuse of discretion; these cases never get heard.
CPLR 325(d) If a judge believes that a case does not meet the basement limitation for the award, the judge can transfer the case down without consent; at this point the civil court can return a judgment for up to the amount originally sought, even in excess of the subject matter jurisdiction of that level court (e.g., >$25K). This does not apply to cases in equity except in instances involving real property.
Guggig loves 325(d) – we’ll be tested on this; also if you can aggregate in NYC civil court (yes, as long as each claim is less than $25K).
Transfers up and down with and without consent; the judge’s big stick.
Subject matter jurisdiction
Forum non conveniens – CPLR 327
Designed to keep out of the NY State courts cases where jurisdiction technically exists but parties have little or no relationship to the state of NY. Typically applies only to tort claims, but can apply to contract, property, commercial, and non-commercial claims. The state of residence of the parties is not dispositive.
The Standard: There are numerous competing interests at which the court will look, here are 6 (list is non-exhaustive):
1) The availability of an adequate alternative forum to hear the case; if it’s another state, the NY Court will likely defer, if it’s a foreign country (read: a corrupt foreign country), the NY Court may keep the case.
2) Hardship to the defendant having to defend the case in NY (a fairness question)
3) Location of the evidence
4) Location of the witnesses
5) Whether or not the parties have contractually agreed to New York as a forum.
6) Burden on the court to hear the case (how easy/complex is the case?)
CPLR 327(b) Inconvenient forum Governs where parties enter a contract containing a clause the NY Courts will have jurisdiction over any disputes arising from the contract. If a commercial transaction is worth $1 million or more and parties agree in the contract that the forum will be the courts of New York and New York law governs, forum non conveniens does not apply. This is because New York Courts want to interpret NY law, and NY is the world’s financial center and NY Courts want to create the law nationally.
Plaintiff protections: The Court may stay the action rather than dismiss entirely, and have an option to create a conditional grant of the forum non conveniens motion, in which the defendant will stipulate to jurisdiction of NY courts, and also will have the defendant stipulate to having served process and filed the case in the foreign jurisdiction at the time the claim was filed in the state of NY (protecting from possibly shorter statute of limitations claims by defendant).
Conditions Precedent to Suit
The most common type of condition precedent to filing suit in NY is notice. For example, when filing a claim against an insurer, you must timely serve notice on the defendant prior to filing suit. This often arises when filing a claim against a municipality. A plaintiff must file a notice of claim with the municipality for any tort suit against said municipality within 90 days after the cause of action arises.
The notice of claim, which is statement under oath by the client, has to inform the municipality of the nature of the claim (when, where, how) and the harm sustained. If the notice of claim misdescribes the incident, it can void the claim.
Municipal law 50(e): Allows the court at its discretion to extend the 90 day period; it rarely happens. You could gain an extension if the plaintiff is incapacitated, or if it is unclear that the municipality is liable; it may not be granted if plaintiff was negligent or reckless. Another thing – is the court
Section 10, Court of Claims Act: This also has a 90 day limitation for tort claims arising against the state, but this does not seem to be as hard and fast as it is for municipalities.
Remember: Court of Claims has exclusive jurisdiction over claims raised against the state of NY. It also extends to the agencies of NY. The Port Authority is not a state actor and suits against the Port Authority can be brought in the Supreme Court.
Statutes of Limitations
Serves to protect the defendant from excessive delay and also protect the system from the burden of old cases.
If a lawsuit is not commenced in the statutory period, there is no remedy available. Note that the statute of limitations does not end the right to bring a cause of action, it instead eliminates the power of the plaintiff to obtain a remedy.
The purpose of civil law is to make the plaintiff whole. If there is no remedy, there is no reason to burden the court.
CPLR 201: As long as there is no statute barring a judge from extending a statute of limitations, then the judge can exercise discretion to extend the period.
The Statute of Limitations is an affirmative defense. This is an instance where wiping out the cause of action, rather than wiping out the chance of remedy, has practical effect. As the defendant has the burden to prove the statute of limitations has been violated, and even can waive the statute of limitations defense, compliance with the statute of limitations is not a condition precedent to a lawsuit. Contrast this with filing suit against a municipality, where filing notice within 90 days is a condition precedent and the plaintiff must affirmatively plead this in his or her suit.