A Personal Injury Lawyer’s Guide to the New York Court System

Despite being called the New York “Unified” Court System, each division prefers to run things in their own unique way. Court rules can vary from county to county, different judges have different guidelines for dealing with legal proceedings, and certain courts face higher case volumes (and therefore, longer processing times) than others. It takes years to understand the nuances of any court, never mind navigate the overwhelming number of different courts throughout New York. Even the most experienced lawyers can run into trouble from time to time. But there’s no reason to let this scare you: the attorneys at Block O’Toole & Murphy (BOM) have been working in this state for decades and are here to help you navigate each aspect of our court system. Below is our BOM primer on the New York State Court system.  

Need to Know:

• The New York State Court System is made up of three different levels: The Trial Courts, the intermediate Appellate Courts, and the Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court, one of New York’s Trial Courts, is where BOM primarily handles their state cases.
• It often takes years for cases to go through the New York courts. Most cases can involve long waiting periods, but it’s crucial to be aware of deadlines and make sure everything is submitted in a timely manner.
• Though it’s never guaranteed that you’ll get your desired outcome, there are several key strategies lawyers can employ to strengthen your case in New York.

In this Article:

• Overview of the New York State Unified Court System
• Walking Through a Typical Personal Injury Case
• Strategies for Handling Cases in New York

An Overview of the New York Unified Court System

The New York Court system consists of three key divisions: the Trial Courts, the Appellate Divisions, and the Court of Appeals. The Trial Courts handle the greatest variety of issues and decide most cases in the state. Cases will only go to the Appellate Division and Court of Appeals if the parties request the higher courts reconsider the decision of the trial courts.

Level One: The Trial Courts

The trial courts operate primarily at the county level, with specific guidelines for the five boroughs of New York City – Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. The New York City-specific trial courts include the Civil Court of the City of New York, which handles lawsuits involving claims under $50,000, and the Criminal Court of the City of New York, which handles misdemeanors and lesser offenses. Issues outside New York City go to District, City, County, and Town and Village Justice Courts, all of which deal with minor criminal cases or civil cases involving smaller claims.

There are also trial courts that operate in both New York City and the rest of the state. These courts handle issues involving larger damage claims, and include:

• The Supreme Court: Despite its name, this is the lowest court that can handle damage claims of higher amounts. It also manages divorce cases, annulments, and felony prosecutions. The majority of BOM cases are tried in the Supreme Court, as we typically handle cases with bigger injuries and higher claims. The Supreme Court is divided by county, and our cases typically exist within Bronx, New York, Kings, Richmond, and Queens counties (representing the five boroughs of New York City). We’ve also handled cases in other state counties, including Nassau, Suffolk, Orange, Eerie, Westchester, and Putnam.
• The Surrogate’s Court: This court handles cases involving individuals who have died. BOM works with this court primarily when handling wrongful death cases, as it issues Letters of Administration. These are official documents that allow our attorneys to bring lawsuits on behalf of the estate of the individual who has passed away. The Surrogate’s Court also helps in cases where the individual who passed does not have a will or in cases where several family members involved in a settlement can’t agree on a monetary breakdown.
• The Court of Claims: This court has exclusive jurisdiction over lawsuits involving the State of New York. This also extends to state-related organizations, like the City University of New York (CUNY).
• The Family Court: Though BOM doesn’t handle cases in this court, it deals with matters involving adoption, guardianship, fostering, child abuse, and other family-related issues (as the name suggests).

Level Two: The Appellate Division

Not all cases are settled after the trial courts have reached a verdict. Sometimes, if a party feels that the lower courts applied the law incorrectly, they will appeal the case to the higher courts. The first stop in the appeals process is the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. Parties only have 30 days after the lower court issues a decision to appeal, after which they could lose that opportunity forever.

The Appellate Division is comprised of four departments, which are divided by the different regions in the state. The first department handles cases from Manhattan and the Bronx, and the second department handles Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Suffolk, Nassau, Westchester, and other counties near New York City. The third and fourth departments divide the rest of the state counties appropriately.

Unfortunately, due to a massive backlog of cases, the second department is prone to longer wait times than the other departments. While the first department can issue a decision within 6 months to a year, it can take considerably longer for the second department to do so. One of BOM’s cases has been in the second Appellate Division for almost four years, and our attorneys check every Wednesday to see if a decision has been issued.

The Appellate Division does not operate the same way as the trial courts – cases here are not tried in front of a jury. Instead, the appealing party must put together a record of all the materials related to the case, along with a brief about why they believe the lower courts ruled incorrectly. The opposing party writes a brief in response, and both sides go to court for an oral argument before a panel of judges. Those judges decide if they will uphold or overturn the decision of the lower courts, but it can take some time before they issue their ruling due to the backlog of cases.

Level Three: The Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals is tasked with keeping legal guidance uniform throughout the state. Like the United States Supreme Court, the New York Court of Appeals can pick and choose which cases it will hear each year. It’s rare for a case to reach this level, as this court only tends to accept cases of significant value. Very few BOM cases have made it to the Court of Appeals.

There are a few main scenarios in which the Court of Appeals accepts a case:

• Different Appellate Division departments have issued conflicting rulings on the same topic, leading to inconsistent guidelines for the lower courts.
• The Appellate Division judges were split on a case (for example, the panel of judges issued a 3-2 decision).
• The case is likely to establish a new law or precedent.

Tracking a Personal Injury Case Through Court

You may be wondering how your personal injury case will move through the court – let’s look at a typical case our lawyers handle together. 

The Early Steps

The first step will be to file the summons and complaint. Our lawyers like to do this as soon as reasonably possible: it takes years to move through the court, so the earlier you get started, the better.

After filing a lawsuit, you must serve the defendants. It’s not enough just to file a suit, because then the defendant won’t know he or she is being sued. Although you can serve a defendant through the Department of State website, our lawyers prefer to hire an investigator. The Department of State is incredibly backed up, and it can take them months to get a copy of the lawsuit to the defendants – which is a problem, because defendants only have 30 days to respond to a lawsuit against them.

Once notified about the lawsuit, the defendant will ideally contact their insurance company, which assigns a lawyer to the case. The defense attorney files an answer to the complaint – usually denying most of it – and then it’s time to file a Request for Judicial Intervention (RJI) with the court. This document requests that a judge be assigned to the case and that a preliminary conference between the plaintiff and defendants be scheduled. The method for filing an RJI varies depending on county – some require attorneys to go in person, some ask for an online form, and some are generated automatically by the court.

Discovery

Once the preliminary conference is completed, it’s time to go through discovery and schedule depositions. Discovery involves an exchange of information between all parties, and can include medical records, authorizations, and other demands for materials. Conferences will be held while discovery is ongoing to make sure the process is running smoothly and there are no points of contention between parties. These conferences – called compliance conferences, certification conferences, or status conferences – may be in person or online, depending on the judge’s preference.

Once discovery concludes, you reach a point where it’s time to file a Note of Issue and Certificate of Readiness for Trial. This document tells the court that discovery has concluded and it’s time to schedule a court date.

Trial and Settlement

It can take a long time – literally years – to receive a trial date. But the court will give you a date when it’s ready to, and there’s no way to speed the process along. This can be particularly frustrating for our attorneys, because the best way to settle a case is often to get a trial date set. Once the trial becomes a reality, the defense tends to get nervous about putting the case in front of a jury. When that happens, it’s more likely the case will be settled to avoid risking a worse verdict from the courts.

If the case makes it to trial without settling, you will be faced with either a bifurcated or a unified trial. A unified trial decides liability and damages in one, unified trial. In a bifurcated trial, liability and damages are tried separately. The jury will not be privy to the plaintiff’s injuries in the first part of the trial; the sole focus will be determining if the defense is liable in the case. The second part of the trial, assuming the defense was found liable, determines damages. Bifurcated trials are tricky – liability can be scary for an unexperienced attorney to try. If the court sides against your lawyer, the case ends there. Because the stakes are high, our lawyers go above and beyond from the very beginning of the case to win. This means starting investigations early, bringing in top experts, and filing paperwork as soon as possible to gather and preserve information.  

Bronx and New York (Manhattan) counties are the only two that generally conduct unified trials. The rest of the state typically opts for bifurcated trials.

Once the trial concludes, you have two courses of action: accepting the decision or appealing to the higher courts. You will only have 30 days from the end of your trial to appeal, so it’s best to file the Notice of Appeal as soon as possible. Even if you later decide not to go through with an appeal, you’ll want to have that document filed early so you don’t lose your chance.

Strategies for Handling a NY Case

BOM lawyers have been practicing in the state for nearly their entire careers. They understand the nuances of the NY courts and know the ways each county and judge like to operate. Together, they’ve developed different methods for using the system to their advantage.

Some of the most successful strategies our lawyers employ include:

• Understand jury demographics. New York state is big, and demographics vary heavily depending on the county. Knowing the demographics of Brooklyn versus Suffolk counties can help in jury selection – you can find jurors who are more likely to sympathize with your client.
• Get moving as soon as possible. Not only does this put our client’s mind at ease, but it also ensures our attorneys are ready to jump on the case as soon as the courts get moving.
• Understand the benefits of unified and bifurcated trials. Our lawyers make sure to tailor their legal tactics to the type of trial they’ll be conducting. Unified trials allow the jury to know the details of the plaintiffs’ injuries when determining liability. People are human, and may be more likely to place fault on a defendant when they see the effects of severe injuries on the plaintiff’s life. However, bifurcated trials have their own benefits as well. Winning the liability part of the trial can persuade insurance companies to settle the case early, knowing the court is already against them. Or, if the defense doesn’t settle, our lawyers go to trial knowing that the jury is already on our side, which is a powerful weapon in any case.
• Check the county rules. Different counties – and even different judges within the same county – have different rules about how they like to handle things like preliminary conferences and RJIs. The rules are constantly changing, but most judges will actually post their specific rules online. Staying on top of those rules can make the process run smoother when it comes to preparing documents or scheduling conferences.

Even though the courts system can be daunting, you’re never navigating them alone. A good lawyer ensures you understand the process and can take you through each step with confidence. If you’re looking to file a personal injury claim, contact Block O’Toole & Murphy for a free legal consultation.