Special Commission on the Future of the New York State Courts

Given this reality, it is in the interest of all New Yorkers
to ensure that the business community views the New York court
system as efficient, up-to-date, and sensitive to the impact that the
courts will have on its many business litigants. Unfortunately,
our current court structure creates the opposite view.
The inefficiency of our system impacts our state’s
businesses in a number of ways. First, litigating a business
dispute in New York State is a complicated affair; a myriad of
courts have jurisdiction over civil matters, and the speed with
which a case is adjudicated and the business expertise of the
judge varies significantly depending on the court in which the
case is heard. Except for cases in the Commercial Division of the
Supreme Court, businesses – and particularly small businesses,
for which the Commercial Division is often not available –
cannot be assured that their cases will be heard in a timely or
reliable manner.
Second, the wasted time and lost work described in
Section Three is not only a problem for individual litigants, but
also for their employers. Each year, tens of thousands of New
Yorkers are forced to miss work by spending unnecessary days in
court. When a large cross-section of our state’s population is
subject to such routine absences, the consequences are directly
felt by our state’s employers. This is yet another factor that
makes our state less appealing for businesses.
“As our chaotic, blundering
court system exists now in
New York, judicial resources
are wasted, taxpayers are
shortchanged, litigants’ rights
are compromised and justice is
not served. Surely we can do
better.”
– Center for Law &
Justice, January 2007
Third, in cases involving the state, businesses, too, are
forced to engage in duplicative litigation. In any case involving
a claim against the state, a business that is a party to the case may
be compelled to engage in two sets of proceedings, one in a civil
court and an identical one in the Court of Claims. With costs of
discovery rising, and with businesses around the country
increasingly concerned about litigation costs and the commitment
of management resources to litigation, this presents another
reason for a business to steer clear of New York when deciding
where to locate its operations.
In short, the disarray of our court system serves as a
deterrent to businesses, large and small. A system that wastes a
half a billion dollars annually is an anathema to the business
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A Court System for the Future, February 2007