Special Commission on the Future of the New York State Courts

Business organizations, in particular, have decried the
time and resources that are wasted each year by the current
system’s inefficient and outdated structure. As these groups have
noted, the present system not only forces litigants into multiple
courts to resolve closely related matters, but it also prohibits
efficient management techniques, leaving court administrators
powerless to redistribute cases from overburdened to
underutilized courts. The result is an unwieldy, complex system,
inhospitable to business and economic growth.
As the Partnership for New York City, one of our state’s
leading business organizations, recently observed, “New York
State has the nation’s most inefficient and expensive trial court
system.” As noted in Section Two, above, the Partnership and
several of our state’s most prominent business organizations have
formed a “Business Coalition for Court Efficiency,” and issued
a statement indicating strong support for “efforts to secure
amendment of the New York State Constitution to create a twotier
court system that will greatly improve the administration of
justice and result in significant savings of time and costs to
litigants and business.” 115
A restructuring “would make
the courts less complex and
less frustrating for litigants,
lawyers, judges and court officers.
That’s why they are supported
by virtually every major
legal organization, civic group
and newspaper in this state.”
– Stop Dawdling on
Court Reform, Daily
News, June 14, 1998
Good-government groups, likewise, have been united in
their criticism of the current system. These groups have similarly
called for reforms to remedy the courts’ inconsistencies, focusing
in particular on the costs to the state of the current system. For
example, Citizens Union has stated that the “consolidation of
the courts into a more efficient and citizen friendly system for
New York is long overdue,” and has endorsed the merger of
“New York’s antiquated and convoluted court structure . . . into
a two-tier structure.” 116 Likewise, the League of Women Voters
of New York State has stated that the current “archaic” system
“needlessly wastes the time and resources of litigants,
businesses, municipalities, and courts.” 117
115
See Appendix iii. The business groups in the coalition include:
Partnership for New York City, Metropolitan Development Association of Central
New York, the Business Council of New York State, Long Island Association, and
the Westchester County Association (which has also submitted its own letter of
support).
116
See id.
117
See id.
A Court System for the Future, February 2007 59