Special Commission on the Future of the New York State Courts

Commercial Division of the New York State Supreme Court was
created under the leadership of Chief Judge Kaye in order to
concentrate and improve business litigation in one Division of
the state court system.
The Commercial Division was the result of the combined
efforts of a broad coalition of lawyers, judges, and businesses.
In particular, the Business Council of New York State, Inc., a
statewide coalition of business organizations, was closely
involved in the creation of the Commercial Division. The
Division is a forum for resolution of complicated commercial
disputes, which typically require greater expertise across the
broad and complex expanse of commercial law. Within this more
specialized forum, cases are monitored and managed, and
deadlines are set and enforced, to ensure that cases progress and
that backlogs do not develop in one court versus another. 123
In a restructured system,
“[t]here would be improved
case management, more uniform
procedures, fewer squabbles
over jurisdiction and an
end to cases to be resolved in
more than one court.”
– Albany Bobbled Court
Restructuring, Buffalo
News, Aug. 15, 1998
On November 6, 1995, the Commercial Division
officially opened its doors in New York and Monroe Counties. In
the ensuing eleven years, the Division has expanded to Albany,
Erie, Kings, Nassau, Queens, Suffolk and Westchester Counties,
and throughout the Seventh Judicial District. 124 New York’s
commercial courts handle well over 6,500 cases each year. 125
The Commercial Division has been an unmitigated
success in New York State. For example, the Commercial and
Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association
has described the Commercial Division as “a case study in
successful judicial administration.” 126 At the time the Division
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York, 69 ALB. L. REV. 831 (2006) (Chief Judge Kaye noting that “in the early
1990s, New York courts were so overburdened that the business community and
commercial bar often turned to Federal courts and alternative private forums”).
123
New York State Unified Court System, A Brief History of the
Commercial Division, available at http://www.nycourts.gov/comdiv/Brief_
History_of_CD.htm.
124
New York State Unified Court System, The Commercial Division of
the State of New York, General Information, available at http://www.nycourts.gov/
comdiv/general_information.htm.
125
Claude Solnik, In N.Y. State Supreme Court, It’s All Business, LONG
ISLAND BUS. NEWS, Sept. 22, 2006.
126
A Case Study in Successful Judicial Administration: Commercial Division,
New York State Supreme Court, N.Y. LITIGATOR, Aug. 1997, at 24.
62
A Court System for the Future, February 2007