COURT LOCATIONS, JURISDICTION & VENUE

Whether you intend to sue or have already been sued, the first question to consider is this  – which court does the case belong in?  The legal term for this is “subject matter jurisdiction”, which means which court has the authority to hear this particular type of case.  A related term is “venue” which means which county should the case be in.  The questions are not always simple and sometimes have critical strategic implications in the case. It is sometimes possible to make a motion for an order dismissing a case if it has been filed in the wrong court or state. Please see below for helpful links to information about courts in New York.

NEW YORK STATE COURTS

New York Court Guide By County – Each of the 62 counties has a Supreme Court, there are 4 Appellate Division Departments, and the highest court is the Court of Appeals in Albany.

Courts of New York – Wiki

Ecourts site – to access case information for free.

FEDERAL COURTS IN NEW YORK

List Of Federal Courts In New York

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York  – encompasses the counties of New York, Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, and Sullivan and draws jurors from those counties. The Court hears cases in Manhattan, White Plains, and Poughkeepsie, New York.

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York  –  The district comprises the counties of Kings, Nassau, Queens, Richmond, and Suffolk and concurrently with the Southern District, the waters within the counties of Bronx and New York. The Eastern District has a population of eight million people.

BANKRUPTCY COURTS IN NEW YORK

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York  – serving the counties of Bronx, Dutchess, New York, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, and Westchester, with concurrent jurisdiction over Greene and Ulster. We have courthouses in Manhattan, Poughkeepsie, and White Plains.

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York   – covers the five counties of Richmond (Staten Island), Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Nassau and Suffolk of New York State.