NY Practice - Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Question 1

Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Answer 1

the constitutional or legislative authority to grant the relief that a party seeks

(i.e. the general power of a court to adjudicate a class of cases)

A court must have subject matter jurisdiction (competence) to hear and adjudicate the type of controversy brought before it. The court in which an action is commenced (trial ct) is referred to as a court of ORIGINAL Subject Matter Jurisdiction. If such a court has GENERAL jurisdiction, it has the power to hear any type of action.

Question 2

What jurisdiction does the Supreme Court of New York have?

Answer 2

Supreme Court of NY has unlimited ORIGINAL jurisdiction, with branches in every county of the state.

Sup Ct. has GENERAL jurisdiction meaning it has subject matter jurisdiction of all actions at law or in equity whether founded upon common law rights or rights created by statute

Single Exception: the supreme court may not adjudicate claims for damages against the state of New York (those being the province of the court of claims)

Question 3

The Supreme Court’s subject matter jurisdiction is general and therefore unlimited as regards:

Answer 3

MERP

(1) MONETARY amount of P’s claim
(2) Ability to assert an EQUITY claim (Sup Ct. is only ct in NY w/unlimited equity jurisdiction)
(3) the RESIDENCY of the parties
(4) PLACE where COA arose

e. g. Michael (PA) quit his job as manager of dunder-miflin in PA and went to work for a different company in PA. Dunder Mifflin claims Michael stole trade secrets, causing $40k in damages, and has violated non-compete. Dunder-Mifflin brings action for damages and injunction in NY Sup Ct. and arranges for Michael to be served while in NYC having lunch. Does ct have “subject matter” jurisdiction over him?
- -YES, sup ct has unlimited monetary jurisdiction, and unlimited equity jurisdiction

(NOTE: these are with regard to subject matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction is a separate and additional requirement, though in this case personal jurisdiction was obtained over Michael view service of process on him in NY)

Question 4

Over what matters does the Supreme Court (of NY) have exclusive subject matter jurisdiction?

Answer 4

MAD

(1) MATRIMONIAL Actions
(2) CPLR ARTICLE 78 Proceedings (judicial review of NY state and local govt administrative action)
(3) DECLARATORY Judgment action (judicial declaration of rights and obligations of the parties to an actual controversy before one of them engages in conduct that could cause liability)

Question 5

Forum Non Conveniens

Answer 5

the non-residency of the parties in NY and the lack of relationship of the claim to New York do not deprive the court of subject matter jurisdiction. But the court has discretion, upon motion, to dismiss on the ground of “forum non conveniens” when the action lacks any substantial nexus to NY

Any such motion must be made by D, the court may not dismiss on this ground on its own

Question 6

EXCEPTIONS to Supreme Court’s GENERAL jurisdiction

Answer 6

(1) Cases as to which federal law confers exclusive jurisdiction on federal courts, e.g. bankruptcy, patents, copyrights
(2) Claims for money damages in tort or contract against the State of NY (these claims must be brought in NY “court of claims”)

NOTE: the only D that can be sued in the court of claims is the State of NY (employees of the State of NY and subdivisions of the state [e.g. counties, towns, school districts] must be sued in the SUPREME COURT)

e. g. Assume Amy Fisher, while driving on NY State Thruway, is injured in a collision with a state police car being driven by State Trooper Joey Buttafuco. In what court can Amy bring action jointly against the State of NY, and Trooper Buttafuco?
- - NO COURT in which could bring both, must bring claim against STATE OF NY, in NY COURT OF CLAIMS, and sue Joey in SUPREME COURT
- -if instead, accident took place on road maintained by Nassau County NY, could sue BOTH in SUPREME COURT

Question 7

The three basic levels of NY state courts are:

Answer 7

(i) The Supreme Court (trial ct.),

(ii) appeal to the “Appellate Division,” which (iii) appeals to the highest state court, the “Court of Appeals”

Question 8

Note on ALL OTHER COURTS in NY

Answer 8

ALL OTHER COURTS of civil jurisdiction in NY are characterized by limited monetary jurisdiction, varying from a maximum of $25,000 in the County Courts and the NYC Civil Court to a mac of $3,000 in the Justice Courts