MESSAGE
| DATE | 2020-05-20 |
| FROM | shulie
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Let the Fur Fly - Eseentail Businesses
|
NY Courts to Lift Ban on New 'Nonessential' Lawsuits for Downstate
Counties
Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks made the announcement
Wednesday in a memorandum to trial court judges.
By *Ryan Tarinelli*
|
May 20, 2020 at 03:27 PM
Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks of the Courts of New York
State delivers testimony during a joint legislative budget hearing on
Feb. 4, 2016, in Albany, New York. (Photo/Hans Pennink)
The state Unified Court System is restoring the filing of new
nonessential lawsuits for New York City and downstate counties starting
Monday, according to its chief administrative judge.
Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks made the announcement
Wednesday in a memorandum to trial court judges. He says new matters,
previously classified as “nonessential,” will be able to be filed
electronically for the five New York City counties and the Long Island
counties of Nassau and Suffolk, along with Dutchess, Orange, Putnam,
Rockland, Sullivan, UIster and Westchester counties.
For the state court system, the move is the most significant step
forward in expanding court access since the system postponed all
“nonessential” services in March.
“This expanded use of NYSCEF will permit a significant broadening of
civil litigation in a manner that continues to ensure the highest
measure of health and safety to judges, court personnel and the public,”
Marks wrote in the memorandum.
“In recognition of the continued curtailment of in-court activities of
court personnel and the public — and in contrast to the usual practice
in consensual e-filing matters — this restoration of NYSCEF usage will
be limited to cases in which represented parties file and serve all
papers electronically,” he said in the memorandum.
Attorneys have not been able to file new “nonessential” lawsuits in
downstate counties due to tight restrictions imposed by the court system
in March as the COVID-19 crisis intensified in New York. With the
restrictions extending more than two months, there’s expected to be a
backlog of state court cases.
Henry* *Greenberg, president of the New York State Bar Association, said
the news is an answered prayer for litigators.
“This is a tremendous milestone in the expansion of New York’s virtual
courts and great news for litigators and the public,” he said in a
statement. “It is a giant leap in our return to a new normal.”
In upstate New York, some counties are already accepting new
nonessential lawsuits after their regions met state-mandated reopening
benchmarks. Regions that received the green light from state officials
were able to move into phase one of the state’s reopening plan, which
allows construction, agriculture and manufacturing companies to bring
back their operations.
The state court system has also announced that the ban on new
nonessential lawsuits would be lifted next week in courts within the
Capital Region. Judges in the region and their personal staff will also
be allowed to return to their courthouses for work starting Tuesday,
according to the court system
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