City-Wide Administration | Comments & Complaints | Personnel & Employment

City-Wide Administration

General Civil Court operations are managed by Administrative Judge Fern A. Fisher who oversees all of the Civil and Housing Court Judges, and, through Chief Clerk Jack Baer, oversees all of the non-judicial staff and operations of the court.

The Civil Court serves the five counties of the City of New York. There is one courthouse located in each borough, except in the Bronx, where there are two locations. There are also two "community courts" located in Harlem and Red Hook, which provide some of the court's services to those communities.

The Administrative Judge and the Chief Clerk have delegated the responsibility for operating the court on a day-to-day basis to a Supervising Judge and a Clerk of the County in each county.

Comments or Complaints

For comments or complaints about a judge, you may write to the Supervising Judge in the county where the problem occurred.

For comments or complaints about employees or procedures, you may write to the Deputy Chief Clerk in the county where the situation arose.

For complaints about attorneys, you may write to the appropriate Attorney Disciplinary Committee. The Civil Court does not have jurisdiction to investigate complaints about attorneys.

Neither the Administrative Judge, nor the Supervising Judges have the right to comment upon or change the rulings of another judge of the Civil Court. Each judge uses his or her discretion in making rulings, including whether or not to grant an adjournment. The decisions are based on the judge's interpretation of the law and the facts. Only an appellate court can review a judge's rulings. Therefore, if a party disagrees with a judge's rulings, the appropriate remedy is an appeal.

Personnel and Employment

The majority of jobs in the Civil Court are filled from a list of eligible candidates who have taken a competitive civil service examination. A small number of positions are filled through provisional or non-competitive procedures. The unified court system is an equal opportunity employer.

For information about competitive civil service examinations, call the exam unit hotline of the office of court administration at 1-800-578-jobs.

For the current list of unified court system job postings (or general job information) statewide, call 1 (800) 654-5578.

For provisional and non-competitive job openings, you should go to any local courthouse and look at the posted job announcements.

If you are seeking a position as a per-diem interpreter with the civil court, please call (646) 386-5731.

If you are seeking a position as a Guardian Ad Litem in Housing Court, please call (646) 386-5408 or visit the Civil Court's Housing website.