Judge Assignments
Civil Motions | Small Claims | Commercial Landlord-Tenant | TAP Judge/ Trial Back-up | Personal Appearance Part | Pre-Note of Issue 325-d Conferences | Misc. Court Work
Many boroughs assign the judges to a "circuit" of assignments several terms a year, depending on the number of judges in the borough and the workload. Circuit may consist of one week in the civil motion Part, one week of Small Claims, one week of miscellaneous court work, and one week of the Personal Appearance Part, or one week of Commercial Landlord-Tenant back-up. After a judge has concluded sitting circuit, he or she typically has many decisions to write that have been submitted during the various assignments. A Judge may also be assigned for consecutive terms to preside over trials.
Civil
Motion Part
In each county there is a hearing part for all civil
motions made on notice. There is a procedural motion
calendar and a non-procedural motion calendar, and
in some boroughs, the pro
se motions are also heard with the civil
motion calendar. A judge who sits for a week in
a civil motion Part may hear upwards of 650 motions.
In addition to those motions decided from the bench,
a judge may typically leave the motion Part with
between 35 to 50 submitted motions, with sometimes
as many as 110 additional default motions. These
motions must be decided within 60 days. This requires
the judges to write several opinions each week while
carrying out their other judicial assignments.
Small
Claims
Civil Court judges are also assigned to sit in the
Small Claims Part of the Civil Court. One judge
is assigned as the up-front judge to take any applications
on the call of the calendar and to preside over
trials. There is sometimes a judge assigned to sit
as a back-up judge to hear trials, as well. In general,
the judges hear these cases Monday through Thursday
nights and during the day on Thursdays in Manhattan
and on various days in the other counties. The Manhattan
judges are also assigned to sit on Thursday nights
in the Harlem Small Claims Night Court throughout
the year.
Part
52 Commercial Landlord-Tenant
The commercial landlord-tenant cases are presided
over by the Civil Court Judges. One judge is assigned
as the up-front judge to handle any applications
during the call of the calendar and to handle the
commercial motions. On average, the number of commercial
motions on the calendar each week may range from
75 to 100, of which between one-third and one-half
are submitted. These motions must be decided within
30 days. Cases that are trial ready are sent out
to one of the judges assigned to sit as back-up
judges. If a judge begins a commercial landlord-tenant
trial during his or her assignment as a back-up
judge and does not complete the trial, the judge
must find time to schedule the completion of the
trial during his or her next assignment.
Personal
Appearance Part
A judge may also be assigned to sit in the Civil
Court's Personal Appearance Part, specifically
to hear cases where one or both sides are self-represented
litigants. If any party to a civil action is a self-represented
litigant, the case will automatically be calendared
in the Personal Appearance Part. The Judges presiding
in this Part oversee all conferences, discovery
and in some boroughs all motion practice, up until
the trial.
TAP
Judge/Trial Back-up
One judge is also assigned to sit in the Trial Assignment
Part ("TAP"), where trial-ready, post-note
of issue cases are calendared. The TAP judge first
tries to settle the case and then transfers the
matter to a back-up judge for a bench trial, or
sends the parties to pick a jury, if the case does
not settle.
Pre-Note
of Issue 325-d Conferences
The majority of the cases transferred to the Civil
Court from the Supreme Court in each county are
not ready for trial. In fact, in the Bronx and Brooklyn
almost all of the cases transferred are pre-note
of issue actions which still require further litigation
and judicial deliberation before a resolution will
be achieved. In addition to their regular assignments,
each Civil Court judge receives pre-note of issue
cases that have been transferred from the Supreme
Court, to conference every afternoon.
Miscellaneous
Court Work
Other judicial assignments cover a variety of court
work, including signing warrants, ex
parte orders and nunc
pro tunc orders, handling mechanic's
liens, turnover proceedings, name change petitions,
and presiding over traverse hearings, inquests,
and infant's compromises.
