Appeals in US courts - New York State

Compared to the federal appellate process, state court practice is different. This could be a little, or it might be very different, depending on the state where the appeal is being heard. Because I'm licensed in New York, this post is limited to appellate practice in New York State.

          New York is the renowned home of many things. Besides the obvious—phenomenal pizza, for instance—this include the busiest appellate court in the country, specifically the Appellate Division, Second Department. This court hears appeals from three out of the five counties that make up New York City, as well as Long Island and two other counties north of New York City.

          This presents two questions—first, how many departments does the New York Appellate Division have, and second, why are New York's courts so busy?

           This post answers the first question, and the next post will address the second one.

          First, an overview of New York's courts. Generally speaking, the trial-level courts are referred to as the Supreme Court (not to be confused with most other states and the federal system, where the "Supreme Court" is the highest court in the system).

           As a first level of review from the trial court, or Supreme Court, New York has the Appellate Division. The appellate courts in New York are divided into four departments. The First Department hears cases from trial-level courts in New York County and Bronx County; the Second Department hears cases from the rest of New York City and the counties listed above; and the Third and Fourth Departments divide the rest of the state's counties between them. If your case was first heard in one of the courts in New York City, you'll probably be appealing in the First or Second Department.

          After the Appellate Division, we have one more level of review: The Court of Appeals. This is the highest court in New York State, and the only option to review a bad outcome here is to request leave from the Supreme Court of the United States for them to hear your case (by filing a request for a writ of certiorari).

          But just because both the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeals are appellate courts, that doesn't mean they review the same issues. We'll talk about the difference in a later post.