The New York State Supreme Court Commercial Division is designed to handle complex “commercial cases,” defined as actions in which the principal claims involve or consist of one or more of 12 specified categories.1 The rules of the Commercial Division are found in Section 202.70 of the Uniform Rules of the Supreme and County Courts (22 NYCRR §202.70), which rules may be amended from time to time by the chief administrative judge. The past four months have seen the most changes to the Commercial Division rules of any year since the initial adoption of Section 202.70 in 2006. These changes include amendments to the jurisdictional requirements, changes to procedure, and additions to rules of discovery. In addition, two pilot projects were recently established for the First Judicial District—New York County—relating to mandatory mediation and referral of discovery disputes to special masters. Each of these additions, amendments and changes are explored below.
Monetary Thresholds
With certain exceptions, including cases where equitable or declaratory relief is sought, assignment to the Commercial Division requires that certain monetary thresholds are met. These thresholds are considered jurisdictional and are county/district specific. See Rule 202.70(a) for the specific thresholds. Effective Sept. 2, 2014, the monetary thresholds for seven of the 10 judicial districts will double. At that time, the minimum threshold in any of the judicial districts will be $50,000.
