New York Appellate Division
Note: this text is used in the New York appellate division websites:
The Appellate Division is New York State’s intermediate level appellate court. It hears appeals from trial courts and has jurisdiction to hear certain original proceedings commenced in or transferred to it as provided by law. In determining appeals it has power to review issues of law, fact, and discretion arising in civil and criminal cases. Appeals from the Appellate Division are taken to the Court of Appeals, the State’s highest court. The greater part of all appellate review in New York State is provided by the Appellate Division.
The State of New York is divided into four Judicial Departments. Each Department of the Appellate Division exercises its jurisdiction in a separate geographic region. The Second Department includes just over 8% of New York’s land area and contains slightly more than one-half of the State’s population. It is comprised of the 10 downstate counties of Richmond, Kings, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, and Putnam. The court hears civil appeals from the Supreme Court, Surrogate’s Court, Family Court, and Court of Claims and criminal appeals from the Supreme Court and County Court in those 10 counties. Demographically it ranges from highly urban in the New York City counties of Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, and parts of Richmond (Staten Island), suburban in Nassau, Westchester, and parts of Richmond, Suffolk, and Rockland, and relatively rural in Orange, Dutchess, Putnam, and parts of Suffolk and Rockland. The courthouse of the Appellate Division, Second Department, is located in Kings County in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District.
The Supreme Court, of which the Appellate Division is a part, is New York State’s principal trial court, with a branch in each of the State’s 62 counties. The Justices of the Supreme Court are elected to 14-year terms by the voters of their respective judicial districts; there are 13 such districts in New York State. All Supreme Court Justices have a mandatory retirement age of 70.
Retired Justices may be certified for additional service on the Supreme Court or the Appellate Division for two-year periods. No Justice may serve past the age of 76. The Justices of the Appellate Division are designated by the Governor from among the Justices of the Supreme Court. The Governor also designates the Presiding Justice in each Department. The State Constitution fixes the number of Justices on the bench of the Second Department at seven, but in the event that the court certifies that additional Justices are necessary for the speedy disposition of the business before the court, the Governor may designate additional Justices to serve as long as the need exists. At full complement, twenty-two Justices sit on the Second Department, seven on the constitutional bench and fifteen as Additional Justices.
New York Appellate Division, First Department
Decisions: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad1/
Apellate Term: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad1/
Rules of Procedure: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad1/
Electronic Filing Rules: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad1/
Forms & Practice Aids: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad1/
Calendars: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad1/
New York Appellate Division, Second Department
Decisions: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/handdowns/index.shtml
Apellate Term: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/appellateterm.shtml
Rules of Procedure: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/pdf/rulesofprocedure.pdf
Electronic Filing Rules: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/AD2/efiling/efilingrules.pdf
Forms & Practice Aids: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/formsandpracticeaids.shtml
Calendars: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/calendar/index.shtml
New York Appellate Division, Third Department
Decisions: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad3/
Apellate Term: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad3/
Rules of Procedure: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad3/
Electronic Filing Rules: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad3/
Forms & Practice Aids: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad3/
Calendars: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad3/
New York Appellate Division, Fourth Department
Decisions: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad4/
Apellate Term: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad4/
Rules of Procedure: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad4/
Electronic Filing Rules: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad4/
Forms & Practice Aids: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad4/
Calendars: courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad4/