This article has been re-keyed with the consent of both authors.

In it, lay readers will take a glimpse of the legal underpinnings which guide the operation of this court in New York City.

NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL

Tuesday, February 25, 1997

Practitioner’s Guide To Small Claims Part

By

Gerald Lebovits and Mark Snyder

Gerald Lebovits is the current president and Mark Snyder is a former president of the Association of arbitrators, Small Claims Part of the Civil Court.

The Small Claims Part is user friendly. It is not designed to compete on the information super-highway. But for getting from here to there, it is probably the most effective system of practical justice ever devised.

The Small Claims Part of the New York City Court is among the busiest courts of the world. Some 40,000 cases are adjudicated there each year. Thousands of lawyers appear in the part annually. This article is directed to those practitioners.

The existence of a Small Claims Part is a triumph of simplicity. It is an expression of the right of all people to justice, despite what small sum may be in issue. Stating a claim in general terms and paying a small fee – waivable for indigency under CPLR [Civil Practice Laws and Rules] article 11 – is all that is required to commence and action. [$10 for claims up to $1000, and $15 for claims above $1000 to $3000 – the maximum claim in NY]

The claimant is given a date to appear, and the court serves the defendant by mail.

On the scheduled date, six weeks after the claim is filed, the claimant tries to prove the case to a judge or arbitrator by a preponderance of the evidence. A defense may be interposed, but only rarely will a judge entertain an application that would interfere with coming to a speedy decision on the merits.

The legal standard is "substantial justice between the parties according to substantive law." The parties receive a judgement by mail within days of the inquest or trial. No further docketing is necessary. Few things in the law

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