MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING IN NY COUNTY

Pursuant to Chapter 416 of the Laws of 2009, mandatory electronic filing will be instituted in the Supreme Court, New York County, in certain commercial cases (“mandatory commercial cases”). The target date for commencement of this program is May 24, 2010.  A Uniform Rule is being drafted that will set forth the procedures for mandatory e-filing.  Although that Rule will control, the following are the key aspects of mandatory e-filing that the Court at present expects to implement. 

Any mandatory commercial case commenced on or after May 24 and any previously-commenced such case in which a Request for Judicial Intervention (“RJI”) is filed on or after that date must be electronically filed through the New York State Courts Electronic Filing System (“NYSCEF”), as must subsequent filings therein.  Mandatory e-filing also applies to Commercial Division cases commenced since June 15, 2008 in which no party has declined to consent to e-filing.  Mandatory commercial cases consist of commercial matters of the types set forth in Uniform Rule 202.70 (b) (excluding those listed in 202.70 (c)), irrespective of whether the cases have been or will be designated as Commercial Division actions, provided that the amount in controversy is over $100,000 (exclusive of interest, costs, disbursements, counsel fees, and punitive damages). However, in two categories of mandatory commercial cases there is no monetary threshold: corporate and other business dissolution proceedings and commercial arbitration matters (see Uniform Rule 202.70 (b) (11) and (12)).

The Court's flyer on the electronic filing can be found here.  Follow the New York County Web site for further information as the transition to mandatory electronic filing is made.  

Justice Stevens Announces Retirement

Thirty-four years after taking his position on the Supreme Court, Justice Stevens, who turns 90 years of age on April 20, has announced his retirement today.  The text of Justice Stevens' letter to the president follows below.

My dear Mr. President:


Having concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the Court's next Term, I shall retire from regular active service as an Associate Justice, under the provisions of 28 D.S.C. § 371(b), effective the next day after the Court rises for the summer recess this year. Most respectfully yours,

John Paul Stevens

Justice Stevens was appointed by President Nixon to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 1970.  When Justice William O. (Wild Bill) Douglas retired a year after suffering a debilitating stroke in 1974, Attorney General Edward Levi proposed Stevens' appointment to the Court.  President Ford acted on Levi's advice and the Senate confirmed Stevens' appointment without controversy.  Justice Stevens took his position on the bench on December 19, 1975.   

As a justice, Stevens avoided simple conservative or liberal characterizations.  However, Justice Stevens most often was in accordance with the court's liberal bloc in those cases involving abortion, criminal law, civil rights and church-state relations.  As the Court moved more toward the right during the Reagan and Bush presidencies, Stevens appeared more liberal relative to the composition of the Court.  After Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito took the bench, Stevens was more frequently among the four liberal justices in dissent. 

Justice Stevens' retirement will not change the court's conservative-liberal split, where the president is expected to name a liberal-leaning replacement.  Toward that end, the leading candidates at present are Solicitor General Elena Kagan, 49, and federal appellate Judges Merrick Garland, 57, and Diane Wood, 59.