Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks of the Courts of New York State delivers testimony during a joint legislative budget hearing on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, in Albany, N.Y. Photo: Hans Pennink

New York Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks said that there's no timeline for when the state court system might lift a ban on new nonessential lawsuits, arguing that virtual operations are not yet able to manage the wave of litigation. 

Marks said some people have suggested there should be no limits on the filing of new cases. He said people putting that forward are "greatly misinformed."

"This is a very different court system than the one that existed only a month ago, and it's not yet ready to handle anywhere near the volume of cases it normally handles," Marks said in an interview Wednesday with the New York Law Journal.

The state's court system rolled out sweeping restrictions last month and closed off all "nonessential" services as New York's coronavirus crisis intensified.

The system has since thawed the restrictions, announcing that virtual court operations would be used in a variety of pending cases. But, there remains a ban on new nonessential lawsuits.

Conducting virtual court proceedings is no simple task, Marks said. The effort includes training staff, providing technology resources to judges, and leaning on IT employees who have worked around the clock with limited personnel, he noted.

There were more than 3 million cases filed in trial courts statewide last year, and Marks said it would be a serious mistake to open up the litigation "floodgates." The court system, he said, would not allow thousands of new cases to be filed just so they could sit around.

The court system says it plans to expand virtual court access in the short term, but the specifics of those plans continue to remain unclear.

New York is set to remain under COVID-19 lockdown measures through at least mid-May in a persistent effort to slow the virus's spread. The measures, which sharply restrict gatherings and require nonessential workers to stay home, are aimed at reducing the in-person interactions that spread the virus.

New York and six other northeastern states laid the groundwork earlier this month to coordinate a plan to restart the crippled economy and ease coronavirus lockdown measures. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the six other governors announced a working group would tackle the issue.

Comments from Cuomo on Tuesday conflicted with that messaging. The third-term governor said New York will make reopening decisions on a regional basis for different parts of the state.

Marks reported there have been no conversations around the widespread opening of courthouses and said the court system will follows Cuomo's lead on when to reopen. 

"Our focus is on ensuring that these virtual proceedings are operating successfully," he said.

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