Section 500.11 of the Court of Appeals’ rules (22 NYCRR 500.11) sets forth an “alternative procedure” which the court can utilize to resolve an appeal that, in the court’s view, does not warrant full briefing and argument. In lieu of submitting new briefs and of then appearing for oral argument, each party submits a letter “stating its arguments.” The Court of Appeals then decides the matter based upon those letters and the parties’ appellate division briefs.
One advantage of the alternate procedure is that the appeal is often decided more quickly than would otherwise occur. One disadvantage is that the resultant ruling, which is almost invariably unanimous, is usually nothing more than a sentence or two and is sometimes so short of explanation and context as to border on cryptic. In such instances, one cannot intelligently analyze the high court ruling without also examining the lower court rulings and often the lower court briefs as well. Even then, while one may know that the state’s highest court definitively resolved an issue that split the appellate division panel, the careful reader may not be able to discern what, precisely, the Court of Appeals meant.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
