Introduction and background

The rules followed in this system are based upon a combination of statutory law (laws passed by the legislature) and what is referred to as common law, the law we inherited from the judicial precedents of English law, which have evolved through the judicial decisions of judges in the State of New York over the past few hundred years.

As compared to the criminal justice system, which is designed to punish and deter criminal conduct, the civil justice system is designed to compensate victims of negligence and to resolve other private disputes between citizens or corporations. Although there are rare cases in which a court can order that a defendant do something or stop doing something, referred to as injunctive relief, the vast majority of civil cases request payment of money damages for injuries suffered to person or property or to settle some other type of dispute, e.g. a breach of contract.

Commencing the law suit

In New York when an injured person retains a lawyer to start a law suit, the act that the lawyer performs to accomplish this is to file a summons and complaint in the appropriate county clerk’s office (usually in the county where the incident occurred, but occasionally in some other county where either the injured person or the person that caused the injury resides). This act of filing the summons and complaint stops the legal clock established by the applicable statute of limitations, which is window of time after the incident that the legislature has adopted for the filing of the case. This is a very important deadline because it cannot be extended by a court. The filing of this summons and complaint tolls (stops the clock on) this statute of limitations as long as the summons and complaint is served (personally or otherwise delivered) to the defendant within 120 days of the filing. Once this is accomplished and the case has started, the statute of limitations is satisfied and is no longer relevant.

In a civil lawsuit, the person who makes the claim and files the complaint is referred to as the plaintiff. The person or entity sued for causing the injury is referred to as the defendant. The complaint filed to start the case generally describes the claim: what the defendant did, why it was wrong, and what general damages it caused. This document is intended to provide notice to the defendant of the claim. Notice in this context means only a general idea of what occurred and when, not all of the specific facts that will eventually be proven at trial. Other devices used later in the discovery phase of the case provide the additional specifics that are required and not contained in the original complaint. The summons is a short document that identifies the parties and summons the defendant to respond to (answer) the complaint within a certain period of time (20 or 30 days, depending on the method of service).

The answer is the document the defendant serves upon the plaintiff’s attorney to respond to the complaint. The answer admits, denies or states that the defendant does not have enough information to admit or deny, the allegations made in the complaint. The answer also contains what are referred to as affirmative defenses, which are defenses that if established by the defendant can limit the amount the defendant would have to pay or even require the complete dismissal of the case. Once the answer is served and filed by the defendant, the discovery phase of the case begins.