Courts have "jurisdictional limits" -- which means they will typically hear only certain kinds of cases at certain dollar levels. By way of example, in the City of New York, the Civil Court may only hear claims totaling up to $25,000.* Any request exceeding that sum should be brought in your county's Supreme Court.
What happens if you start your lawsuit in the wrong court?
It might end up getting dismissed. And, you will have to start from scratch in the right forum.
That's what happened to Leslie Ann Jules in the case of Jules v. Cort . Ms. Jules sued Orlan M. Cort in the Kings County Civil Court for disposing some $30,000 of personal property from her apartment.
Although Ms. Jules was only awarded $16,671.24, the Appellate Term, 2nd and 11th Judicial Districts, opted to reverse and dismiss the case, since her original demand of $30,000 exceeded the court's jurisdictional limit (by some $5000). Apparently, Ms. Jules had not agreed to reduce the amount she was seeking "by motion or by stipulation," thus divesting the court of the power to hear the case in its entirety.
Since the $16K that Ms. Jules was initially awarded did not violate the Civil Court's limitations, how is it in the interests of justice (or judicial economy) to annul that outcome and force the litigants to begin anew?
This one strikes us a punt!
For a copy of the Appellate Term's decision, please use the following link: Jules v. Cort
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*This limitation does not apply to cases brought within the court's landlord-tenant parts.