Renewed Allure In Hiring 'Private Judges' Under the CPLR

Publication Source: The Suffolk Lawyer

In the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, there should be renewed interest in the often over­looked yet extremely useful provisions of the CPLR authorizing parties to hire a “referee,” or as I will call it here, a private judge, to de­termine commercial and business disputes. Believe it or not, the utility of a private judge to determine legal disputes has been around under the New York justice system for over a century. See Woodruff v. Dickie, 31 How. Pr. Rep. 164 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co., 1866).

The administrative judges and the office of court administration have certainly made pru­dent and understandable decisions in juggling issues of public health and safety in adminis­tering the massive New York state system of justice during this pandemic. Yet, counsel and their clients sure had a wake-up call when the entire e-filing system of the New York Courts was shut down except for cases deemed “essential.”

Authority and powers of pri­vate judges

Enter the availability of “pri­vate judges” as authorized by the CPLR. The authority for such an appointment is contained in CPLR 4001: “A court may appoint a referee to determine an is­sue, perform an act, or in­quire and report in any case where this power was hereto­fore exercised and as may be hereafter authorized by law.” The section governing the power and authority of the private judges who “determine an issue” is CPLR Article 43.

Read the full article in the attached PDF.

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