Imagine you are in an automobile accident on a state highway, where you’re injured by a reckless driver at an unsafe intersection.
To sue the driver for damages, you’ll go to Supreme Court. But if you also want to sue the state for creating that dangerous intersection, you’ll need to go to a second court, the Court of Claims, which only hears cases against the state. The Supreme Court justice cannot hear your claim against the state, and the Court of Claims judge cannot hear your claim against the driver.And while there is a Supreme Court in every county, only one county in our district — Monroe — has a Court of Claims presence. So if you happen to live in Canandaigua, you can argue your Supreme Court case right in town. But you’ll have to travel to Rochester for the Court of Claims action. That one crash will bring you to two courts in two different courthouses with two different judges who will preside over two different trials.
– from Craig Doran, New York State Supreme Court justice and the administrative judge for the 7th District. In that capacity, he is responsible for overseeing court operations in the trial courts in Cayuga, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne and Yates counties.