New York Commercial Division: Thresholds, RJI Filing, and Assignment

The rules of the New York Commercial Division, codified at 22 NYCRR 202.70, decide which business cases the specialized court will hear and how they move once accepted. A dispute qualifies only if it clears the monetary threshold set for the county of filing and falls within one of the subject matter categories the rule lists. Once assigned, the case runs on faster conference and discovery timelines than a general civil matter, and parties can opt into an even quicker track by consent.¹

Monetary Thresholds by County

Each county that hosts a Commercial Division sets its own dollar floor under 22 NYCRR 202.70(a):²

New York County: $500,000
Nassau County: $200,000
Kings County: $150,000
Queens County: $100,000
Westchester County: $100,000
Albany and Suffolk Counties: $50,000

The court calculates the amount strictly. Punitive damages, interest, court costs, disbursements, and attorney fees are excluded from the total.²

When the suit seeks an injunction or declaratory judgment rather than money, the threshold is measured by the “value of the object of the action,” meaning whichever is greatest among the intended benefit of the suit, the value of the right being protected, or the value of the injury being prevented. The court evaluates this based on the RJI Addendum and the operative pleadings at the time assignment is sought.¹

Four categories qualify regardless of amount: shareholder derivative actions, commercial class actions, dissolution of corporations, partnerships, LLCs, LLPs, and joint ventures, and Article 75 proceedings related to international arbitrations.²

Which Case Types Qualify

Clearing the dollar threshold is only half the test. The dispute must also fit one of the subject matter categories in 22 NYCRR 202.70(b). The common ones:¹

Breach of contract or fiduciary duty arising out of business dealings
Business torts such as unfair competition, trade secret misappropriation, and interference with contractual relations
UCC transactions, including sale-of-goods disputes and secured transactions, but not disputes over individual cooperative or condominium units
Internal affairs of business organizations, including governance and membership disputes
Business fraud and misrepresentation tied to a commercial relationship or transaction
Professional malpractice arising from business services, such as accounting malpractice in a corporate audit, but not medical malpractice or personal injury claims

The thread running through all of these is a commercial relationship. A supply dispute between two companies fits. A contract fight between neighbors does not, no matter the amount.

Cases the Division Will Not Hear

Several categories are excluded under 22 NYCRR 202.70(c) even if the money is there:¹

Suits to collect professional fees
Declaratory judgment actions about insurance coverage for personal injury or property damage
Residential landlord-tenant matters, and commercial real estate disputes that involve only rent payment
Home improvement contracts for residential properties of one to four units, including individual co-op or condo units
Judgment enforcement proceedings, unless the underlying judgment came from the Commercial Division
First-party insurance claims, including insurer actions to collect premiums or rescind non-commercial policies
Attorney malpractice, except where the underlying legal work was a business service covered by 202.70(b)(8)

Filing the RJI and Commercial Division Addendum

Entry into the division begins with a Request for Judicial Intervention paired with the Commercial Division Addendum, Form UCS-840C. On the RJI, the filer selects the “Commercial” designation and checks the box for “Commercial Division.”¹

The Addendum requires the filing party to certify that the case meets both the monetary and subject matter requirements. That means a concise statement of what kind of commercial dispute is involved and a damages (or value-of-object) calculation that clears the county’s threshold. Vague descriptions or arithmetic that includes excluded items will push the case out of the division and into the general civil pool.

The 90-Day Deadline

Any party may seek Commercial Division assignment, but the RJI and Addendum must be filed within 90 days of serving the complaint.³ Missing it generally forecloses assignment to the division.

Filing Fees and E-Filing

Opening a Supreme Court case requires purchasing an index number and paying the RJI fee. In New York County, that is $210 for the index number and $95 for the RJI, a combined $305. Other counties set their own amounts.⁴ Filing goes through the New York State Courts Electronic Filing system (NYSCEF), and Commercial Division cases in many counties are subject to mandatory e-filing, so paper submissions may not be accepted.

Assignment and Challenging a Transfer Out

After filing, the clerk reviews the documents and assigns the case to a Commercial Division justice. If the assigned justice concludes the case does not belong in the division, it is transferred to a general civil part of Supreme Court.¹

A party that disagrees has ten days from receiving the transfer notice to submit a letter application to the Administrative Judge under 202.70(f)(2), with copies to all other parties. The Administrative Judge’s ruling on whether the case belongs in the Commercial Division is final.⁵

Conferences and Discovery After Assignment

A preliminary conference is held within 45 days of assignment, or as soon as practicable after that. Adjournments are discouraged: no more than one, and no longer than 30 days, absent good cause.¹

Before the conference, counsel for every side must confer about settlement, the scope of discovery, jurisdictional questions, voluntary information exchanges, and whether mediation or other alternative dispute resolution would help. Commercial Division cases in New York County are presumptively eligible for mediation, so the court expects substantive engagement rather than a formality.

Missing a conference, or sending someone without authority to make decisions, can draw preclusion orders or other sanctions. Counsel are expected to appear prepared and authorized to bind their clients.

Electronic Discovery and Privilege Logs

Discovery of electronically stored information is governed by Commercial Division Rule 11-c, which directs the parties to confer early about data sources, search parameters, production format, preservation obligations, costs, and privilege protection. Disputes the parties cannot resolve go to the court. Rule 11-b requires privilege logs to be computer-generated, searchable, and detailed enough to allow meaningful review.¹

Accelerated Adjudication

Parties who want a faster resolution can opt into the Commercial Division’s accelerated adjudication process under Rule 9. Both sides must consent in writing, and that consent can be written into the underlying contract before any dispute arises.⁶

In exchange for a nine-month timeline from RJI filing to trial readiness, both parties irrevocably waive:

The right to a jury trial
The right to recover punitive damages
The right to interlocutory appeals
Objections based on personal jurisdiction or forum non conveniens

Discovery is capped: no more than seven interrogatories, five requests to admit, and seven depositions per side, each limited to seven hours. Electronic discovery must be narrowly tailored to custodians whose documents are genuinely expected to contain material evidence.⁶ Class actions are excluded from the accelerated track.

Removal to Federal Court

A case that qualifies for the Commercial Division will not always stay there. If the parties are citizens of different states and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000, the dispute also fits federal diversity jurisdiction.⁷ A corporation is a citizen of both its state of incorporation and the state of its principal place of business, so a New York-incorporated company headquartered in New York suing another New York company stays in state court regardless of amount.

When diversity exists, a defendant served with a Commercial Division complaint has 30 days from service to file a notice of removal in the federal district where the state action is pending, with copies of all pleadings and prompt notice to the opposing party and the state court clerk.⁸ Once removal takes effect, the state court stops all proceedings unless the case is sent back. For diversity removals, the one-year outside limit from the start of the action applies unless the plaintiff acted in bad faith to prevent removal. Plaintiffs who want the Commercial Division should weigh the diversity question before filing.

1
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 22 NYCRR 202.70 – Rules of the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court
2
Legal Information Institute. 22 NYCRR 202.70 – Rules of the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court – Section: General
3
New York State Unified Court System. RJIs and Assignments
4
New York State Unified Court System. New York County Supreme Court, Civil Term Fees
5
Federal Judicial Center. 22 NYCRR 202.70 – Rules of the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court
6
Legal Information Institute. 22 NYCRR 202.70.9 – Accelerated Adjudication
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 1332 – Diversity of Citizenship; Amount in Controversy; Costs
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 1446 – Procedure for Removal of Civil Actions