Welcome
The New York State Court of Claims is the exclusive forum for civil litigation seeking damages against the State of New York or certain other State-related entities such as the N.Y. State Thruway Authority, the City University of New York and the N.Y. State Power Authority (claims for the appropriation of real property only).

2007 amendments to the Court of Claims Act:

Ch. 210 -- provides docket priority for unjust conviction claims where the proof is based on DNA evidence ("Anthony's Law").

Ch. 223 -- a technical amendment deleting extraneous language and clarifying that a defense based on a missing or defective verification requires two steps: (1) notification of the opposing party with due diligence, and (2) the assertion of the defense in the answer or a pre-answer motion.

Ch. 606 -- reverses the decision in Kolnacki v State and provides that the total sum claimed need not be set forth in claims for personal injury, malpractice or wrongful death.

This is NOT Small Claims court. Information on Small Claims courts may be obtained at the following sites:

• Small Claims in N.Y. City
• Small Claims outside of N.Y. City

The Court of Claims has no jurisdiction over any city, county or town government, or over any individual defendant. For information on New York law generally, see Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute's New York page.

Those unfamiliar with the Court of Claims should start by reading the Frequently Asked Questions.

All original material on this web site was created by Stephen Weinberg. Permission is granted to reproduce this material for non-commercial purposes.

The forms provided at this site are unofficial and non-mandatory. They are designed primarily for self-represented (pro se) claimants. They are PDF documents and require Adobe Acrobat Reader.