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NEW YORK RESEARCH
New York Case Law Search: Plain-English New York Case Law Research With Cited Official Reports
Ask a New York question in plain English and get the controlling Court of Appeals and Appellate Division authority, with the holding stated plainly and the department that decided it.
Last updated July 2026 · US firms · Research tool, not legal advice
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Plain-English answer
Research memo
- Question
- Short answer
- Authorities
Casesearch shows you the sources. Always read the full opinion and verify citations before you rely on them.
The short answer
New York case law search means working through a court system whose names mislead outsiders: the Court of Appeals is the highest court, and the Supreme Court is the trial court of general jurisdiction. Court of Appeals opinions are published in N.Y.3d, Appellate Division opinions in A.D.3d across four departments, and trial level opinions in Misc.3d. The New York Official Reports are published free by the Law Reporting Bureau, and recent decisions carry a slip opinion cite such as 2026 NY Slip Op 01234.
4
Appellate Division departments
N.Y.3d
official reporter for Court of Appeals opinions
Supreme Court
is the trial court, not the highest court
NY Slip Op
the free official citation for new decisions
Side by side
The New York court structure and where its opinions live
New York keeps its own official reporters, published by the Law Reporting Bureau and available free, which is unusual among the large states.
| Court | What it decides | Official reporter | Precedential weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Court of Appeals | Highest court, seven judges, mostly discretionary review | N.Y.3d (also N.E.3d, N.Y.S.3d) | Binding on every New York court |
| Appellate Division, four departments | Intermediate appeals from Supreme and County Courts | A.D.3d (also N.Y.S.3d) | Binds all trial courts statewide absent contrary authority in their own department |
| Appellate Terms, First and Second Departments | Appeals from city, town and village courts | Misc.3d | Binding within the districts they serve |
| Supreme Court and County Court | Trial court of general jurisdiction, felonies in County Court | Misc.3d, selected opinions only | Persuasive, not binding |
| Second Circuit and federal district courts | Federal questions and diversity cases applying New York law | F.4th, F.Supp.3d | Persuasive only in state court on New York law |
Casesearch is a research accelerator, not legal advice. Open the opinion and confirm the department before you rely on it.
How do I search New York case law?
Get the court names straight first, because every wrong turn in New York research starts there. The Court of Appeals in Albany is the highest court in the state. The Supreme Court is the trial court, with a branch in every county. The Appellate Division sits between them in four departments, and the Appellate Terms handle appeals from the lower city and town courts in the First and Second Departments. A search that returns a Supreme Court decision is handing you a trial court ruling, not the last word.
Then include the county in your question, because it determines your department, and department matters more in New York than most lawyers expect. Under Mountain View Coach Lines v. Storms, an Appellate Division decision binds trial courts throughout the state until the department covering that trial court rules otherwise. So a Second Department holding controls a Fourth Department trial judge who has no contrary authority from the Fourth. When the departments split, the local department wins in its own territory.
Name the county
It fixes your department, and the department decides which Appellate Division line controls.
Do not confuse Supreme Court with the highest court
In New York the Supreme Court is where cases start, not where they end.
Check for a department split
Two departments reaching different answers is common and changes the advice you give.
Use the official slip opinion
New York posts decisions free within days, with a citable NY Slip Op number before pagination.
Why is the Supreme Court the trial court in New York?
The name is a colonial inheritance. New York established its Supreme Court of Judicature in 1691, well before the federal system existed and long before "supreme court" came to mean a court of last resort in American usage. When the state reorganized its judiciary in the nineteenth century it kept the name for the trial court of general jurisdiction and gave the top court a different one: the Court of Appeals, created by the 1846 constitution.
The practical effect on research is that citation and court hierarchy have to be read together. A decision reported at 70 Misc.3d 1 is a trial court opinion whatever the caption says, and it persuades rather than binds. A decision at 200 A.D.3d 500 is intermediate appellate authority with statewide reach. A decision at 38 N.Y.3d 100 is the end of the road. Get comfortable reading the reporter first and the court name second.
What do N.Y.3d, A.D.3d and Misc.3d mean?
They are the three official New York reporters, each tied to a level of court, and knowing which one you are looking at tells you the weight of the opinion before you read a word of it. New York also appears in West's regional reporters, N.E.3d for the Court of Appeals and N.Y.S.3d for the Appellate Division and below, and briefs often carry parallel citations.
N.Y.3d
New York Reports, third series. Court of Appeals opinions. Binding on every court in the state.
A.D.3d
Appellate Division Reports, third series. Intermediate appellate authority, identified by department in the parenthetical.
Misc.3d
Miscellaneous Reports, third series. Selected trial court and Appellate Term opinions. Persuasive only.
NY Slip Op
The official slip opinion cite, for example 2026 NY Slip Op 01234, used until the case is paginated in the bound reporter.
N.Y.S.3d and N.E.3d
West parallel cites. Required by the Bluebook in some contexts, optional in New York state practice.
Are Appellate Division decisions binding statewide?
Yes, with a condition that matters. The rule from Mountain View Coach Lines v. Storms is that a trial court must follow the precedent of any Appellate Division department when its own department has not addressed the issue. The Appellate Division is treated as a single statewide court for that purpose, and departments are expected to follow each other absent good reason.
Once your own department speaks, that authority controls in your territory even if three other departments disagree. This produces genuine department splits that can last for years until the Court of Appeals takes a case. For a lawyer researching a New York question, that means finding the First Department answer is not the end of the work if the case is filed in Buffalo. Check your department first, then the others, and note the split explicitly in the memo.
Where can I find New York case law for free?
New York is unusually generous here. The Law Reporting Bureau publishes the New York Official Reports online, and the courts post slip opinions from the Court of Appeals, all four Appellate Division departments, the Appellate Terms and selected trial courts within days of decision. There is a searchable archive going back decades, and the NY Slip Op citation is official, so you can cite a recent decision before it is bound. CourtListener and Google Scholar cover the same material with better full text search.
The gap is the same one every free source has: no citator, no plain-language holdings, and no signal that a case was later reversed, distinguished into irrelevance, or overtaken by an amendment to the CPLR. For everyday New York practice that verification layer is what you are actually buying when you pay for research. The category guide compares what each tier of tool gives you and what it costs.
Frequently asked
Questions buyers ask about new york case law search
How do I search New York case law?
Start with your county, because it determines which Appellate Division department governs. Search Court of Appeals opinions in N.Y.3d and Appellate Division opinions in A.D.3d, treating Misc.3d trial court decisions as persuasive only. Check whether your own department has ruled on the issue before relying on authority from another department.
Why is the Supreme Court the trial court in New York?
The name predates American usage. New York created its Supreme Court of Judicature in 1691 as the general trial court, and kept the name when the 1846 constitution created the Court of Appeals as the state's highest court. So in New York, cases begin in Supreme Court and end in the Court of Appeals.
Are Appellate Division decisions binding on all New York trial courts?
Yes, when the trial court's own department has not decided the issue. Under Mountain View Coach Lines v. Storms, the Appellate Division functions as one statewide court, so a trial judge must follow any department's precedent absent contrary authority from their own department. Once the local department rules, that decision controls in its territory.
What does A.D.3d mean in a New York citation?
A.D.3d is the third series of the Appellate Division Reports, the official reporter for New York intermediate appellate opinions. A cite like 200 A.D.3d 500 (2d Dept 2021) gives volume, page, department, and year. The department in the parenthetical matters because department splits are common in New York.
What is a NY Slip Op citation?
A NY Slip Op cite is the official citation the New York Law Reporting Bureau assigns to a decision when it is first posted, for example 2026 NY Slip Op 01234. It is citable immediately, before the case is paginated in N.Y.3d, A.D.3d or Misc.3d, and it lets you rely on a decision that is only days old.
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Casesearch is a legal research tool, not legal advice. Always read the full opinion and verify citations before relying on them.
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Search New York case law in plain English
Ask your New York question with the county in it and read the controlling Court of Appeals and Appellate Division authority. A research tool, not legal advice.