NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6264
SPONSOR: Simotas (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in
relation to the service of papers
This is one in a series of measures being introduced at the request of
the Chief Administrative Judge upon the recommendation of her Advisory
Committee on Civil Practice.
This measure would amend CPLR 2103(f)(1) to repeal its requirement that
papers served by mail upon an attorney in a pending action be mailed
within the State of New York. This measure also would amend CPLR
2103(b)(2) to extend by one day, to six days, the prescribed period of
time for response to such papers when they are served by mail from
outside the State but within the geographic boundaries of the United
States.
We take particular note of a recent decision by the Appellate Division,
First Department, holding service by mail made outside the State insuf-
ficient (M. Entertainment, Inc. v. Leydier (2009 NY Slip Op 04169) (May
28, 2009) (reversed on other grounds, 2009 NY Slip Op 07671 (October 27,
2009)). In response, our Advisory Committee has suggested to us that
CPLR 2103(b)(6), the rule regarding service upon an attorney via
dispatch by overnight delivery service, does not require such dispatch
to be made within the State, only that the service regularly accept
items for overnight delivery within the State, as follows:
(b) Upon an attorney. Except where otherwise prescribed by law or by
order of court, papers to be served upon a party in a pending action
shall be served upon the party's attorney. Where the same attorney
appears for two or more parties, only one copy need be served upon the
attorney. Such service upon an attorney shall be made:
6. by dispatching the paper to the attorney by overnight delivery
service at the address designated by the attorney for that purpose or,
if none is designated, at the attorney's last known address. Service by
overnight delivery service shall be complete upon deposit of the paper
enclosed in a properly addressed wrapper into the custody of the over-
night delivery service for overnight delivery, prior to the latest time
designated by the overnight delivery service for overnight delivery.
Where a period of time prescribed by law is measured from the service of
a paper and service is by overnight delivery, one business day shall be
added to the prescribed period. "Overnight delivery service" means any
delivery service which regularly accepts items for overnight delivery to
any address in the state; or... (emphasis added).
We are persuaded by our Committee's view that the rule for mailing
should correspond with that for a delivery service. The Committee also
believes that allowing service by mail from outside the State will
remove an artificial barrier to service and encourage litigation to be
brought in New York. The act of removing this requirement recognizes the
current realities of multi-state practice and the increased mobility of
litigants and litigation. Finally, the measure has been amended to be
limited in scope and application to the geographic boundaries of the
United States.
This measure would have no fiscal impact on the State. It would take
effect on the first day of January next succeeding the date on which it
shall have become law.
2014 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
OCA 2014-97
Assembly 9763 (M. of A. Simotas) (Passed)
2010 Legislative History:
OCA 2010-59
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6264
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 19, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SIMOTAS, WEINSTEIN -- (at request of the Office
of Court Administration) -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to the
service of papers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph 2 of subdivision (b) of rule 2103 of the civil
2 practice law and rules, as separately amended by chapters 461 and 478 of
3 the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
4 2. by mailing the paper to the attorney at the address designated by
5 that attorney for that purpose or, if none is designated, at the attor-
6 ney's last known address; service by mail shall be complete upon mail-
7 ing; where a period of time prescribed by law is measured from the
8 service of a paper and service is by mail, five days shall be added to
9 the prescribed period if the mailing is made within the state and six
10 days if the mailing is made from outside the state but within the
11 geographic boundaries of the United States; or
12 § 2. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (f) of rule 2103 of the civil practice
13 law and rules, as amended by chapter 367 of the laws of 1999, is amended
14 to read as follows:
15 1. "Mailing" means the deposit of a paper enclosed in a first class
16 postpaid wrapper, addressed to the address designated by a person for
17 that purpose or, if none is designated, at that person's last known
18 address, in a post office or official depository under the exclusive
19 care and custody of the United States Postal Service within the [state]
20 United States;
21 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
22 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07370-02-5
