Civil Court of the City of New York

If you experience any technical issues with the website, then please make note of the steps you've taken to arrive at this issue. Please document any on screen error messages, website address (URL) and/or any screenshots of the issue.

Once you have obtained the information requested above, please call 1-646-386-5484 and have the information ready to provide to the court.

Small Claims Court is a special section of a court where you can sue for up to $5000. You can only sue for money. You cannot sue to make someone do something or for pain and suffering.

Additional sources of information to help you, are: NY County Small Claims Court Website and NY County Small Claims Court Guide

ODR is a process, for the parties involved in the case, to discuss the issues with the help of a neutral third party outside of the courtroom. Items for discussion may include:

• Financial matters, such as the purchase and/or delivery of goods and/or services, division of debts and assets, spousal maintenance, and child support (if applicable);
• Developing a parenting plan with details regarding when the child(ren) will spend time with each parent;
• Decision-making responsibilities regarding any minor child(ren) common to the parties.

About 99% of cases filed in court are resolved without a trial, and many people go to the courthouse to reach a settlement on the date of a hearing or trial. ODR allows you the flexibility to try to settle your matter on your own time, quickly and easily online, all without going to court.

Other than the standard court filing fees, there is no cost to use the ODR system. The service is currently supported by the New York Unified Court System.

The person starting a case enters some identifying information to file their case and/or register on the site. The court notifies the other party that you are willing to negotiate an outcome. When that person joins the site, they will work directly with you to define a settlement. If you cannot come to an agreement on the software, a mediator will be automatically assigned to help you resolve your case online.

If you are reading this online, you already have everything you’ll need to resolve your dispute. ODR works just as well on any mobile device that can access the internet. Just go to the site on your device's web browser to access it just like you would on a desktop or laptop computer.

You can complete an online claim form by clicking on File Claim through this online system or get a Statement of Claim form from the Court Clerk in your county.

To help you complete the form, you can use the script provided or follow the short video tutorial:

SC-50 Statement of Claim Tutorial Script and SC-50 Statement of Claim Form Tutorial

The mediator is a trained, experienced neutral third party who will help you and the other party find a solution to your problem online. The mediator will not act as an advocate or attorney for either party and will not give any legal advice or decide the outcome of your case.

You first need to be logged in to the ODR site in order to access your conversation space. Once logged in, you will see three tabs. One of them will be labeled Conversations. Click on the Conversations tab and it will place you in the conversations space where you can engage with the other party and the mediator.

The negotiation space is private to you, the other party, the mediator and the system administrator. No one else has the ability to view your conversation. With very limited exceptions, such as threatening harm to another person, all discussions are confidential and cannot be used in court.

There may be a time when you would like the mediator to know something that you don't want to share with the other party. In this case, the ODR site allows you to communicate privately with the mediator, who will keep this information confidential. You can have a private conversation with just the mediator by clicking on the "[your name] +Online Mediator" tab.

Participants generally find that negotiating outside of the court is more useful when they're prepared and have a plan. Having a plan means that you’ve identified your goals, assessed what the other party’s goals might be, and considered several possible settlement options that might work for you, as well as the other party. And keep in mind that quite often parties may respond to non-economic offers, like offering an apology or empathizing with their circumstance. Thinking through these things in advance will help you and the other participant reach an agreement that works for everyone.

When a party sends you a settlement offer, it’s up to you to decide if you want to accept or reject the offer. If the offer works for you, you can accept it and move on to the next screen.

If the offer doesn't work for you, it’s best to reply with an explanation of why it doesn’t work for you. Just saying "no" doesn't help to come up with something better and will probably end the conversation. You can then make a counter-offer you feel does address your needs. Again, offering some explanation is usually helpful.

It’s always helpful to think through terms that might be important in carrying out your agreement. Here are some terms that you might consider:

• General terms: address “who, what, when, where, and how” considerations.
• Future terms: if you’re interacting with each other in the future, how will you do that?
• Monetary terms: when, how, and to whom payments will be made?
• Future dispute resolution: what will you do if you have another dispute?
• Confidentiality: Is this agreement confidential? With whom can you talk about it?
• If there’s a pending court case, who will dismiss the lawsuit or file a consent judgment, and when?
• Any other terms you’ve agreed to.

No, but it's a good idea to know what your legal rights are before engaging in negotiations to settle your case. A good source for free legal information is Legal Help NY

Signed agreements are considered binding contracts, so you should make sure that you are satisfied with your agreement before signing it. If you do change your mind however, you could ask the other party if he/she would be willing to participate in online mediation again to discuss and possibly change the terms of the agreement. It is completely up to the other party to decide if he/she wishes to mediate again. You can also petition the NY Civil Court to attempt to have a judge vacate your agreement

This site and/or this site provides some information about case types and their associated Statute of Limitations. However, this is not a definitive list and you should reach out to the court or seek legal assistance if you have questions about your case.

This glossary provides short definitions of legal terms you may find on this website as well as on the forms, documents and any communication that you may receive from the court.