Brooklyn’s Supreme Court one of New York’s best and most expeditious

February 1, 2019 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Hon. Lawrence Knipel is the administrative judge for the Brooklyn Supreme Court, Civil Term. In 2018 that court has more pending cases than any other district in New York, despite having fewer judges than Queens and Manhattan. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese

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Justice happens faster in Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Supreme Court, Civil Term, is one of the busiest courts in the entire country. Here in New York, it’s finishing more cases than any other court in the state — and faster — and doing so with less resources, according to the New York State Unified Court System Executive Summary for 2018, which was obtained by the Brooklyn Eagle.

According to the report, Queens is the New York county with the most judges sitting in Supreme Court, Civil Term, at 62. Manhattan has the second most with 60. Those courts have 5,194 and 6,280 civil cases pending, respectively.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn Supreme has more cases pending — 13,469 — than both Manhattan and Queens combined, and it is operating with just 46 judges. That’s 300 judges per note in Brooklyn, compared to 104 in Manhattan and 84 in Queens. The Bronx is the next most efficient in the city, with 27 judges handling 6,771 cases in the Supreme Court, Civil Term.

When it comes to jury trials, Brooklyn once again comes in first, finishing 772 jury trials. This is compared to 429 in the Bronx, 340 in Queens, 305 in Westchester and surrounding counties and only 287 in Manhattan.

Brooklyn’s total number of jury and non-jury civil trials in 2018 was up to 1,891, well more than twice the 764 jury and non-jury trials completed in Manhattan. Only Queens, with 1,124 total trials, even comes close.