BILL NUMBER:  S6031

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to venue
for certain actions

 SUMMARY PROVISIONS :

Section 1 amends subdivision (a) of section 503 of the CPLR to add as
a place of trial the county in which a substantial part of the events
or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred.

Section 2 effective date.

 EXISTING LAW :

CPLR 503 lists proper venues to commence a civil action.

 JUSTIFICATION :

In civil actions, venue refers to the correct county in which to bring
an action. In New York State, in the absence of a prior agreement, the
options on where to place venue for a lawsuit are restrictive. Other
than for controversies concerning ownership or use of property or
chattel or against governmental entities, choice of venue is limited
              

to the county of residence of one of the parties.  A problem arises if
both plaintiff and defendant are residents of a different county from
the county in which the cause of action arose.  In that case, proper
venue is either in the county of residence of the plaintiff or
defendant, but not where the incident occurred. This means that,
absent residence of a party in the subject county, that county's court
system has no authority to hear controversies about unsafe premises,
unsafe worksites, unsafe driving and a myriad of other scenarios
within its borders. Nor are jurors from the subject community, with
the most interest in setting community standards, able to hear such
controversies. In addition, witnesses are often located in county
where the events that are the subject of the action occurred.

This bill will also bring New York into conformance with federal
courts which currently allow venue in "a judicial district in which a
substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim
occurred" 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) (2).

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

New bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediately