East Northport, NY asked in Business Law, Civil Litigation, Contracts and Consumer Law for New York

Q: Can a summons be dismissed if a claim was submitted to a civil court,instead of small claims(as directed in contract?)

The summons concerns a disputed unpaid service bill (< $1K). The district court is located in Suffolk County, NY. The summons court index # starts with "CV", I was told that this indicates Civil Court, and "SC" would have indicated Small Claims Court.

The service contract's "Arbitration Of Disputes" section can be found below:

"Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this contract or any breach thereof shall be settled by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its Consumer Arbitration rules. Any judgement on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any controversy or claim may be submitted by either Buyer or Seller to a small claims court having jurisdiction of the controversy or claim."

1 Lawyer Answer
Michael David Siegel
Michael David Siegel
Answered
  • New York, NY
  • Licensed in New York

A: A court of higher jurisdiction has jurisdiction over the claim as well. A $1000 claim could even be in Supreme Court, although it makes no sense to do it. A monetary limit of a court's jurisdiction sets the ceiling for claims, not the floor.

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