Can I find out if someone has secretely filed a lawsuit against me

January 8th, 2009
  • I live in New Jersey and work in Manhattan, NY. In these litigious times, I would like to find out for sure whether or not someone may have secretely filed a civil lawsuit against me in Manhattan, but kept it secret by not "serving" the suit on me (yet). If you know how to do this, I can email you my name. If it turns out to be true, then I would want to know how to find out the specifics. Finding out the specifics could perhaps be worked out between us as an extra generous tip or as a second, separately paid for question, whatever you prefer.


  • Hello and thank you for your question. As the cited website explains, the procedure in New York is that a lawsuit, often referred to as an ?action,? is typically commenced by filing a summons and complaint with the applicable office of the county clerk. After the action has commenced, a copy of the summons and complaint must be served on the defendant within 120 days after the filing date (with a limited exception where the statute of limitation is four months or less). Obtaining a Judgment in New York http://www.hodgsonruss.com/article_327.html The New York statute is the CPLR (Civil Practice Law & Rules). The table of contents of the CPLR is available online, but I have not located the text of the statute itself for you to read. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/nycodes/c16/a4.html So, you need only be concerned with finding out about possible actions that have commenced in the past 120 days, since that would be the last day before you would receive personal service of the summons and complaint. Inside that 120 window, you would need to inquire at the New York [Manhattan] County Clerk's office at Battery Park to learn if you have been named in any such filing. County Clerk Offices 60 Centre Street http://www.courts.state.ny.us/supctmanh/cty_cler.pdf "When a case first reaches the County Clerk, the party must purchase an index number. At that time the Clerk will open a County Clerk's file and create a color-coded file jacket bearing the index number assigned to the case. Papers subsequently presented for filing will be filed in this jacket. Index numbers take the form of six digits followed by a slash and the four digits of the year the case began, e.g., 340705/1996." http://www.courts.state.ny.us/supctmanh/litigation_functions.htm "A filing made in the routine way will also be listed in the County Clerk?s minutes and the listing will appear in Datacase and Court Alert." Id. There is also an online system that you should first try accessing. I cannot vouch for how quickly it is brought up-to-date but unless you need instant information you may find it a lot more convenient than making periodic visits to Centre Street. Find All New York State Civil Supreme Court Pending Cases http://portal.courts.state.ny.us/pls/portal30/cms_dev.attorney_court_schedules.show Search terms used: cplr text "60 centre" new york county clerk site:.us Thanks again for letting us help. Google Answers Researcher Richard-ga







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