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S 9792

Relates to permitting amendment of a claim or notice of intention to file a claim to correct jurisdictional pleading defects

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Jessica Ramos and 2 co-sponsors

Allows claimants against NY State to amend claims or notices to fix pleading defects without restarting, with defined deadlines and factors.

ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
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Bill Summary · S 9792

Bill Summary – S. 9792 (2025-2026) – New York

Title

Relates to permitting amendment of a claim or notice of intention to file a claim to correct jurisdictional pleading defects and to provide for a procedure for the dismissal of a claim based upon claimant's failure to comply with jurisdictional pleading requirements

Purpose and intent

  • To allow claimants against the State (in the Court of Claims) to amend a claim or a notice of intention to file a claim to fix jurisdictional pleading defects without having to start over the process.
  • To establish procedural steps and standards for when amendments may be accepted and when a dismissal may be appropriate due to pleading deficiencies.
  • Aims to balance claimant flexibility with the State’s interests in timely and proper notice and investigation of claims.

Key provisions and changes

Section 1: Amendments to the Court of Claims Act, §11(b) (amendment of claims and notices)

  • Current pleading requirements (subdivision (i)):
    • Claims must specify: time and place of the claim, nature of the claim, items of damages or injuries, and total sum claimed (with a land/rights-in-land exception requiring inventory).
    • Notices of intention to file a claim must set forth the same matters, except the items of damage and the sum claimed need not be stated.
    • Both the claim and the notice must be verified similarly to a Supreme Court complaint.
  • New allowances for amendments (subdivision (ii)):
    • Any claimant who files a claim on or after the effective date may amend the claim to correct filing failures without court leave:
    • Amend within 20 days after service, or anytime before the deadline to respond, or within 20 days after service of a responsive pleading or motion to dismiss based on the defect.
    • Amendments must occur before an action asserting a like claim against a resident of the state would be barred under the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR).
    • Applicants may seek leave to amend:
    • File before a like-state citizen action would be time-barred under CPLR, or within 40 days after service of a motion to dismiss citing the failure.
    • Each leave application must include the proposed amended claim with changes.
    • Courts will consider factors such as excusability of the failure/delay, State notice and opportunity to investigate, and whether failure to file caused substantial prejudice to the State.
    • Any amended claim permitted by this mechanism is deemed to have been interposed at the time the original claim was filed, unless the original claim lacks notice of the proposed amended transactions/occurrences.
  • New allowances for amendments to notices (paragraph (iv)):
    • If a notice of intention to file a claim was served on or after the effective date, the claimant may amend to correct pleading failures within the period to serve such notice under section 10 of the act.

Section 1 (iii): For pre-effective date filings

  • If a claim was filed before the effective date, they may:
    • Amend without leave within 20 days after service or before the response deadline if the service occurred less than 40 days before the effective date.
    • Seek leave to amend within a defined period (before a like-state action would be barred under CPLR, or within 1 year after the effective date, whichever is later).
    • Similar consideration factors apply as above; amendments are treated as interposed at filing time unless the original claim failed to provide notice of amended transactions.

Section 2: Amendments to §11(c) (defenses/objections to pleading defects)

  • Objections to:
    • Time limitations in section 10,
    • Service requirements,
    • Verification requirements,
  • Waiver:
    • Such objections are waived unless raised by motion to dismiss before the responsive pleading is served or in the responsive pleading.
    • For claims served on or after 2026-06-25 (the act’s 2026 effective date framework), objections asserting noncompliance with pleading requirements are waived unless raised similarly.
  • Motion to dismiss deadlines:
    • A motion to dismiss based on pleading failures must be made no later than 120 days after the filing of the note of issue, or no earlier than 30 days before trial if a note of issue is not required.

Section 3: Effective date

  • The act takes effect on the 90th day after it becomes law.

Affected entities and impacts

  • Primary: Claimants and potential claimants against the State of New York in the Court of Claims.
  • Secondary: The State (defendants) and the Office of the Attorney General, which would respond to amended claims.
  • Practical effects:
    • Increased flexibility for claimants to correct jurisdictional pleading defects without initiating a new claim from scratch.
    • Clear procedural pathways for seeking leave to amend with specified criteria.
    • Streamlined dismissal considerations with defined deadlines to challenge deficient pleadings, potentially reducing delays in cases with improper pleadings.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Amended claim/notice windows post-service or post-responsive pleading or motion to dismiss exist, subject to CPLR timing rules.
  • Leave-to-amend processes include explicit factors for the court to weigh, including potential prejudice to the State.
  • Dismissal-related motions have defined deadlines tied to the note of issue timeline or the trial calendar when no note of issue is required.
  • Transition provisions cover both post-effective-date filings and pre-effective-date filings, with different timing allowances.

Bottom-line

S. 9792 modernizes and codifies a structured process for correcting pleading defects in Court of Claims actions, enabling amendments to claims and notices (and to seek leave to amend) while clarifying dismissal procedures for noncompliance. The bill seeks to reduce technical bar-to-prosecution issues for claimants while preserving the State’s interests in timely notice and minimize prejudice. The act would take effect 90 days after enactment.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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