Information About the New York District Court

The U.S. Federal Court System was created by an Act of the U.S. Congress, not by the U.S. Constitution. Its jurisdiction differs from that of any state judicial system. The New York District Court has four divisions and they are:

•    U.S. Eastern District Court for New York
•    U.S. Northern District Court for New York
•    U.S. Southern District Court for New York
•    U.S. Western District Court for New York

Eastern District

The Eastern District Court's main offices are at 225 Cadman Plaza East Brooklyn, NY 11201; Main phone: (718) 613-2600, and at 100 Federal Plaza, Central Islip, NY 11722. Main phone: (631) 712-6000. The website for the Eastern District Court is http://www.nyed.uscourts.gov.

Southern District

The Southern District has its main offices at Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY 10007-1312; Phone: (212) 805-0136. The website for the Southern District Court is http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov.

A special note must be made of the Southern District because it has been carved out of the first ever district court under the sovereignty of the United States. Like others, it was established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, primarily for the determination of maritime matters.

It has grown from its early maritime roots to become one of the top District Courts, not only for the nature of the matters filed but also for the distinguished jurists who have graced its benches and heard cases.

Western District

The Western District has its main offices at Olympic Towers, 300 Pearl St. Suite 250, Buffalo, NY 14202; Phone: (716) 362-3200, and at 1220 U.S. Courthouse, 100 State Street, Rochester, NY 14614, Phone: (585) 613-4200. The website for the Western District Court is http://www.nywd.uscourts.gov.

Northern District

The Northern District Court has its main office at the James F. Hanley Federal Building, 7th Floor, 100 South Clinton Street, Syracuse, NY 13261-7367, Phone: 315-234-8500. The website for the Northern District Court is http://www.nynd.uscourts.gov.

It has Divisional Offices in Albany – Street Address: 509 James T. Foley United States Courthouse, 445 Broadway, Albany, NY 12207-2936, Phone: 518-257-1800; Binghamton - Street Address: Federal Building, 2nd Floor, 15 Henry Street, Binghamton, NY 13901, Phone:  607-773-2893; and Utica - Street Address: Alexander Pirnie Federal Building, 3rd Floor, 10 Broad Street, Utica, NY 13501, Phone: 315-266-1189.

District Court Files

The New York Federal District Courts have Electronic Case Filing (ECF) and publish Electronic Case Filing Rules and Instructions. Once filed in ECF, documents are accepted in paper form. For more information, you can visit the ECF database through the court's main website, or get in touch with ECF’s Help Desk.

If you have any filings to make with the court, remember that as per the E-Government Act of 2002 you must not include, or partially redact if inclusion is necessary, various personal data from all filings submitted to the court, including accompanying exhibits.

This includes Social Security numbers, names of minor children, dates of birth, financial account numbers and home addresses (in criminal cases only). For additional information, look up the Administrative Procedures Governing the Filing and Service by Electronic Means at http://www.med.uscourts.gov/ecf/adminprocedures.htm.

If you are dissatisfied with a federal district court (or equivalent court) decision, you may appeal to a U.S. Court of Appeals, and failing that, ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision. Understand, though, that the Supreme Court usually is not bound to do so, and it is the final arbiter of federal constitutional questions.