Contact Us

If you have a question about the legal history of New York, please email your request to the Historical Society of the New York Courts with “Legal History Question” in the subject line. Please provide as much information as possible in your request so that we may best assist you. Inquiries will be answered in the order received.

Please note: We can only answer specific factual questions. We cannot undertake extensive research for your project, nor can we provide legal advice. We have a small staff, and our response may take some time.

If you are searching for either records of attorney admissions prior to 1898 or case files from the Supreme, County, or Local Courts, all records are held by the Clerk of the County. Visit the State Unified Court System’s website for contact information. Additional historical records can be found at the New York State Library and New York State Archives. We are unable to conduct research into court records at this time.

Please see a list of NYS court websites below:
New York State Unified Court System
Structure of the NYS Unified Court System
NYS Court of Appeals (New York’s High Court)
Office of Public Affairs

If you have a question about your membership with the Society or about joining the Society, please write to us at the Historical Society of the New York Courts with the subject line “Membership Question” or call us at 914.824.5863. To become a member online, visit Join & Donate

We accept article submission for Judicial Notice on a continual basis throughout the year. Submissions are reviewed by members of the Board of Editors. Authors are not restricted from submitting to other journals simultaneously. Judicial Notice will consider papers on any topic relating to New York State’s legal history. Submissions should be directed to the Executive Director by emailing the Historical Society of the New York Courts with the subject line “Judicial Notice Submission.”

Images are not to be used in any manner without express written permission from the Society. Image usage without prior express written permission from the Society is strictly prohibited. To obtain permission, contact the Historical Society of the New York Courts with the subject line “Image Permission Request.”

Nothing in this policy or in any other agreement with the Society will transfer any underlying rights to the images to you or to any third party. The image will be provided for the express limited purpose set forth in an email from the Society responding to your request to use the image. The images remain the physical property of the Society and the intellectual property of the copyright holder, if applicable.

Images or image files cannot be distributed or re-sold independent from the specific use for which permission is granted and may not be used in a manner allowing permanent storage or re-use by third parties. No permissions may be sublicensed, transferred or assigned. You agree not to make, authorize, or permit any use of any image except as specifically set forth in the written permission from the Society that you will receive.

Images provided by the Society may still be under copyright and protected by the intellectual property laws of the United States and the Berne Convention.

You are solely responsible for clearing the copyright with the rights holder. Requests for reproductions of copyrighted images will not be processed until you have obtained written clearance of such rights from the rights holder.

You agree to provide each reproduction of an image with a credit line that will be supplied to you in the written permissions that you will receive.