New York State Supreme Court of Judicature (Geneva) Common Rule Books

The clerks of the Supreme Court of Judicature were directed to keep common rule books by order of the Court made in April term, 1796. Common Rulebooks contain a record of common rules or orders of the court, entered by the clerk on motion made by an attorney for one of parties to a cause. Motions for common rules were granted as a matter of course during a court term or in vacation between terms. Common rules relating to a defendant's appearance are as follows: order to defendant to pleas within twenty days after service of a copy of the plaintiff's declaration and notice of rule to plead; order to enter appearance of defendant, upon filing of affidavit of service of declaration; order to plaintiff having appeared; order to discontinue the cause, the plaintiff having failed to declare.

Rules relating to judgments include the following: order to enter defendant's default on failure to plead or to put in special bail; order for interlocutory judgment in favor of plaintiff on the defendant's default; order that a writ of inquiry issue to a sheriff to summon jurors to make an inquisition into the amount of damages due to a plaintiff who has obtained a judgment by default; order for interlocutory judgment in favor of plaintiff, with order to a court clerk or to referees to assess and report the amount of damages due; order for final judgment on return of report of damages by clerk or referees, or on return of inquisition by the sheriff; order for final judgment on filing of the circuit roll returned from a Circuit Court, to which an issue had been set for trial and verdict.

Rules relating to execution and return of writs are as follows: order to sheriff to put in special bail for defendant whom he has arrested on a writ of capias ad respondendum, the defendant having failed to do so; order to sheriff to return a writ of fieri facias or capias as satis-faciendum, or have an attachment issue against him; order to enter default of sheriff for not returning these srits. Other rules were entered to amend a declaration or other plea; to discontinue an action; or to enter a nolle prosequi upon the plaintiff's declaration.

Each entry in the common rulebooks contains the title of the cause, the name of the attorney moving the court, and the rule granted. (The first party in the title may be either the plaintiff or the defendant, depending on which was granted the rule. If it was the defendant, the form is 'X ads. Y, the "ads" standing for ad sectam, "at the suite of.") The entries are chronological under the initial letters of the attorneys' name. Each volume contains two books, with initial letters on the two covers.

J2167Series J2167, New York State Supreme Court of Judicature (Geneva) Common Rule Books for Judgments on Default, contains subsidiary common rulebooks for judgments obtained by plaintiffs on default during the years 1829-1839, and

J1167Series J1167, New York State Supreme Court of Judicature (Geneva) Common Rule Books for Returns of Writs of Capias, contains subsidiary common rulebooks for return of writs of capias ad respondendum for the years 1829-1847.

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