CPLR 205 Relation Back Applies to Federal Claim Transferred to New York

On October 17, 2019, the First Department issued a decision in Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston v. Moody's Corp., 2019 NY Slip Op. 07491, holding the CPLR 205 relation back applies to federal claims transferred to New York federal court, explaining:

CPLR 205(a) applies to prior actions commenced in a federal court within this state. Plaintiff's prior action, which was removed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on May 27, 2011, was transferred from that court — which lacked general personal jurisdiction over defendants — to the Southern District of New York (SDNY). 28 USC § 1631 provides in pertinent part, Whenever a civil action is filed in a court and that court finds that there is a want of jurisdiction, the court shall transfer such action to any other such court in which the action could have been brought at the time it was filed, and the action shall proceed as if it had been filed in the court to which it is transferred on the date upon which it was actually filed in the court from which it is transferred. Hence, the motion court properly treated plaintiff's prior action as if it had been filed in the SDNY as of May 2011.

(Internal quotations and citations omitted).

It is not unusual for the statute of limitations to be an issue in complex commercial litigation. Contact Schlam Stone & Dolan partner John Lundin at jlundin@schlamstone.com if you or a client have questions regarding whether a claim is barred by the statute of limitations.