Notwithstanding the expiration of the term at which it was commenced, a trial shall continue until it is completed.
R 4014.Duration of trial
Article 40. Trial Generally · Last amended 1963 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 4014 keeps a trial running until it is finished, regardless of whether the court term in which it began has since expired, so the calendar cannot cut a trial short partway through.
Full Text of CPLR 4014
Plain-English Summary
CPLR 4014 states a narrow but important rule: a trial continues until it is completed, even after the term of court in which it started has expired.
The point is to keep a term's expiration from cutting a trial short or casting doubt on the judge's authority to finish it. The trial judge's power to see the trial itself through to a verdict or decision carries through past the end of the term.
Court terms function as an administrative calendar structure, and while that structure matters less to how trials are scheduled today than it once did, this rule still confirms that a term's close has no bearing on the trial judge's authority to see a case through to the end, because the calendar cannot cut a trial short.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if a New York trial runs past the end of the court term?
Nothing changes: CPLR 4014 provides that the trial continues until it is completed, notwithstanding the expiration of the term at which it began.
Does CPLR 4014 mean a trial judge keeps authority over a case after the term ends?
As to the trial itself, yes: CPLR 4014 lets the trial continue and be completed even though the term in which it began has expired. The rule addresses only the pending trial, not a separate grant of authority over post-trial proceedings.
Why does New York have a rule about trials continuing past a term?
Without it, a trial could be interrupted, or its outcome questioned, because the administrative term calendar closed while the trial was still underway.
Does CPLR 4014 apply to jury and non-jury trials alike?
The rule is not limited to one or the other; it applies broadly to keep a trial running until completion regardless of the term's expiration.
Does CPLR 4014 let a case start after the term in which it was calendared has already expired?
No. The rule speaks only to a trial that has already begun and keeps it running to completion notwithstanding the term's expiration; it says nothing about commencing a new trial once a term has ended.
Advisory Committee Notes
This rule is a simplification of the first phrase of CPA § 436. It is stated as broadly as possible to insure that the trial judge’s power to decide and reopen the case is not terminated by the ending of a term. In a case tried by a jury, the trial judge has power to hear motions but, of course, he can not reopen the case to take further evidence after the jury is discharged, unless the parties waive their right to a jury trial. The last phrase of CPA § 436, that the provision included all proceedings until discharge of a jury or submission on the merits, served no purpose except to illustrate the scope of the rule and is omitted.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, eff Sept 1, 1963.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
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