The court may at any time order a severance of a particular claim, counterclaim or cross-claim, or as to a particular party, and order that, as to such claim or party, the special proceeding continue as an action or as a separate special proceeding.
§ 407.Severance
Article 4. Special Proceedings · Last amended 1963 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 407 lets the court sever a particular claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, or party from a special proceeding at any time and direct that the severed piece go forward as its own action or as a separate special proceeding.
Full Text of CPLR 407
Plain-English Summary
CPLR 407 gives the court broad, standing authority to sever a piece of a special proceeding — a claim, a counterclaim, a cross-claim, or a party — whenever it decides that piece doesn't belong with the rest. The rule doesn't tie that power to any particular stage; the court may order severance at any time.
Once severed, the piece can go one of two ways: it can continue as an action, or it can continue as a separate special proceeding. A court reaches for the first option when what's left needs the fuller procedural toolkit a plenary action offers — full disclosure, for instance, or a jury trial as of right on a claim for money damages that the special proceeding's summary process wasn't built to handle. The second option keeps a piece on the same summary track if it still fits there, just decoupled from the rest of the case.
Severance is often the tool that resolves the tension between a special proceeding's compressed disclosure and trial rules and a claim that needs more room than those rules give it. Read together with CPLR 408's limits on disclosure and CPLR 409's summary-determination default, CPLR 407 is what lets a court carve out the piece that doesn't fit and send it somewhere it will.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a court split a counterclaim off from a special proceeding?
Yes. CPLR 407 lets the court sever a counterclaim, along with a claim, cross-claim, or party, and direct that it proceed as its own action or separate special proceeding.
When would a court sever part of a special proceeding into its own action?
When the severed claim needs the broader procedural tools a plenary action provides, such as full disclosure or a jury trial as of right, that the special proceeding's summary process doesn't offer.
Is there a deadline for a party to ask for severance under CPLR 407?
No. The rule allows the court to order severance at any time, without tying that power to a particular stage of the proceeding.
Does a severed claim become a completely separate case?
It can. CPLR 407 lets the severed piece continue as its own action, with its own docket and procedural rules, or as a separate special proceeding if it still fits that track.
Can a single party be severed out of a special proceeding?
Yes. CPLR 407 covers severance as to a particular party, not just as to a claim, counterclaim, or cross-claim.
Advisory Committee Notes
Provisions as to joinder of claims, counterclaims and cross-claims, under former law applicable generally only to an action, are applicable under new CPLR § 103(b) to special proceedings. It is essential, therefore, that the court have broad powers of severance where the joinder or interposition of such claims would interfere with the summary nature of the special proceeding. The provisions of new CPLR §§ 603 and 1003 as to severance and separate trials provide appropriate power. This section gives the court the additional power to sever as to a claim or party and require the severed portion to proceed as an action or as a separate special proceeding. This power is especially important if two claims are governed by different statutes.
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
Also known as: severance special proceeding New Yorksplitting counterclaim special proceeding NYCPLR 407 severanceseparate special proceeding from action