The plaintiff or plaintiffs shall have a combined total of three peremptory challenges plus one peremptory challenge for every two alternate jurors. The defendant or defendants (other than any third-party defendant or defendants) shall have a combined total of three peremptory challenges, plus one peremptory challenge for every two alternate jurors. The court, in its discretion before the examination of jurors begins, may grant an equal number of additional challenges to both sides as may be appropriate. In any case where a side has two or more parties, the court, in its discretion, may allocate that side’s combined total of peremptory challenges among those parties in such manner as may be appropriate.
§ 4109.Peremptory challenges
Article 41. Trial by a Jury · Last amended 1996 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceSection 4109 gives each side in a New York civil case a combined three peremptory challenges, plus one more for every two alternate jurors, and lets the court add challenges or divide a side's total among multiple parties on that side.
Full Text of CPLR 4109
Plain-English Summary
A peremptory challenge lets a party remove a prospective juror without giving a reason, and section 4109 sets the ratio each side gets. Plaintiffs, however many there are, share a combined three peremptory challenges; defendants, other than any third-party defendant, share the same three, and both sides get one additional challenge for every two alternate jurors drawn for the case. Adding an alternate juror or two therefore raises everyone's challenge count, since alternates are examined and challenged alongside the regular jurors.
The court has room to adjust that baseline before jury selection begins. It can grant both sides an equal number of additional challenges when circumstances call for it, and when one side has more than one party in it, the court can decide how that side's shared total gets divided among them, rather than leaving every co-party to fend for the same three challenges without guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many peremptory challenges do I get in a New York civil trial?
Your side gets a combined three peremptory challenges, plus one more for every two alternate jurors drawn for the case.
Do more peremptory challenges apply if there are alternate jurors?
Yes, each side gets one additional peremptory challenge for every two alternate jurors, on top of the base three.
What if there are multiple defendants on my side of the case?
The defendants share the same combined total of challenges, and the court can decide, in its discretion, how to divide that total among them.
Can the court give the parties more peremptory challenges than section 4109 provides?
Yes, before jury selection begins, the court can grant an equal number of additional challenges to both sides.
Do third-party defendants get their own peremptory challenges?
The section's combined total for defendants excludes any third-party defendant, so third-party defendants are treated separately from the main defense side.
Advisory Committee Notes
(See also Advisory Committee Notes preceding § 4101, under subheading “Number and selection of jurors.”). This section is based on CPA § 451. The distinction between courts of record and courts not of record as well as the reference to civil actions has been eliminated. Six peremptory challenges are allowed whether a six-man jury or a twelve-man jury is demanded. This is based on present Municipal Court practice and supported by the consideration that many attorneys would not be likely to elect a six-man jury if by so doing they would reduce the number of peremptory challenges available to them. The authorization of an additional peremptory challenge for each alternate juror means that a total of seven peremptory challenges will be allowed where there is one alternate juror and a total of eight peremptory challenges where there are two alternate jurors. The second sentence is designed to permit the court to add to the number of challenges that one side has where the other side is at an advantage because there are more parties whose interest in the type of jurors chosen is the same. To permit calculated use of challenges, the attorneys ought to know how many they have before they must exercise them.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308; amd, L 1972, ch 185, § 3; L 1996, ch 655, § 1, eff Oct 24, 1996.
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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