When may exhaustion of administrative remedies be bypassed before seeking Article 78 relief?

• A. If remedies would be futile or unavailable (correct)
• B. If the agency has not published final determination
• C. If you want to expedite
• D. If the agency is federal

Answer: (A)

Exhaustion of administrative remedies is normally required before seeking Article 78 relief, because courts defer to the agency to fix its own decisions first. The key exception is that exhaustion may be bypassed if pursuing those remedies would be futile or unavailable. Futility means there is no realistic chance the agency would grant relief through its internal process, or the process cannot provide any meaningful remedy at all. Unavailability means the administrative path cannot be pursued or does not exist under the circumstances. In those situations, it makes sense to go straight to the courts rather than chase a remedy that would accomplish nothing. The other options don’t justify skipping exhaustion: lack of a published final determination is a procedural stage issue, not a ground to bypass the rule; wanting to expedite isn’t itself a valid justification; and federal agency status is outside the NY Article 78 framework.