New York Legal Update Blog
This blog offers information and insight about key issues, court decisions, and legislation emerging from this jurisdiction, particularly in the areas of medical and pharmacy negligence, health and long-term care, premises liability, and intellectual property.
Recent Posts
February 1, 2023
In the waning hours of January 30, 2023 – the deadline to sign New York’s Grieving Families Act1 into law – Governor Kathy Hochul instead vetoed the legislation, which had passed both houses of the legislature with significant bipartisan support…
June 20, 2022
Written by: Nicole Callahan, Esq. and Daniele DeZago, Esq. I. INTRODUCTION The New York Legislature recently passed Bill S74A, also called the Grieving Families Act, which would amend sections of the EPTL that provide for the types of damages that may be awarded in wrongful death actions. Governor Hochul is expected
March 31, 2022
Author: Jeffrey T. Wolber The First Department reversed a Bronx County Supreme Court order denying the defendants’ motion to dismiss pursuant to the statute of limitations in Ford v. Lee, 2022 NY Slip Op 01414 (1st Dept Mar. 8, 2022). The case involved allegations of delayed diagnosis of lung cancer following an abdominal/pelvic CT scan
March 7, 2022
Written by: Joshua T. Reece, Esq. Edited by: Nicole A. Callahan, Esq. New York’s governor closed 2021 by signing into the law the Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act (CIDA), which placed onerous new insurance disclosure requirements on defendants. The most onerous provisions of CIDA were struck when the law was amended on February 24, 2022. Given
January 14, 2022
Written by: Joshua T. Reece, Esq. Edited by: Nicole A. Callahan, Esq. At the end of 2021, the Appellate Division, Second Department revisited disclosure and New York’s Quality Assurance (“QA”) privilege in Siegel v. Snyder, No. 6612/2016, 2021 WL 6057821 (2d Dept. Dec. 22, 2021). The long-standing privilege shields from disclosure certain materials and statements
January 5, 2022
Written by: Jeffrey T. Wolber, Esq. Edited by: Nicole A. Callahan, Esq. A group of over 200 nursing homes are challenging a New York law that sets a cap on their profits. The lawsuit was filed on December 29, 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York (Case No. 1:21-cv-01384).
December 10, 2021
Author: Benjamin Youssef Editor: Nicole A. Callahan, Esq. The scope of New York Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL) §1104 has been reaffirmed in a decision issued by the Honorable Judge Evan Inlaw of Yonkers City Court, who issued a decision in State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. City of Yonkers, granting the defendants’ motion
December 7, 2021
Written by: Jeffery T. Wolber, Esq. Judge Bartlett of Orange County Supreme Court granted a partial motion to dismiss under §3211(a)(7) (failure to state a claim) based on the civil immunity provided by New York’s Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act (EDTPA). Although this is a trial court decision, its analysis will be helpful for
December 3, 2021
Written by: Joseph A. Keane, Esq. On January 26, 2022, New York’s expanded “whistleblower” law goes into effect. The amendments to Section 740 of the New York Labor Law will increase the categories of covered workers protected by the statute, add protected activities that entitle an employee to whistleblower protection, enhance worker protection by broadening
September 27, 2021
Written by: Joshua T. Reese, Esq. In an Opinion and Order handed down on September 15, 2021, the Appellate Division, Second Department examined the nuanced collateral estoppel effects of a Workers’ Compensation Board determination on a related personal injury lawsuit. The factual allegations in Lennon are, at first blush, unremarkable. The plaintiff, Sean Lennon (no
August 30, 2021
Written by: Daniele DeZago, Esq Edited by: Nicole A. Callahan, Esq. Judge Voutsinas denied defendant Mercy Medical Center’s motion for summary judgment in an alleged slip and fall case. Plaintiff alleged she slipped and fell on an unknown clear wet substance on a second floor hallway of Mercy Medical Center on Sunday April 16, 2017,
August 24, 2021
Written by: Evan M. O’Hara, Esq. While testimony on future care and treatment (and the associated costs) is nothing new in personal injury litigation, a popular trend for some time now has been plaintiffs retaining expert witnesses specifically to provide opinions on the subject rather than relying on the testimony of the plaintiff’s treating medical
August 13, 2021
Written by: Daniele DeZago, Esq. Queens County Supreme Court Judge Maurice E. Muir issued an Order denying Defendants’ motions for summary judgment and granting Defendant Delta Elevator Inspection Corporations motion for spoliation of evidence to the extent of directing an adverse inference charge be given at trial with respect to the plaintiff’s missing high heeled
August 7, 2021
Written by: Eve Soldatos, Esq. Edited by: Nicole A. Callahan, Esq. Plaintiff brought an action against Churchville-Chili Central School District (“CCCSD”) claiming that an employed teacher and coach of CCCSD engaged in sexual contact with the plaintiff from 1997 to 1999, while the plaintiff was a minor. The plaintiff was not a student at CCCSD but the
July 28, 2021
Written by: Evan M. O’Hara, Esq. Editor: Nicole A. Callahan, Esq. On July 12, 2021, the Honorable Jed S. Rakoff, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, issued a decision granting the plaintiff’s motion to remand her products liability claim against a number of corporate entities to the Supreme Court of
July 19, 2021
Written by: Jeffrey T. Wolber, Esq. In a decision from New York’s Appellate Division, First Department, the court held that an email containing an attorney’s automatically-populated signature block was sufficient to constitute a “subscribed” writing within the meaning of CPLR 2104 for purposes of enforcing a settlement agreement. CPLR 2104 reads in pertinent part: An agreement
July 9, 2021
Written by: Eve Soldatos, Esq. Edited by: Nicole A. Callahan, Esq. In this Bronx-venued Supreme Court action, plaintiff, who is blind, alleges that she lost her balance while walking down the staircase from her third-floor apartment and when she reached out to grab the staircase handrail to catch herself, it was not there and she
June 29, 2021
Written by: Daniele DeZago, Esq. Edited by: Nicole A. Callahan, Esq. The applicability of New York Public Health Law § 2801 has been limited thanks to a decision issued by Judge George Nolan of Suffolk County Supreme Court. In Schuckman v. Atria Senior Living, N.Y. Sup. Ct. (611915/2020), Judge Nolan granted defendants’ motion to dismiss
June 21, 2021
Written by: Jeffrey T. Wolber, Esq. Editor: Nicole Callahan, Esq. On June 11, 2021, Kings County Supreme Court Justice Genine Edwards issued a decision granting summary judgment in favor of a radiology center and its radiologist. In this action, the plaintiff claimed a failure to diagnose stomach cancer following an abdominal contrast study. The radiology defendants moved
June 17, 2021
Written by: Eve Soldatos, Esq. and Kyle A. Schiedo, Esq. Edited by: Nicole A. Callahan, Esq. On June 5, 2020, plaintiff Vivian Rivera-Zayas brought an action in Kings County Supreme Court against Long Island nursing home Our Lady of Consolation Nursing and Rehabilitative Care Center, claiming that the nursing home was negligent, reckless, and willful
June 14, 2021
Author: Eve Soldatos, Esq. Editor: Nicole Callahan, Esq. On June 3, 2021, the New York State Senate passed Senate Bill S66, also known as the Adult Survivors Act. The Act would amend the civil practice law and rules in relation to the statute of limitations for civil actions related to certain sexual offenses committed against
June 9, 2021
Written by: Jeffrey T. Wolber, Esq. On June 4, 2021 Judge Higgitt of the Bronx County Supreme Court issued a decision denying a motion to dismiss under CPLR 3211(a)(7) for failure to state a claim based on the civil immunity provided by New York’s Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act (EDTPA) and Governor Cuomo’s Executive
June 9, 2021
Written by: Jeffrey T. Wolber, Esq. On June 3, 2021 Judge Danziger of Bronx County Supreme Court issued a decision granting a motion to dismiss under CPLR 3211(a)(1) (documentary evidence) and (7) (failure to state a claim) based on the civil immunity provided by New York’s Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act (EDTPA) and Governor