New York Civil Law

Editor's Note -- Posts Suspended Until After Summer 2009

As you may have noticed, I have not recently posted to this weblog.  For temporary reasons beyond my control, I will be unable to update the posts to this weblog until after summer 2009 (hopefully, sooner though).  I appreciate your readership and hope you will return to this weblog then.

In the meantime, I am still able to post short summaries on my Twitter account.  To follow those posts in the meantime, you can click on the "follow me on Twitter" link to the right or click here.

In related Twitter news, my feed was named among the "100 Top Twitter Feeds for Law Students" by Online Best Colleges.com.

Appellate Division, First Department Decides Case Regarding Emails within Settlement Context

In a holding I have not seen before, the Appellate Division, First Department held in Williamson v.Delsener that email exchanges between the plaintiff and defendant satisfied the statute of frauds and indicated that the parties agreed to settle the matter.  The Court reasoned that the emails between the parties' counsel contained the printed names and, therefore, constituted signed writings within the statute of frauds.  Also, the Court noted that the defendant's refusal to sign a general release or stipulation of discontinuance did not invalidate the settlement.

New York Court of Appeals Hears Oral Argument on Important No-Fault Issues

On February 11, 2009, the New York Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in LMK Psychological Servs. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., addressing two important issues regarding New York's No-Fault Law.  I attended the oral argument; however, I wasn't as industrious as our friend Dave Gottlieb over at No-Fault Paradise.  Dave provides this play-by-play of the oral argument.

New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman Takes the Center Seat on the New York Court of Appeals

On February 11, 2009, the New York Senate confirmed Governor Paterson's appointment of Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman of the New York Court of Appeals.  Chief Judge Lippman sat for argument yesterday for his first day, and the Court's decisions reflected his presence on the Bench.

Here are some articles about the confirmation: this article in the New York Times, this article in the Albany Times Union, and here in the Legislative Gazette.com.

Support Your Troops -- Bunkers in Baghdad

My friend and colleague Joe Hanna created a not-for-profit corporation that collects and sends new and used golf balls, clubs, and equipment to our troops serving in Iraq and Afganistan.  The corporation is Bunkers in Baghdad.  Bunkers is a unique way to support our troops and provide a sense of connection to their civilian lives back home.

Please check out the Bunkers in Baghdad webpage and learn how you can get involved, support Bunkers, or contribute.  Read about Bunkers here and here.

New York Court of Appeals Hears Oral Argument on Certified Questions Concerning Products Liability

Next week, the New York Court of Appeals will hear oral argument in Jaramillo v. Weyerhaeuser.  Jaramillo concerns a certified question from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concerning whether an entity that sold a used machine can be considered a "regular seller" to be held strictly liable under New York product liability jurisprudence.

NYCL will keep you apprised of the decision that will likely be handed down next month.

Disclosure: The firm for which I work is involved in this litigation.

Appellate Division, Third Department Grants New Trial Regarding Ex Parte Communications With Plaintiff's Treating Physician

The New York Court of Appeals recently held in Arons v. Jutkowitz that a plaintiff who puts his or her physical or mental condition at issue must execute HIPAA-compliant authorizations.  This ruling allows defense counsel to conduct an ex parte interview with a a plaintiff's treating physician post-note of issue.  

What happens when defense counsel conducts an ex parte interview but does not seek HIPAA-compliant authorizations?

The Appellate Division, Third Department in Straub v. Yalamanchili recently affirmed a trial court's granting of the plaintiff's motion to set aside a jury verdict based on defense counsel's two ex parte interviews with the plaintiff's treating physicians without obtaining the plaintiff's authorization under HIPAA.  Notably, the motion to set aside the verdict was based on the interests of justice.  The Court noted that defense counsel, through the ex parte interviews, was able to obtain information that came as a complete surprise to the plaintiff's counsel and that plaintiff's counsel was unable to rebut.

New York Civil Law's Twitter Feed

What's that new widget on the right side of New York Civil Law, you ask?  I have imported my Twitter feed into this blawg.  My posts on Twitter -- "tweets" -- hope to serve as a pseudo-AP wire for topics that relate to this blawg.  A lot of content I read on the Web fits within this blawg but isn't suitable for a whole post.  That's where my Twitter Updates comes in handy.  I can still point you to a good article or interesting case (which might not be worthy of an independent post) without writing a full-fledged post.

You can follow my tweets right here on New York Civil Law or on Twitter directly -- I'm under NewYorkCivilLaw.  There are a host of great law-related writers on Twitter.  You can find some on LexTweet or on JustiaLaw.

Here's a good, quick primer on Twitter from WSJ.com.  Let me know if you're running into any issues or have questions.

New York Court of Appeals Grants Leave to Appeal on Scaffold Law Issuest

Last week, the New York Court of Appeals granted leave to appeal in Affri v. Basch.  As what can be discerned from the terse Appellate Division decision, the issue surrounds the homeowner's exception to Labor Law sec. 240(1).  The exception protects owners of one- or two-family homeowners from sec. 240(1) who contract but do not direct or control the work giving rise to a gravity-related injury.

Affri seems to concern whether the homeowners' aesthetic decisions and general supervisory work regarding the project precluded them from enjoying the homeowner's exception.

New York Civil Law will keep you apprised as this appeal develops.

Webcast of New York Governor's Nomination of Justice Lippman to Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals

Watch this webcast of Governor Paterson's announcement of his nomination of Jonathan Lippman as the next Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.  Here is the Governor's press release.

Webcast begins at 11:15 a.m. today, January 14, 2009.  Governor had to delay the announcement from its original time at 10:30 a.m.