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The latest edition of New York Trial Notebook updates 34 chapters with over 100 recent cases and dozens of new tips and practice notes. Some of the many topics addressed are:
Where a transfer between courts is voluntary, parties are bound by transferee court's monetary jurisdiction. §1:13
With all four departments now holding that there is no requirement for an evidentiary showing that a proposed amendment has merit, an affidavit of merit is no longer necessarily required. §§7:21, 7:44
Second Department denies plaintiff's bid to vacate dismissal under CPLR 5015(a), in that plaintiff, a jazz musician on tour, had failed to demonstrate a reasonable excuse for failing to appear at trial. §9:70
Reprimanding counsel or holding counsel in contempt is not proof of bias, where "precipitated by the unprofessional, boorish, and, at times, contemptuous conduct of the plaintiff's attorney." §11:11
CPLR 2305(d) effective August 24, 2018 gives counsel the option of having trial material delivered to the attorney or self-represented party at the return address set forth in the subpoena, rather than to the clerk of the court. §17:30
Court reporter's inability to generate a trial transcript leads to a new trial. §§19:91, 38:184
Court of Appeals holds that the standard for applying punitive damages in a New York City Human Rights Law case is where a wrongdoer's actions amount to "willful or wanton negligence, or recklessness, or where there is a conscious disregard of the rights of others or conduct so reckless as to amount to such disregard." §22:43
In medical malpractice wrongful death of a child case with compensatory award of $500,000, Second Department reduces a punitive damage award of $7.5 million to $500,000. §22:43
Court of Appeals applies "substantial evidence" standard where petitioner firefighters challenged the State Comptroller's findings that they did not merit disability retirement benefits. §22:47
When a deposition is used in lieu of live testimony because the witness is not available, evidence of a criminal conviction may be admitted as, in effect, cross examination of the witness. §23:40
Question by court about defendant's citizenship posed in the negative that was held to be unclear resulted in a vacated plea. §25.95
If an expert relies on another, non-testifying expert's work, attacking the non-testifying expert's credibility may be proper. §27:33
YouTube video was properly authenticated by a YouTube certification indicating when the video was posted, by a police officer who viewed it about the time it was posted, and by defendant's own admission about the video. §23:38
Private Facebook message was authenticated by the recipient, a confidential informant, who had been Facebook friends with defendant for two years prior to trial. §23:38.
In a Family Court custody proceeding, a Facebook screenshot was properly admitted into evidence based on the mother's testimony that it accurately represented the father's Facebook page on the date in question. §23:38
Amendment to the CPLR effective January 1, 2019 adds CPLR 4540-a,"Presumption of authenticity based on a party's production of material authored or otherwise created by the party." §28:51
Supreme Court did not err in allowing plaintiff's radiologist to testify regarding MRI films he had interpreted that were not allowed into evidence. §28:20
Plaintiff waived her argument that it was improper for the jury to award her no damages for past pain and suffering by failing to object to the jury charge and the verdict sheet. §32:61
