Overview of topics...

CONTINUING WITH NEW LAWS

NOTE: We treated two important new laws in SPR 187, one amending CPLR 2214 and 2215 with new and detailed instructions on the timing of cross motions, and one amending the tort settlement statute, Gen.Oblig.Law § 15-108, to make permissible a settlement that bypasses the statute.   There are a number of other new laws affecting procedure.   We treat in this issue four of them, including as the lead note what we deem the all-important amendment of CPLR 2001, which tries to inject some flexibility into what has sometimes been a rigid and ruinous construction of the statutes that govern the commencement process.   The other three amendments are as captioned under "Inside", below.   All the amendments treated here are already in effect.   There are more, but those take effect January 1, 2008, which gives us some time; we'll do them in a future issue. 

LEAD NOTE :

• AMENDMENT ENABLES NON-PREJUDICIAL ERRORS AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF ACTIONS TO BE CORRECTED, OVERRULING LINE OF RIGID CASES

ALL NEW LAWS :

• Statement of Amount Sought Now Barred from Tort Claims Even in Court of Claims, Overruling Kolnacki Case; Retroactivity Issues
• Amendment Affects Verification Procedure in Court of Claims
• When Issuance of Subpoena Is Required to Be Made by Court, Amendment Allows New York City Civil Court Judge to Do It