What will happen to my pending case while the courts in New York are closed due to the Coronavirus?
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect our country, we want to provide you with some updates on the court system and your legal rights in New York at this time. On March 16, 2020, all non-essential court functions in New York state courts were postponed. Effective April 6, 2020, many, but not all, court proceedings in state courts were moved to videoconference. In addition, many, but not all, filings are prohibited during this time.
The Statute of Limitations is Suspended in New York
To protect your legal rights, New York lawmakers issued an executive order suspending all statutes of limitation and filing deadlines while courts are still closed. This means that if you are injured during the coronavirus pandemic, or suffered an injury before this started and your statute of limitations was approaching, your deadline to file is now considered on pause. Your legal rights will not be negatively affected and your deadline to file will resume once official announcements are made as such.
For individuals with medical malpractice cases underway, your case is essentially on pause. The proceedings will be delayed. Your upcoming conferences or trials have likely been cancelled and will be rescheduled, with the exception of some teleconferences for certain trial-ready cases.
Clients who have experienced a change to their condition or injuries should contact your attorney. Stay on top of your medical treatment even during this trying time. Consider using online telemedicine if you need treatment and if your physician’s office is not accepting in-person patients. You should aggressively pursue making an appointment once your doctor resumes seeing patients. This equally applies to physical therapy treatment as well.
If you have any questions, please call or email me. Although I am physically in my office on a regular basis, I am working from home. My main phone, (212) 712-0008, answers to my cell phone so you can reach me at any time through phone or text. I hope that you and your family are staying healthy and well through this national crisis. I am here to help should you need me and we all look forward to the resume of normalcy once it is safe to do so.