N.Y. Civil Practice Law & Rules § 3406: Mandatory filing and pre-calendar conference in dental, podiatric and medical malpractice actions

Rule 3406. Mandatory filing and pre-calendar conference in dental,

podiatric and medical malpractice actions. (a) Mandatory filing. Not

more than sixty days after issue is joined, the plaintiff in an action

to recover damages for dental, medical or podiatric malpractice shall

file with the clerk of the court in which the action is commenced a

notice of dental, medical or podiatric malpractice action, on a form to

be specified by the chief administrator of the courts. Together with

such notice, the plaintiff shall file: (i) proof of service of such

notice upon all other parties to the action; (ii) proof that, if

demanded, authorizations to obtain medical, dental, podiatric and

hospital records have been served upon the defendants in the action; and

(iii) such other papers as may be required to be filed by rule of the

chief administrator of the courts. The time for filing a notice of

dental, medical or podiatric malpractice action may be extended by the

court only upon a motion made pursuant to section two thousand four of

this chapter.

(b) Pre-calendar conference. The chief administrator of the courts, in

accordance with such standards and administrative policies as may be

promulgated pursuant to section twenty-eight of article six of the

constitution, shall adopt special calendar control rules for actions to

recover damages for dental, podiatric or medical malpractice. Such rules

shall require a pre-calendar conference in such an action, the purpose

of which shall include, but not be limited to, encouraging settlement,

simplifying or limiting issues and establishing a timetable for

disclosure, establishing a timetable for offers and depositions pursuant

to subparagraph (ii) of paragraph one of subdivision (d) of section

thirty-one hundred one of this chapter, future conferences, and trial.

The timetable for disclosure shall provide for the completion of

disclosure not later than twelve months after the notice of dental,

podiatric or medical malpractice is filed and shall require that all

parties be ready for the trial of the case not later than eighteen

months after such notice is filed. The initial pre-calendar conference

shall be held after issue is joined in a case but before a note of issue

is filed. To the extent feasible, the justice convening the pre-calendar

conference shall hear and decide all subsequent pre-trial motions in the

case and shall be assigned the trial of the case. The chief

administrator of the courts also shall provide for the imposition of

costs or other sanctions, including imposition of reasonable attorney's

fees, dismissal of an action, claim, cross-claim, counterclaim or

defense, or rendering a judgment by default for failure of a party or a

party's attorney to comply with these special calendar control rules or

any order of a court made thereunder. The chief administrator of the

courts, in the exercise of discretion, may provide for exemption from

the requirement of a pre-calendar conference in any judicial district or

a county where there exists no demonstrated need for such conferences.