Source: http://www.albanylaw.edu/faculty/spotlight/Pages/Professor-Connors-Publishes-6th-Edition-of-New-York-Practice.aspx
Timestamp: 2018-11-16 02:09:42
Document Index: 165099135

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 12', '§ 63', '§202', '§ 246', '§ 250', '§533', '§ 11', '§ 76', '§ 343', '§353', '§362', '§367', '§10', '§35', '§115', '§202', '§202', '§352', '§382', '§456']

Professor Connors Publishes 6th Edition of New York Practice | Faculty Spotlight | Albany Law School: A New York Law School
Home|Faculty|Faculty Spotlight|Professor Connors Publishes 6th Edition of New York Practice
Professor Connors Publishes 6th Edition of New York Practice
| 4/19/2018 |
Professor Patrick M. Connors presents a CLE on New York Practice at Albany Law School on April 18, 2018.
The much-awaited update to New York Practice, the treatise that has been cited in thousands of reported decisions and has been called "the Bible" for litigation in New York State courts, was recently published by Thomson Reuters. To celebrate the release of the Sixth Edition, Albany Law School hosted a CLE and book signing with the author, Professor Patrick M. Connors, on Wednesday, April 18.
Connors, Albany Law's Albert and Angela Farone Distinguished Professor in New York Civil Practice, began working on New York Practice over 25 years ago with his mentor and the Treatise's founding author, the late Professor David D. Siegel. We recently caught up with Professor Connors to discuss his work on the book, new material in the Sixth Edition, and what's next for him now that the first co-bylined installment of New York Practice has been published.
When did you first become involved with the New York Practice treatise?
As a student and research assistant of Professor Siegel's at St. John's University School of Law from 1986 through 1988, I worked with Professor Siegel in reviewing manuscripts to the supplements to New York Practice and to the Second Edition of the book, which was published in 1991.
What's new in the Sixth Edition of New York Practice?
The Sixth Edition of New York Practice includes several new sections that address significant procedural developments arising during the 21st century. They include:
§ 12A. Commercial Division of Supreme Court: addressing the requirements for litigating an action in the Commercial Division and the various rules of practice in that court.
§ 63A. Commencement of Actions by Electronic Filing ("E-Filing"): addressing the developments in commencing actions via e-filing in various counties throughout New York State's court system and the numerous statutes and rules containing e-filing procedures. Several existing sections were also revised to address issues arising in e-filed actions, including: §202 (filing and service of papers in e-filed actions); § 246 (providing motion papers to the court in e-filed actions); § 250 (entry of orders in e-filed actions); §533 (calculating appeal time in e-filed actions); §§ 11, 524, 536 (e-filing of records and briefs in appeals to the appellate division and the Court of Appeals).
§ 76B. Curing Technical Defects in Service: addressing the Court of Appeals decision in Ruffin v. Lion Corp., allowing CPLR 2001 to cure certain service defects.
Chapter 13, entitled "Disclosure," (§§ 343-367) was substantially expanded to include additional discussion of the various issues that have arisen concerning the disclosure of electronically stored information ("ESI"), including who pays the cost of such disclosure (§§353, 362), the proper methods for seeking ESI from parties and non-parties (§362), and penalties for failure to preserve relevant ESI (§367).
I have always taught professional responsibility alongside New York Practice, and there are many important areas of intersection. The book now integrates a discussion of many relevant ethical issues that arise in conjunction with various procedural issues. They include: multijurisdictional practice (§10), expanded treatment of statute of limitations issues, including the doctrine of "continuous representation" in legal malpractice actions (§§35, 42), withdrawal from representation (§115), communications with represented parties (§202), Judiciary Law section 470's physical office requirement (§202), the lawyer's ethical duties in the disclosure process (§352A), compensation to fact witnesses (§382), and mandatory arbitration of fee disputes (§§456, 603).
The Sixth Edition of New York Practice also includes hundreds of updated citations so lawyers and judges can easily find the most recent caselaw in a particular area. I spent a great deal of time researching citations to cases in the Fifth Edition so that I could find the most recent authority for a proposition, but retained older cases that played an important role in the development of the law in a particular area.
Finally, I included subheadings in many of the longer sections of the book to help organize the material and assist the reader in research.
How long have you been working on this update? What was that process like?
I began working on biannual supplements to the Treatise in the Fall of 2012. New York Practice is truly a scene in motion, as there are always changes in New York's procedural law. Events are frequent, both major and minor, and there have been many developments since the publication of the Fifth Edition in 2011.
I began work on the Sixth Edition in 2016, and spent about 18 months working on the project. Professor Siegel had such a delightful writing style, and I wanted to retain that in the book where possible. My goal was to make sure the Sixth Edition was informative and current for practitioners and judges and also provided practical advice for resolving procedural problems. Finally, I tried to demonstrate that New York civil practice is not only important, but entertaining at times!
Now that the Sixth Edition is out, what will you be doing with all your extra free time?
The first supplement to the Treatise will be issued by July, so I am working on that now. As I said, New York Practice never rests! Another critical aspect of writing effectively on civil procedure is access to the front lines, where the rubber meets the road and statutes and rules are interpreted and applied to resolve actual controversies. Following in Professor Siegel's footsteps, I frequently provide continuing legal education programs to lawyers at law firms and bar association functions, and to judges and court attorneys at programs offered by the Office of Court Administration. This spring and summer, I will be traveling to present CPLR updates in Rockland County, New York, and in Montreal, Canada, for the Federation of Bar Associations of the Fourth Judicial District. The interactions at such programs with judges, lawyers, and those who work in the court system help to provide invaluable ideas and perspective, which are reflected in the Treatise.