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Speak your mind in the wrong forum?  It will cost you.  Fail to supervise your employees?  A price will be paid.
Evidence

Speak your mind in the wrong forum? It will cost you. Fail to supervise your employees? A price will be paid.

By Jason Tenenbaum 8 min read

Key Takeaway

Court sanctions attorney for inappropriate brief language criticizing Appellate Term decisions and discusses employer liability for inadequate legal supervision in NY insurance cases.

Promed Durable Equip., Inc. As Assignee of Shavonne Flinch v Geico Ins., 2014 NY Slip Op 72449(U)(App. Term 2d Dept. 2014)

You can read this.   From the opinion (a quotation from the offending brief): “the recent Park Slope decision is replete with foundationless claims and misunderstandings of both law and argument.  The funny thing is there is nothing to be done about it, except go to the Court of Appeals given the unavailability of the Appellate Division, Second Department. It seems clear from discussion with Plaintiff firms and judges that there is an agreement that this Appellate Term will redefine the laws of evidence in order to suit the insurance company business model, while at the same time the Appellate Division will not accept cases from the Appellate Term.”

While the text of what was said was perhaps overboard, the substance might have merit.  See  Matter of State of New York v Floyd Y., 22 NY3d 95 (2013)

And as an employer, keep your eyes open: “With respect to Ilona Finkelshteyn, Esq., the name of whose law firm appears on each brief submitted by Mr. Vitarelli, the court finds that “in the exercise of reasonable management or supervisory authority, knew or should have known” of Mr. Vitarelli’s conduct (Matter of Berkman, 55AD3d 114, 117 ) and failed, under the circumstances, to adequately supervise the work submitted by Mr. Vitarelli, which bore Ms. Finkelshteyn’s name (see Matter of Shapiro, 55 AD3d 291 ).”

Jason Tenenbaum, Personal Injury Attorney serving Long Island, Nassau County and Suffolk County

About the Author

Jason Tenenbaum

Jason Tenenbaum is a personal injury attorney serving Long Island, Nassau & Suffolk Counties, and New York City. Admitted to practice in NY, NJ, FL, TX, GA, MI, and Federal courts, Jason is one of the few attorneys who writes his own appeals and tries his own cases. Since 2002, he has authored over 2,353 articles on no-fault insurance law, personal injury, and employment law — a resource other attorneys rely on to stay current on New York appellate decisions.

Education
Syracuse University College of Law
Experience
24+ Years
Articles
2,353+ Published
Licensed In
7 States + Federal

Discussion

Comments (2)

Archived from the original blog discussion.

CA
Captain America
Mr. V should contact me and I will gladly pay his $250 dollars. At first blush inclusion of such lines as “What’s a boy to do” went overboard. But in conducting a short review in my own mind of the subject Court’s decisions — the review lasted all of 5 seconds — I think it was perfect. It fit the reality of an attorney trying to justify the time, money and effort in getting a law degree only to find that the law is the last thing that counts often times. As to the portion of Mr. V’s brief quoted above I think as a citizen and a taxpayer Mr. V had every right to express what is the truth. The exact truth. Recently a number of very painstaking scientifically accurate polls have been released gauging the public’s perceptions of our legal system. The approval rating of courts is about as bad as congress. It is a darn shame because there are many outstanding jurists out there and there have been for years. Our precedent is compassionate in its genius. The “CF” phenomena and the unreasoned unsupported decisions i.e.: “Fails to plead a cause of action” [any cite] without a why — this sort of thing appears to be a recent creation. Right now NY has two branches of government. The executive that does enforce the law and the courts that will not force the executive to enforce the law. The legislature — “the voice of the people” — is gone. See insurance regs and insurance Dept.
TH
The Hater
Is Ms. Finkelshteyn being deported? What about Rutigliano — how did the D/B/A fiction keep her out of this? Answer the goddamn questions Mr. Know it All.

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