Overview of topics...

NEW LAWS:

• If Court, as Opposed to Attorney, Directs Disclosure of Medical Records for Use at Trial, Patient Authorization Is Not Required
• Amendment Allows Award of Fee Out of Class Recovery Not Only to Class Representative, But Also to Any Person Who "Has Acted to Benefit the Class"

GENERAL PRACTICE:

• Rare Example of Dismissal for Failure to Join Indispensable Party under CPLR 3211(a)(10)
• Explicit Statute with Longer Period Than Article 78's Four Months Supersedes It and Can Make the Claim Timely, as It Does Here with Highway Law Provision Applicable to Road Abandonments
• Article 78's Four-Month Time Limit Defers to Shorter Period in Point, But Not to Longer One, in This Case the One-Year Provision of Highway Law in Road Abandonment Case; So Claims Are Timely
• When Demand for Refund Is Required, Delay in Making Demand Can Invoke Laches and Bar Article 78 Proceeding
• Firefighter Hurt in Boardwalk Fall Has Only Worker's Compensation Claim Against City; Regular Tort Claim Is Barred

BACKLOG ITEMS:

• When Venue Requirements Differ on Main Claim Versus Counterclaim, Court Can Sever Counterclaim and Transfer It
• Lower Court's Lack of Personal Jurisdiction in Transferred- Down Case Can Be Waived by Defendant, and in This Case It Is