Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
At trial in New York, can the judge have private conversations with one side without the other
side being present? Would you like to learn the answer? Come join me as I share with you
this great information. Hi. I'm Gerry Oginski. I'm a New York medical malpractice and personal
injury trial lawyer practicing law here in the state of New York. The short answer is
no, he can't. Why? Because that would be known as 'ex parte communication.' That means private
communications with one side and the judge without the other side being present. And
why is that not allowed? It's not allowed because it's inherently unfair to one side
knowing that the other side is having private conversations with the judge without being
able to participate or know exactly what it was that they were talking about. Now there
is one real exception where this will occur. And that will occur during a medical malpractice
case or during a personal injury case or an accident case. And that happens when the judge
is trying to actively try and negotiate and settle the case. In that instance, during
the course of settlement negotiations, the judge is then going to have private negotiations
and private discussions with each attorney individually. And that is done knowingly and
with approval from both sides. And there's a key reason for that: the only real way the
judge is going to know what the attorney will or will not accept during the course of a
settlement negotiation is by talking to them privately. And in that instance, the judge
will go ahead and have private discussions with each attorney individually. But typically,
during the course of a trial that will not happen. Instead, both parties have to be present
in order to participate to listen in and hear what it is that the judge is saying and what
conversations are taking place. So why do I share this great information with you? I
share it with you just to give you an insight and an understanding into what goes on during
the course of a trial here in the state of New York. You know, I realize you probably
have questions of your own. And if your matter happened here in the state of New York and
you do have legal questions, what I encourage you to do is pick up the phone and call me.
I can answer your legal questions. This is something that I do every single day and I
welcome your call. You can reach me at 516-487-8207 or by email at Gerry@Oginski-law.com. Well
that's it for today's quick video. I'm Gerry Oginski, have a wonderful day!