Description

In this three CLE hour presentation, Professor Connors discusses the new Part 221 of the Uniform Rules, which governs the conduct of depositions in New York State Court actions. The program covers the new restrictions on objections and depositions, speaking objections, directing a witness not to answer and communication with a deponent at the deposition. The program also includes a discussion of the new rule governing ex parte motions for temporary injunctive relief and the new rule allowing a judge to require an insurance carrier to attend a pretrial conference. The presentation concludes with a discussion of the recent amendment to General Obligations Law § 15-108 governing the effect of settlements and the recent Appellate Division caselaw discussing HIPAA's effect on pretrial disclosure.

Patrick M. Connors, Esq.

Patrick M. Connors is an Assistant Professor of Law at Albany Law School where he teaches New York Practice, Legal Ethics, a seminar in Professional Responsibility and Introduction to Civil Procedure. He was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Syracuse University College of Law where he taught Professional Responsibility from 1991 to 1999. He received his B.A. degree from Georgetown University and his J.D. degree from St. John’s Law School, where he was an editor of the Law Review and research assistant to Professor David D. Siegel.
Upon graduation from St. John’s in 1988, Professor Connors served as personal law clerk to Judge Richard D. Simons of the New York Court of Appeals until 1991. From 1991 until May of 2000 he was a member of the litigation department at Hancock & Estabrook, LLP, in Syracuse, New York.
Professor Connors is a reporter for the Committee on New York Pattern Jury Instructions (PJI), the 11-member panel of New York State Supreme Court Justices who draft and oversee the frequent revisions of the standard instructions with which New York judges charge juries in civil cases. He is also the author for the McKinney’s Practice Commentaries for the New York Lawyers Code of Professional Responsibility and a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Professional Ethics. He served on the New York State Attorney Grievance Committee for the Fifth Judicial District from 1997 until 2000.