First Department Issues Key Decision Interpreting Arons v. Jutkowitz

On Thursday, in Sheffer v. Tepper, the First Department answered a key question that some still had following Arons v. Jutkowitz.  The court held that Arons permits ex parte interviews of a plaintiff's health care provider before and after the filing of a note of issue, with a strong preference for before.  In particular, the Court held:

The motion court incorrectly interpreted the Court of Appeals' decision in Arons v Jutkowitz (9 NY3d 393 [2007]) as permitting ex parte interviews of a plaintiff's healthcare providers by defense counsel only after a note of issue was filed. To the contrary, the Court of Appeals expressly rejected the long-standing practice of proscribing such interviews only after the note of issue was filed, and otherwise made it clear that the preferred time for such disclosure was before the filing of a note of issue (see id. at 410-411).