BILL NUMBER: S7735
SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the court of claims act, in relation to permitting
amendment of a claim or notice of intention to file a claim to correct
jurisdictional pleading defects and to provide for a procedure for the
dismissal of a claim based upon claimant's failure to comply with juris-
dictional pleading requirements
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This measure would supply a procedure for a claimant to amend their
claim in order to comply with Court of Claims pleading requirements.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends Court of Claims Act ("CCA") § 11(b) to
permit an amendment to a claim to be made within 20 days of service,
before the response period ends, or within 20 days of a responsive
pleading based on failure to comply with Court of Claims pleading
requirements, if the amendment is served and filed within the statute of
limitations applicable in a similar civil claim.
The bill also allows for an application for late leave to amend the
claim before the governing statute of limitations has expired or follow-
ing a motion to dismiss based on failure to comply with Court of Claims
pleading requirements. The bill establishes factors that the Court must
consider when evaluating the claimant's failure to comply with the
pleading requirements. The bill also addresses how the amendments must
relate back to the underlying claim.
The bill establishes a procedure for claims filed before this bill would
take effect.
Section 2 of the bill amends CCA § 11(c) to waive objections based on
the claimant's failure to meet the pleading requirements in section 1 of
the bill for claims served after the bill would take effect unless
raised in motion to dismiss and establishes the timeframe for making
such motions to dismiss.
Section 3 contains an effective date of 90 days after the bill is
enacted into law.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
This proposal addresses circumstances where a claim is timely served and
filed but requires an amendment to avoid the dismissal of a potentially
meritorious case for purely procedural reasons. The need for a provision
to allow for amending a timely served notice or served and filed claim
is demonstrated by Constable v. State of New York, 172 A.D. 3d 681
(Second.Dept. 2019), where the claim was dismissed because the notice of
intention and claim failed to adequately describe the location of the
alleged accident. As noted in the decision, the State's motion seeking
dismissal was filed six months after the last deposition was conducted,
but no legal authority required the State to move for dismissal within a
specified time. In another case, Hyatt v. State of New York, 63 Misc.3d
1205(A) (U), the claimant's action was dismissed because he had incor-
rectly described the location of the automobile accident in his other-
wise timely notice of intention and claim. The claimant had relied on
incorrect information provided in the report issued by the New York
State Police which had investigated the accident. The claimant's subse-
quent attorneys discovered the mistake, and the claimant sought permis-
sion to serve an amended notice of intention to file a claim and moved
to serve and file a late claim. The Court of Claims noted that there was
no provision in the CCA for service of an amended notice of intentionòto
file a claim. Instead, the Court weighed the factors set forth in CCA §
10(6) and denied the application to file a late claim. The decision was
affirmed by the
Second Department (180 A.D.3d 764). The more stringent requirements for
filing a late claim under CCA § 10(6) are not available even to a claim-
ant who has timely served or filed initially unless an application is
made within the prescribed statute of limitations. This measure would
ensure that a claimant who has timely served and filed a claim is not
precluded from correcting the good faith error or omission solely
because the statute of limitations has run. This measure is intended to
provide a remedy in the interest of justice to a claimant who timely
serves a notice of intention or serves and files .a claim which contains
a particularity defect that caused no prejudice to the State.
While the Governor vetoed other legislation in 2024 (Veto 40, UCS-66),
this new bill addresses the concerns that the Governor raised in her
veto message that the other bill would allow claimants to amend their
notice of intention or claim without restrictions on time or reasons "in
ways that are inconsistent with the limited jurisdiction of the Court of
Claims." Specifically, this new bill establishes detailed procedures on
how and when claimants can amend their claim in addition to 'factors for
the Court of Claims to consider when evaluating motions for leave to
amend. By detailing these procedures, the new bill creates guardrails
for late amendments, which will allow for additional information to
advance both parties' ability to litigate claims more thoroughly without
limiting the State's ability to defend itself adequately on monetary
tort claims.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.