This is not strictly a legal malpractice case, yet there are allusions within the appellate decision.  This case is a warning to attorneys who attend Independent Medical Examinations (a sometimes oxymoron because they are rarely independent, and sometimes not so medical) that they cannot surreptitiously record the exam.  In this case, with the extraordinary interference of a Supreme Court justice, the case blew up, will cost Plaintiff’s attorney some stupendous attorney fee and costs associated with a new trial, and generally did no one any good.

Bermejo v New York City Health & Hosps. Corp.  2015 NY Slip Op 08374  Decided on November 18, 2015  Appellate Division, Second Department  Roman, J., J. is an extraordinary read, and not just for the facts.  For any trial lawyer, the colloquy and arc of events before Supreme Court, Queens County are not only realistic, they are the stuff of nightmares.

The decision is over 25pp. so we cannot re-print enough to give you the entire story.  Here is the gist:

“Prior to the trial on the issue of damages in this personal injury action, the plaintiff’s trial attorney surreptitiously videotaped an independent medical examination (hereinafter IME) conducted by an orthopedist retained by the defendant Ibex Construction, LLC (hereinafter Ibex). The attorney failed to disclose the existence of that recording to defense counsel, and then revealed its existence for the first time at trial, during redirect examination of his own paralegal, who took the witness stand to testify as to the brevity of the orthopedist’s examination of [*2]the plaintiff. This resulted in the declaration of a mistrial, and the orthopedist subsequently declared that he was not willing to testify at the new trial. Since Ibex and the defendant Amsterdam & 76th Associates, LLC (hereinafter Amsterdam, and together the appellants), would be required to serve a subpoena upon the orthopedist to secure his testimony at the new trial, they separately moved, inter alia, for leave to have the plaintiff re-examined by an orthopedist of their own choosing, and for an award of costs against plaintiff’s counsel pursuant to 22 NYCRR 130-1.1. Justice Duane A. Hart of the Supreme Court, Queens County, denied those branches of the appellants’ separate motions.

These appeals require us to determine whether a plaintiff’s attorney must obtain approval from the court before making a video recording of an IME of the plaintiff, and whether CPLR 3101 requires that such a recording be disclosed to opposing counsel before trial. We answer both questions in the affirmative. We further conclude that the declaration of a mistrial in this case was attributable to the conduct of the plaintiff’s trial attorney. Moreover, we find that the orthopedist was unwilling to testify voluntarily at the new trial because of that conduct and because the Supreme Court repeatedly, without any basis in fact, accused the orthopedist of lying during his cross-examination. The court also repeatedly threatened to recommend that the District Attorney’s office prosecute the orthopedist for perjury. Accordingly, those branches of the appellants’ separate motions which were for leave to have the plaintiff re-examined by an orthopedist of their own choosing and for an award of costs against plaintiff’s counsel pursuant to 22 NYCRR 130-1.1 should have been granted, and we remit the matter to the Supreme Court, Queens County, before a different Justice, for further proceedings consistent herewith.”

“In sum, given the avalanche of errors that occurred in this case, we find that the appellants satisfied their burden of demonstrating unusual and unanticipated circumstances justifying an additional medical examination of the plaintiff by an orthopedist to be designated by them. Under the particular circumstances of this case, a second examination by a different physician is necessary “to ensure that the focus of the medical testimony will be on the nature and extent of plaintiff’s alleged injuries, rather than on any taint or irregularity [surrounding] the [prior] examination” (Orsos v Hudson Tr. Corp., 95 AD3d at 526).

Accordingly, the Supreme Court abused its discretion in denying those branches of the appellants’ motions which were to compel the plaintiff to submit to an additional orthopedic examination.”

“As the appellants correctly contend, the necessity for a mistrial was created by the conduct of plaintiff’s counsel, and was not to any extent attributable to any conduct of the appellants or their counsel. First, as discussed above, plaintiff’s counsel surreptitiously created a video recording of the second IME without providing any notice to the court or defense counsel, much less obtaining the court’s approval, as is required. Had counsel obtained approval, or at least provided notice, of the videotaping, the mistrial would not have occurred. Second, as discussed above, plaintiff’s counsel compounded the prejudice to the appellants by improperly failing to disclose the video recording to defense counsel, as was clearly required under CPLR 3101(i). Had counsel disclosed the recording, the mistrial would not have occurred. Third, plaintiff’s counsel chose to reveal the existence of the recording to the jury in a way that maximized its dramatic effect, and was unfair to the appellants. Notably, Mr. Hackett admitted that he consulted with other attorneys prior to his paralegal’s testimony regarding the admissibility of the undisclosed video recording. Mr. Hackett waited until his re-direct examination of his paralegal to reveal the recording’s existence, even though Ms. Ramirez had not been asked any questions on cross-examination regarding the duration of the second IME. This was improper.

In opposing those branches of the appellants’ motions which sought an award of costs against plaintiff’s counsel pursuant to 22 NYCRR 130-1.1, the plaintiff’s only argument as to why the appellants should be held accountable for precipitating the mistrial, and plaintiff’s counsel should not be, is that the mistrial was caused by Dr. Katz’s act of lying during his cross-examination. The Supreme Court appears to have ultimately adopted this view. This position is unsupportable since, as discussed above, Dr. Katz did not lie. Moreover, even if Dr. Katz had lied, that act would not be the proximate cause of the mistrial.

Thus, we conclude that the conduct of plaintiff’s counsel was frivolous within the meaning of 22 NYCRR 130-1.1, and that the Supreme Court abused its discretion in denying those branches of the appellants’ motions which were for an award of costs against plaintiff’s counsel. The appellants are entitled to recover from Patrick J. Hackett and Constantinidis & Associates the costs they incurred in participating in the first trial on the issue of damages, as well as the costs they incurred in making and litigating the motions at issue on these appeals and in pursuing these appeals. Upon remittal, the Supreme Court should conduct a hearing to determine the total amount of such costs, as well as the proper apportionment of those costs as between Mr. Hackett and Constantinidis & Associates (see Preferred Equities Corp. v Ziegelman, 190 AD2d 659, 660).”

“Accordingly, the appeals by the defendant Ibex Construction, LLC, from the order and the amended order are dismissed, as those orders were superseded by the amended order and the second amended order, respectively, the second amended order is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law, the order and the amended order are vacated, those branches of the motion of the defendant Ibex Construction, LLC, and the separate motion of the defendant Amsterdam & 76th Associates, LLC, which were for leave to have the plaintiff re-examined by an orthopedist of their own choosing, and for an award of costs against plaintiff’s counsel pursuant to 22 NYCRR 130-1.1, are granted, that branch of the motion of the defendant Amsterdam & 76th Associates, LLC, which was to disqualify plaintiff’s counsel based on a violation of rule 3.7 of the Rules of Professional Conduct is denied as academic, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Queens County, before a different Justice, for further proceedings consistent herewith.”