Your Right to Privacy of Your Medical Records

Individuals have a right of privacy in their medical records under various laws and under the U.S. Constitution. These rights aren’t unlimited, but you can restrict access to your health information and sue if someone violates your rights in certain situations. Your right to sue depends on who breached your privacy and how the breach … Read more

What healthcare providers should know about disclosing patient records

Medical records may be relevant to litigation in different types of cases, including personal injury, malpractice and contractual disputes involving medical or dental (and other healthcare) providers. However, that does not mean that medical records can be freely disclosed by providers. Medical records contain sensitive and confidential personal information which generally should not be disclosed … Read more

Beware usury laws when making or receiving a loan

Generally, the law recognizes parties’ freedom to enter into a contract under the terms of their choosing. Parties can freely determine the terms of their personal and business affairs unless the agreement is illegal. However, one area where New York law steps in to impose limitations on parties’ freedom of contract is with usury laws. … Read more

Appellate Court protects individuals from being served in a lawsuit on Saturday Sabbath

When someone files a lawsuit, he/she must serve papers on the defendants to establish the Court’s personal jurisdiction over them. There are laws governing how and when serving papers can occur in order to be valid. Among the rules that apply are those dealing with serving papers on the Sabbath. Importantly, a recent New York Appellate … Read more

When your employees’ statements can be held against you in court

Business owners may not realize that statements by their employees could be used as evidence against the business in litigation. An adversary seeking to introduce evidence of an employees’ statements does not even have to subpoena the employee to testify in court. Instead, the employees’ statements may be admissible hearsay under the rules of evidence. Although this is currently only allowed in limited circumstances, New York State is considering making the rule broader, which could have a significant impact on businesses.

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