June 14 2013 Fri BDE.pdf - Brooklyn Daily Eagle

PAGE 20 June 14, 2013Brooklyn Becomes First Borough ToRequire Mediation in Civil CasesBy Charisma L. Miller, Esq.Brooklyn Daily EagleBrooklyn Supreme Court usheredin a new project Thursdayrequiring civil cases to pass througha mediation process prior to proceedingto trial. The first of its kind, themandatory mediation project hopesto alleviate some of the costs andother strains that civil litigationplaces on Brooklyn’s court system.“Brooklyn has over 54,000 casespending, which is more than anyother county in New York” BrooklynSupreme Court AdministrativeJudge for Civil Matters LawrenceKnipel told the Brooklyn DailyEagle. “Mandatory mediation willhopefully reduce to time and financialcosts of a trial not only for thecourt but for the attorneys and partiesinvolved.”Typically, once all parties haverequested and received evidencefrom either side, deposed witnesses,and conducted necessary investigations,a note of issue is filed and thecase is calendared for trial.Mandatory meditation, however,will apply after the discovery phaseand prior to the calendaring of a trialdate. The rationale, Knipelexplained, is that once discovery iscomplete, the parties will have anopportunity to mediate the issues ofthe case in the hope of reaching a settlement.This innovative attempt to reducethe time and costs involved in civilAttorney Bruce Baron, center, with the parents of Kevin Eng.litigation has been well received byBrooklyn attorneys, albeit with somereservation. “It is always a good ideato try to have mediation as soon aspracticable,” said Gary Zucker,B’klyn Teacher in Sex Scandal Case Pleads GuiltyBy Charisma L. Miller, Esq.Brooklyn Daily EagleErin Sayar, former Englishteacher at James Madison HighSchool in Marine Park, has pleadedguilty to sexual assault chargessteaming from accusations that sheengaged in a sexual relationshipwith her student, Kevin Eng.Sayar, 36, subsequently turnedherself in to Brooklyn’s SpecialVictims Unit on the eight criminalcounts of statutory rape, 16 countsof sexual abuse of a minor, andother related charges. She wasreleased on $10,000 bail.After appearing in BrooklynSupreme Court, Criminal Term,Sayar has pleaded guilty to thecharges and will receive a 10-yearprobation sentence.Despite the end of Sayar’scriminal case, there is still a civilcase pending against Sayar and theNew York City Department ofBrooklyn Administrative Judge for Civil Matters Lawrence Knipel andretired Supreme Court Justice Jules Spodek. Eagle photo by Mario BelluomoErin Sayar, former teacher atJames Madison High SchoolEducation for their alleged role inthe assault and battery of Eng. Thesuit, brought by Brooklyn attorneyBruce Baron on behalf of hisclients Kevin Eng and his motherMaureen Eng, alleges that the CityPhoto courtesy of Bruce Baronof New York in general, and theNew York City Department ofEducation in particular, were negligentin hiring Sayar and that theyfailed to report or investigate allegationsof sexual abuse.Eng and his mother are seekingmonetary relief for the damagesthey claim to have endured as aresult of the humiliation, mentalanguish and emotional distress thesex scandal has brought. The suitalso asks for punitive damagesagainst Sayar and the Departmentof Education.“The Eng family is thankful toBrooklyn District Attorney CharlesJoe Hynes for securing swift justiceagainst Sayar for her unlawfulacts,” Baron said in a statement.“We now look forward to aggressivelypursuing all defendantsresponsible in the civil matterpending in Supreme Court KingsCounty.”named partner at Zucker & Bennett,P.C. “Hopefully some of these casesthat would otherwise back up thetrial calendar can be settled quicklyand efficiently.”The first round of cases that willbe affected by mandatory mediationare all cases involving the New YorkCity Transit Authority. “We wantedto narrow to scope for the initialcases selected for the pilot program,”Knipel said. “There are about 10-12Transit Authority cases a week, andwe decided that that was a manageablenumber.”“The success of the pilot programwill depend on the TransitAuthority,” Zucker noted. “The Cityof New York has an aggressive settlementpolicy. It will depend onwhether or not the Transit Authoritywill approach cases in the same mannerand make a concerted effort tosettle.” Zucker also noted that themediators will also play a large rolein the success of the program.The mediators will be selectedfrom a group of volunteers who willwork without compensation. FormerSupreme Court Justice Jules L.Spodek, father to current BrooklynSupreme Court Justice EllenSpodek, will serve as the project’sfirst mediator. “It is always betterwhen all parties agree to settle,”noted Knipel.“I expect mandatory meditationto be effective in weeding out thetrial backlog in Brooklyn SupremeCourt,” said Knipel. Knipel hopes tosoon expand the mediation toinclude a wide variety of civil litigationcases.Justice DepartmentWeighs In On NYCStop-and-Frisk CaseBy Colleen LongAssociated PressThe U.S. Justice Department hastreaded carefully into the debateover the New York PoliceDepartment's stop, question andfrisk policy, telling a federal judgethat it strongly endorses an independentmonitor to oversee changesshould she decide civil rights violationshave occurred.Lawyers for the JusticeDepartment filed a 21-page statementof interest in the case lateWednesday, the last day to filepaperwork. The court papers say thegovernment was weighing in “onlyin order to assist the court on theissue of remedy, and only should itfind that NYPD's stop-and-friskpractices are unlawful.” It did notsay whether it believed the practicesto be unconstitutional.“The department has extensiveexperience working to ensure thatpolice services are delivered in aneffective, constitutional manner,” theJustice Department said in a statementfollowing the court filing. “Ourstatement of interest is intended toshare our experience relevant tofashioning an appropriate remedy,should it be required.”Supreme CourtCalendarKings Co. Criminal Term320 Jay St., BrooklynHon. Guzmanpeople’s case, rape∆Damilola AmimashaunHon. Riviezzopeople’s case, attempted murder∆David FloresHon. Manganosummations, murder∆Jermaine GlissonHon. D’Emicpretrial, assault∆Laurence HarveyHon. Firetogpretrial, murder∆Michael ManganHon. Mondosentencing, attempted assault∆Kamir MohansinghHon. D’Emicpretrial, murder∆Petrua Singh— LEGAL EVENTS —Friday, June 14th— ‘ColumbianLawyers Association 45th AnnualInstallation Dinner Dance’El Caribe5945 Strickland Avenue, Brooklyn6:30 p.m.For further information, please contactthe Association at (718) 875-0158Wednesday, June 19th— ‘Nuts &Bolts of Real Property Contracts’Brooklyn Bar Association123 Remsen Street6 p.m.-9 p.m.2 MCLE Professional Practice CreditsElevator RobberyIn Coney IslandThe NYPD is seeking the public's assistancein finding a suspect wanted for a robberyin Coney Island.On Saturday, June 8 at 12:50 p.m., thesuspect, described as a Hispanic teenabout 5-foot-5 and weighing 180 pounds,followed a 57-year-old woman onto theelevator of her building. The suspect gotoff first, and when the victim started to getoff, he grabbed her pocketbook. When shetried to fight back, he pushed her to thefloor and fled.Anyone with information about this robberyis asked to call the NYPD’s CrimeStoppers Hotline at (800) 577-TIPS.U.S. District Court Judge Shira Sheindlin isconsidering whether to order reforms to the policepolicy after a 10-week bench trial in which adozen people testified that they were stopped bypolice solely because of their race.About 5 million people have been stopped byNew York police in the past decade, most of themblack and Hispanic men. Lawyers for the fourmen who sued say hundreds of thousands of thosestops were unconstitutional, and they want a monitorto oversee changes to police department training,supervision and policy.20 20 • Brooklyn Daily Daily Eagle, Eagle June • Friday, 14, 2013 June 14, 2013