Hyperlawhypertext legal database Needham v. County of Nassau 109 A.D.2d 783

← Cases

Needham v. County of Nassau

109 A.D.2d 783 Court N.Y. App. Div. Decision date 1985-03-11 English

Contents

Majority

p. 783
Claire M. Needham, Individually and as Administratrix of Malcolm L. Needham, Deceased, Appellant, v County of Nassau, Respondent.

— In a wrongful death action, plaintiff

p. 784
appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Wager, J.), dated August 22, 1984, which denied plaintiff’s motion seeking to vacate the findings of a medical malpractice panel.

Appeal dismissed, without costs or disbursements.

An order denying a motion to vacate the findings of a medical malpractice panel is not appealable as of right (Kletnieks v Brookhaven Mem. Assn., 53 AD2d 169 , 174; Fallon v Loree, 101 AD2d 1014 ). “The reasons for such a rule are manifest. The legislative intent underlying section 148-a [of the Judiciary Law] is for an expeditious and informal resolution of the litigation. Such an intent would be thwarted were we to construe section 148-a as permitting appeals from what does not even amount to an interim determination. Furthermore, section 148-a permits counsel to explore the claimed underlying infirmities of the nonbinding panel determination at the trial of the action (see Judiciary Law, § 148-a, subd 8)” (Kletnieks v Brookhaven Mem. Assn., supra, p 174 ). The within appeal is dismissed, without prejudice to plaintiff to argue the merits on appeal, if there is one, from a judgment after trial (Fallon v Loree, supra). O’Connor, J. P., Rubin, Lawrence, and Fiber, JJ., concur.

Cases cited