The spread of COVID-19 has impacted nearly all aspects of life in the United States. This is especially true in New York City, which has become an epicenter of the pandemic. This crisis will most certainly have a long-lasting impact on the lives of all New Yorkers. The pandemic severely impacted the legal system. All Courts have implemented safety measures and social distancing guidelines to ensure that all matters proceed efficiently.
The Courts categorized all legal matters into two main types, essential and non-essential. Essential matters include situations where the immediate involvement of the Court and law enforcement personnel is necessary. The list includes:
- criminal matters involving detention
- certain family court matters
- Mental Hygiene Law applications
- temporary and extreme risk orders of protection
- emergency applications related to coronavirus
- emergency Election Law applications
- specific civil/housing matters
- and “any other matter that the court deems essential.”
For non-essential matters, including pending personal injury and medical malpractice cases, the Courts are not accepting new filings until further notice.
What does this mean for my case?
The Courts’ COVID-19 precautionary measures impact pending matters in various ways, depending on the type of case and the urgency involved. If your case involves personal safety and security, the court is very likely to handle the case quickly. If the pending case is a civil matter about damages as in personal injury and medical malpractice, recent Court measures will likely delay the case. These delays typically cause no harm to the litigants’ interests.
These measures do not impede our office’s efforts to bring your case to a satisfactory resolution. Ramy Aqel, an associate of the firm, also focusing on personal injury and medical malpractice litigation, continues to work throughout this pandemic to bring about the best possible outcome for your case. Mr. Aqel speaks fluent Arabic and offers high-quality legal assistance to Arabic-speaking clients.
Call the Law Offices of Marc S. Albert
If you have been injured or have been a victim of medical malpractice, call Marc S. Albert’s Law Offices. With over 30 years of combined experience, Marc Albert and Ramy Aqel handle all of your cases personally. Call our office at 855-252-3788.