Swati P. Mantione, Esq.
I have been a practicing litigator since 1994. I graduated from New York Law School, spent 4 years as aprosecutor in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, spent 4 years with insurance defense firms and spent the last 19 years covering per diem appearances in Queens County. Queens is a little quirky – it has its own twists and turns. I do my best to keep up to date on what goes on there. I am in Queens everyday and can provide reliable, professional coverage for your firm. You will receive a prompt and detailed report of the appearance as if you or a member of your firm were in court covering the appearance. Should any issues arise, my experience allows me to make real time decision.
You can email me at SwatiMantione@verizon.net or call me at 917.622.8983 to request coverage. The tabs below have information regarding the Part requirements and the information you must provide me with. In addition to the required information listed in each section, please provide me with any other relevant information you think may be helpful to me. The more information I have, the better job I can do for you.
Important Updates
April 30, 2020
Chief Administrative J. Lawrence Marks issued the attached memo dated April 30, 2020 In it he states that the New York state courts will move another step closer to full function on Monday, May 1st. Attorneys will be able to efile motions and responses in pending cases. Notices of appeal and other paperwork can also be efiled electronically. The state’s problem-solving courts will reopen for virtual conferences on Skype for Business. J. Marks did not lay out a timeline in the memo for the reopening of other court functions, including the filing of new cases or the expansion of in-person proceedings.
April 13, 2020
Attached is the latest memo detailing usage of Skype for Business. Starting April 13, 2020, the attached Press Release details that NY Courts are hearing both non-essential and essential matters virtually with judges and lawyers participating via Skype for Business and select courthouses being open only for very limited clerks and court officers to facilitate paper exchange.
March 22, 2020
Judge Marks has issued the following admininstrative order dated March 22, 2020
March 19, 2020
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER OF THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE OF THE COURTS
Pusuant to the authority vested in me, I hereby promulgate the following protocols to mitigate the adverse effects of the COVID-19 outbreak upon the practice of civil litigation before the courts of the Unified Court System effective immediately:
1. Civil Litigation Generally: The prosecution of pending civil matters (including discovery) in a manner that requires in-person appearances or travel, or otherwise requires actions inconsistent with prevailing health and safety directives relating to the coronavirus health emergency, is strongly discouraged.
2. Civil Discovery Generally: Where a party, attorney or other person is unable to meet discovery or other litigation schedules (including dispositive motion deadlines) for reasons related to the coronavirus health emergency, the parties shall use best efforts to postpone proceedings by agreement and stipulation for a period not to exceed 90 days. Absent such agreement, the proceedings shall be deferred until such later date when the court can review the matter and issue appropriate directives. In no event will participants in civil litigation be penalized if discovery compliance is delayed for reasons relating to the coronavirus public health emergency.Chief Administrative Judge the Courts
March 15, 2020
Please note, as of 5pm March 16, 2020, all civl court appearances will be suspended. Please read the attached letter for full details. Click here for the Updated Proptocal
March 13, 2020
Please click on this link for thr latest update as to what Court Parts are open.
For Queens TSP and compiance conference part, including in person conferences, are suspended indefinitely. At some point the Court will input new dates for these appearances.
J. Kerrigan's part is also not hearing motions or having conferences - indefinitely. Motions on for Monday March 16th have been adjourned to June 1st.
Information on Court parts/closures is fluid. I will do my best to keep this site updated.
Law Office of Swati P. Mantione, P.C. | Attorney-at-Law
12 Thadford Street
East Northport, NY 11731
tel: 917-622-8983 | fax: 631.270.3908
e-mail: SwatiMantione@verizon.net
News
Judge Silver had a Town Hall meeting on Thursday Jan 23rd in Supreme Court, on Sutphin Blvd to advise about and discuss the changes that are coming to Queens County, in Civil Supreme Court. He indicated the changes will be implemented in mid-February. He will issue a memo, thru the Queens Bar Association prior to that so that the Queens Bar can be fully informed before the changes are put into place.
Judge Silver’s philosophy is that once the cases are in the trial part, there should be no discovery outstanding. The parties should be ready to discuss the merits of the case and possible settlement. In order to get to that goal, the first thing is that the NOI should not be filed while discovery is outstanding. To that end, J. Silver will implement the following:
-A judge will be assigned to sit in pc and cc part (J. Lanceman). Either the PCs or CCs will be held in the afternoon. Which one it will be has not been determined yet. Having a judge in the part will allow the parties to resolve discovery issue that may arise.
-The CC Part will be overhauled. Stay conferences will be discontinued...details on all that to follow.
-We will not be given a NOI filing deadline at the PC.
- There will be multiple compliance conferences held until the discovery is completed.
-Once disc is done, case will be certified and ready to file NOI.
-The SJ deadline will likely be shortened.
-There will be a pre-trial conference before the actual 1st time on trial date. It is undetermined at this time if the pre-trial conference will be in Rm 25 or get its own part
I will update information as it becomes available. Please keep checking back. January 27, 2020
Preliminary Conference (PC)
Conferences are held in Rm. 314 on Monday thru Thursday. The Court will allow one adjournment as a matter of right to any party. If a second adjournment is needed, parties will have to seek a ruling by Ref. Lazarus. As a general rule, PCs will be adjourned if there is no BP. Ref. Lazarus will set a service date of the BP before the next appearance date.
I will need a BP (if one has been served) and dates of any discovery demands that have been served and are outstanding.
Compliance Conference (CC)
Conferences are held in Rm. 3002 on Monday thru Thursday. These conferences will not be adjourned for any reason. Only the Court can administratively adjourn them.
I will need a BP and a list of any outstanding discovery.
In Person Conference (IPC)
Conferences are held in Rm. 3002 on Monday thru Thursday. These conferences are scheduled by any party to the action. They are scheduled because a Note of Issue (NOI) was filed or will be filed shortly and there is discovery outstanding. At the conference, the case will be stayed and a discovery schedule will be set.
I will need a list of firms who have appeared, a list of outstanding discovery and the last stipulation entered into in this Part (if this is not the first conference in this Part).
Trial Scheduling Conference (TSP)
Conferences are held in Rm. 25. J. Silver usually presides on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. Currently, J. Silver has elected to rotate the IAS Judges in that Part in Tuesday and Wednesday. A permanent judge has not been assigned there as of yet. First call of the calendar begins are 9;30am, 2nd call is at 10:30am. Parties failing to appear at 2nd call may have the case dismissed or the Answer stricken.
When a case is on in this Part for the first time, it will either have a conference marking – CON or no marking. Any adjournment after that will be marked final - FIN. When the case is truly ready for jury selection the case will be marked final with a “T” - FIN(T). The real final date is determined by the standards and goals deadline. The standards and goals deadline is fifteen months after the Note of Issue (NOI) has been filed.
Parties appearing in this part must be fully prepared to discuss the merits of the case, know if discovery is outstanding and if there are any motions pending. Plaintiff’s must have a settlmen demand to provide to the Court and counsel. This demand must be a true evaluation of the injuries – not just “demand the policy.”
If you need an adjournment and the case is marked FIN(T) I cannot appear. You must appear and request an adjournment yourself. There is no way to predict if a further adjournment will be granted by the Court.
Motions
All motions are heard before the assigned judge in his/her courtroom. The judges courtrooms and times are listed in the tab marked “Motion Day Calendar” above
In all instances I will need the motion, some background on the case and instructions.