The First Department vacated an order barring the plaintiff in a wrongful death and medical malpractice case from using Office of the Chief Medical Examiner evidence at trial after the plaintiff repeatedly tried, but failed, to submit a fully proper records authorization. The court held that exclusion was too harsh under the circumstances and allowed the evidence to be used if the plaintiff provides a corrected authorization within 30 days, underscoring that discovery penalties should be proportional when a party is making genuine efforts to comply.

The First Department ruled that, in a civil case involving sexual assault allegations, the plaintiff could obtain certain law school records about the defendant’s earlier complaint against another student. The court said those records may be relevant to credibility and possible patterns of prior accusations, and it allowed disclosure with safeguards like redacting the other student’s name while still protecting counseling records.

In a parking-lot trip-and-fall case, the First Department ruled that Chase was not entitled to an early win on its claim that property manager Jones Lang had to reimburse it under their contract. The court said Chase had not yet shown that it was free from its own negligence, and it also upheld the rejection of Jones Lang’s late bid to throw out the case. The decision matters because it confirms that a party seeking contractual indemnity must show it was not actively at fault, and that courts will strictly enforce summary judgment filing deadlines.