S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  2575

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            January 20, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. WEINSTEIN, LANCMAN -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of
  A. COLTON, GALEF -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judici-
  ary

AN  ACT  to amend the general municipal law, in relation to establishing
  criteria for notice of claim to be filed and served when done by elec-
  tronic means in a city having a population of over one million

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Paragraph  (a)  of  subdivision  3 of section 50-e of the
general municipal law, as amended by chapter 745 of the laws of 1976, is
amended and a new paragraph (e) is added to read as follows:
  (a) The notice shall be served on the public corporation against which
the claim is made by delivering a copy thereof personally, or by  regis-
tered  or certified mail, to the person designated by law as one to whom
a summons in an action in the supreme court issued against  such  corpo-
ration  may be delivered, or to an attorney regularly engaged in repres-
enting such public corporation OR, IN A CITY WITH A POPULATION  OF  OVER
ONE MILLION, BY ELECTRONIC MEANS IN A FORM AND MANNER PRESCRIBED BY SUCH
CITY.
  (E)  IF  THE NOTICE IS SERVED BY ELECTRONIC MEANS, AS DEFINED IN PARA-
GRAPH TWO OF SUBDIVISION (F) OF RULE TWENTY-ONE  HUNDRED  THREE  OF  THE
CIVIL  PRACTICE LAW AND RULES, IT SHALL CONTAIN THE INFORMATION REQUIRED
UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS  SECTION.  IN  ADDITION,
SUCH NOTICE SHALL CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING DECLARATION: "I CERTIFY THAT ALL
INFORMATION  CONTAINED IN THIS NOTICE IS TRUE AND CORRECT TO THE BEST OF
MY KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF. I UNDERSTAND THAT THE  WILLFUL  MAKING  OF  ANY
FALSE  STATEMENT  OF  MATERIAL  FACT  HEREIN WILL SUBJECT ME TO CRIMINAL
PENALTIES AND CIVIL LIABILITIES."    SERVICE  OF  THE  NOTICE  SHALL  BE
COMPLETE  UPON  SUCCESSFUL TRANSMISSION OF THE NOTICE AS INDICATED BY AN
ELECTRONIC RECEIPT PROVIDED BY SUCH CITY, WHICH SHALL TRANSMIT AN  ELEC-
TRONIC RECEIPT NUMBER TO THE CLAIMANT FORTHWITH.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD01596-01-9
              

A. 2575                             2

  S  2.  Subdivision  5 of section 50-e of the general municipal law, as
amended by chapter 745 of the laws  of  1976,  is  amended  to  read  as
follows:
  5. Application for leave to serve a late notice.
  Upon application, the court, in its discretion, may extend the time to
serve a notice of claim specified in paragraph (a) of subdivision one OF
THIS  SECTION.  The  extension shall not exceed the time limited for the
commencement of an action by the  claimant  against  the  public  corpo-
ration.  In  determining whether to grant the extension, the court shall
consider, in particular, whether the public corporation or its  attorney
or  its  insurance  carrier  acquired  actual knowledge of the essential
facts constituting the claim within the time  specified  in  subdivision
one  OF  THIS  SECTION or within a reasonable time thereafter. The court
shall also consider all other relevant facts and circumstances,  includ-
ing: whether the claimant was an infant, or mentally or physically inca-
pacitated,  or died before the time limited for service of the notice of
claim; whether the claimant failed to serve a timely notice of claim  by
reason  of his justifiable reliance upon settlement representations made
by an authorized representative of the public corporation or its  insur-
ance  carrier; whether the claimant in serving a notice of claim made an
excusable error  concerning  the  identity  of  the  public  corporation
against  which the claim should be asserted; IF SERVICE OF THE NOTICE OF
CLAIM IS ATTEMPTED BY ELECTRONIC MEANS  PURSUANT  TO  PARAGRAPH  (E)  OF
SUBDIVISION  THREE  OF  THIS  SECTION,  WHETHER THE DELAY IN SERVING THE
NOTICE OF CLAIM WAS BASED UPON THE FAILURE OF THE COMPUTER SYSTEM OF THE
CITY OR THE CLAIMANT OR THE ATTORNEY  REPRESENTING  THE  CLAIMANT;  THAT
SUCH  CLAIMANT  OR  ATTORNEY,  AS THE CASE MAY BE, SUBMITTED EVIDENCE OR
PROOF AS IS REASONABLE SHOWING THAT (I) THE SUBMISSION OF THE CLAIM  WAS
ATTEMPTED  TO  BE  ELECTRONICALLY MADE IN A TIMELY MANNER AND WOULD HAVE
BEEN COMPLETED BUT FOR THE FAILURE OF THE COMPUTER  SYSTEM  UTILIZED  BY
THE  SENDER  OR RECIPIENT, AND (II) THAT UPON BECOMING AWARE OF BOTH THE
FAILURE OF SUCH SYSTEM AND THE FAILURE  OF  THE  CITY  TO  RECEIVE  SUCH
SUBMISSION,  THE CLAIMANT OR ATTORNEY HAD INSUFFICIENT TIME TO MAKE SUCH
CLAIM WITHIN  THE  PERMITTED  TIME  PERIOD  IN  A  MANNER  AS  OTHERWISE
PRESCRIBED  BY LAW; and whether the delay in serving the notice of claim
substantially prejudiced  the  public  corporation  in  maintaining  its
defense on the merits.
  An application for leave to serve a late notice shall not be denied on
the  ground that it was made after commencement of an action against the
public corporation.
  S 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
it shall have become a law.