Carothers, Part CLXXXVI

The latest (and surely most wide-reaching) event in the saga of the no-fault claims of Andrew Carothers, M.D., P.C. has come courtesy of Judge Peter Paul Sweeney (formerly of Civil Court, Richmond County, up until this past Friday - he has now returned to his former home of Civil/Kings). See Matter of Carothers v Insurance Cos. Represented by Bruno Gerbino & Soriano LLP & Freiberg & Peck LLP, 2006 NY Slip Op 26372 (Civ. Ct., Richmond Cty., 2006). At least Judge Sweeney has gone out with something of a bang (relative to no-fault, at least).

All of this may seem very trite (even moreso to those who aren't practicing in the no-fault world and hence aren't shocked that a court would order that a party would actually have to appear for an EBT), but it has consumed much of this past summer for the no-fault defense bar, including your humble correspondent, and most New York City Civil Court motion clerks. For example, BG&S submitted a brief in the matter (as if same was not contextually obvious from the caption), which is more or less all that I can recall about the month of June this year.¹

See also, Andrew Carothers, M.D., P.C. v. GEICO Indem. Co., 2006 NY Slip Op 26326 (Civ. Ct., Kings Cty., 2006; Battaglia, J.)

Sadly, there is not much information available online addressing the background of the Carothers situation, or of the prior facilities, Deajess Medical Imaging, P.C., Preferred Medical Imaging, P.C., and Boston Post Road Medical Imaging, P.C. Judge Sweeney describes the situation a little bit, and I have a PDF of the decision in AIU Ins. Co. v. Deajess Medical Imaging, P.C., 235 NYLJ 28, p. 22, col. 1 (Sup. Ct. Nassau Co. 2/10/06). Additional information is summarized in Preferred Med. Imaging, P.C. v Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 2006 NY Slip Op 50437(U) (Dist. Ct., Suffolk Cty., 2006).

To really get a feel for the entire affair, the truly dedicated might be inclined to visit the Supreme Court, Kings County and copy the pleadings in Medical Capital Corporation, et al., v. MRI Global Imaging, Inc. (Index No. 41099/04). That lawsuit concerned Deajess, Preferred, etc. suing their management company after their relationship went sour.

Anyway, stay tuned to this space in 2007 or so for a report on the results of the Appellate Term decision on the inevitable appeal.

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1. The Joint Brief submitted on behalf of the defendants represented by Bruno, Gerbino & Soriano, LLP & Freiberg & Peck, LLP was authored by Craig J. Bruno, Esq., with noted contributions by Vincent F. Gerbino, Esq., Damin J. Toell, Esq., Brian M. Martin, Esq., and Craig J. Freiberg, Esq.