STATE OF NEW YORK
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412--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 4, 2017
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Introduced by Sen. DeFRANCISCO -- read twice and ordered printed, and
when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary -- recom-
mitted to the Committee on Judiciary in accordance with Senate Rule 6,
sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to permit-
ting a plaintiff to recover against a third party defendant in certain
cases
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new
2 section 1405 to read as follows:
3 § 1405. Permitting plaintiff, as judgment creditor against defendant,
4 to recover and collect unsatisfied judgment or portion of judgment
5 against third-party defendant or co-defendant liable for contribution or
6 indemnification. (a) Where a plaintiff has entered a judgment against a
7 defendant and the judgment remains unsatisfied thirty days after it has
8 been served on the defendant-judgment debtor, and where judgment has
9 been entered in favor of the defendant-judgment debtor against a co-de-
10 fendant or third-party defendant on a cause of action for contribution
11 or for contractual or common law indemnification, the plaintiff-judgment
12 creditor may collect any unsatisfied amount of the plaintiff's judgment
13 against the defendant from the co-defendant or third-party defendant up
14 to the amount awarded on the cause of action for contribution or indem-
15 nification.
16 (b) Where the plaintiff's judgment remains unsatisfied thirty days
17 after it has been served on the defendant-judgment debtor, and where the
18 defendant-judgment debtor has a cause of action for contribution or for
19 contractual or common law indemnification which has not been reduced to
20 judgment, the plaintiff-judgment creditor may attach, or take an assign-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02845-02-8
S. 412--A 2
1 ment from the defendant-judgment debtor of, the cause of action for
2 contribution or indemnification, and prosecute the cause of action in
3 the plaintiff's own name or in the name of the defendant-judgment
4 debtor, and recover a judgment therein for the same amount of contrib-
5 ution or indemnification as would be awarded to the defendant-judgment
6 debtor if the defendant-judgment debtor had satisfied plaintiff's
7 original judgment in full. Such remedy is in addition to any other means
8 available to the plaintiff-judgment debtor for enforcement of the judg-
9 ment. This section shall not authorize direct recovery against a third-
10 party defendant in those circumstances in which the third-party claim
11 against that third-party defendant would have been barred by the
12 provisions of section eleven of the workers' compensation law, and does
13 not otherwise permit a plaintiff to bring a cause of action against a
14 third party if such third party was the plaintiff's employer at the time
15 of the incident or injury.
16 (c) The plaintiff-judgment creditor may enforce the rights provided in
17 subdivisions (a) and (b) of this section notwithstanding that the plain-
18 tiff-judgment creditor's judgment against defendant-judgment debtor has
19 been or may be discharged in bankruptcy and/or the defendant-judgment
20 debtor's cause of action for indemnity or contribution against the
21 third-party defendant or co-defendant has been or may be extinguished by
22 a discharge in bankruptcy granted to the defendant-judgment debtor;
23 provided, however, that if a plaintiff-judgment creditor is enforcing
24 the rights provided in subdivisions (a) and (b) of this section pursuant
25 to this subdivision, he or she does not need attachment or assignment
26 from the defendant-judgment debtor of the cause of action for contrib-
27 ution or indemnification.
28 (d) Where the plaintiff's judgment remains unsatisfied thirty days
29 after it has been served on the defendant-judgment debtor, and where the
30 defendant-judgment debtor's cause of action for contribution or for
31 contractual or common law indemnification can no longer be prosecuted or
32 reduced to judgment, the plaintiff-judgment creditor may enforce its
33 judgment against the defendant-judgment debtor in a direct action
34 against the third-party defendant or co-defendant liable for contrib-
35 ution or indemnification, and recover a judgment therein for the same
36 amount of contribution or indemnification as would be awarded to the
37 defendant-judgment debtor if the defendant-judgment debtor had satisfied
38 plaintiff's original judgment in full.
39 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately, and shall apply to all
40 unexpired judgments that have not been fully satisfied as of such effec-
41 tive date.