S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                      6415
                                I N  S E N A T E
                                 March 11, 1998
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    Introduced  by  Sen.  SKELOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
      printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
    AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules,  in  relation  to  the
      inadmissibility of settlement negotiations
      The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
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    bly, do enact as follows:
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 1    Section 1. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new
 2  section 4547 to read as follows:
 3     4547. Compromise and offers to compromise. Evidence of (a)  furnish-
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 4  ing,  or offering or promising to furnish, or (b) accepting, or offering
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 5  or promising to accept, any valuable consideration  in  compromising  or
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 6  attempting to compromise a claim which is disputed as to either validity
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 7  or amount of damages, shall be inadmissible as proof of liability for or
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 8  invalidity  of  the  claim  or  the amount of damages.   Evidence of any
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 9  conduct or statement made during compromise negotiations shall  also  be
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10  inadmissible.  The  provisions  of  this  section  shall not require the
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11  exclusion of any  evidence,  which  is  otherwise  discoverable,  solely
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12  because  such  evidence  was  presented  during the course of compromise
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13  negotiations. Furthermore, the exclusion  established  by  this  section
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14  shall  not  limit  the admissibility of such evidence when it is offered
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15  for another purpose, such as proving bias or  prejudice  of  a  witness,
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16  negating a contention of undue delay or proof of an effort to obstruct a
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17  criminal investigation or prosecution.
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18     2. This act shall take effect immediately.
     EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
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                          [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                               LBD13910-02-8