(a) Mandatory Filing. Not more than sixty days after issue is joined, the plaintiff in an action to recover damages for dental, medical or podiatric malpractice shall file with the clerk of the court in which the action is commenced a notice of dental, medical or podiatric malpractice action, on a form to be specified by the chief administrator of the courts. Together with such notice, the plaintiff shall file: (i) proof of service of such notice upon all other parties to the action; (ii) proof that, if demanded, authorizations to obtain medical, dental, podiatric and hospital records have been served upon the defendants in the action; and (iii) such other papers as may be required to be filed by rule of the chief administrator of the courts. The time for filing a notice of dental, medical or podiatric malpractice action may be extended by the court only upon a motion made pursuant to section two thousand four of this chapter.
R 3406.Mandatory filing and pre-calendar conference in dental, podiatric and medical malpractice actions
Article 34. Calendar Practice; Trial Preferences · Last amended 1991 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 3406 forces plaintiffs in dental, medical, and podiatric malpractice cases to file a notice of the claim within sixty days of joinder and requires a pre-calendar conference, held before any note of issue, aimed at settlement, narrowing issues, and locking in a firm discovery and trial timetable.
Full Text of CPLR 3406
(b) Pre-Calendar Conference. The chief administrator of the courts, in accordance with such standards and administrative policies as may be promulgated pursuant to section twenty-eight of article six of the constitution, shall adopt special calendar control rules for actions to recover damages for dental, podiatric or medical malpractice. Such rules shall require a pre-calendar conference in such an action, the purpose of which shall include, but not be limited to, encouraging settlement, simplifying or limiting issues and establishing a timetable for disclosure, establishing a timetable for offers and depositions pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of paragraph one of subdivision (d) of section thirty-one hundred one of this chapter, future conferences, and trial. The timetable for disclosure shall provide for the completion of disclosure not later than twelve months after the notice of dental, podiatric or medical malpractice is filed and shall require that all parties be ready for the trial of the case not later than eighteen months after such notice is filed. The initial pre-calendar conference shall be held after issue is joined in a case but before a note of issue is filed. To the extent feasible, the justice convening the pre-calendar conference shall hear and decide all subsequent pre-trial motions in the case and shall be assigned the trial of the case. The chief administrator of the courts also shall provide for the imposition of costs or other sanctions, including imposition of reasonable attorney’s fees, dismissal of an action, claim, cross-claim, counterclaim or defense, or rendering a judgment by default for failure of a party or a party’s attorney to comply with these special calendar control rules or any order of a court made thereunder. The chief administrator of the courts, in the exercise of discretion, may provide for exemption from the requirement of a pre-calendar conference in any judicial district or a county where there exists no demonstrated need for such conferences.
Plain-English Summary
CPLR 3406(a) requires the plaintiff in a dental, medical, or podiatric malpractice action to file a notice of the malpractice action, on a form the chief administrator specifies, within sixty days after issue is joined. Along with it, the plaintiff files proof that the notice was served on the other parties, proof that any demanded record authorizations were served on the defendants, and whatever other papers the chief administrator's rules require. Extending that sixty-day deadline takes a motion under CPLR 2004, not an informal request.
CPLR 3406(b) requires the chief administrator to adopt special calendar-control rules for these cases built around a pre-calendar conference, held after issue is joined but before any note of issue is filed. The conference is meant to encourage settlement, narrow the issues, and set a firm timetable, one that finishes disclosure within twelve months of the notice and has the parties ready for trial within eighteen months. Where it can be arranged, the judge who runs the pre-calendar conference also decides the pretrial motions and tries the case. The chief administrator's rules back this up with sanctions, costs, fees, dismissal, or even a default judgment, for a party or attorney who ignores the schedule, though a judicial district or county without a real need for the conference can be exempted from it.
This rule sets the malpractice track apart from an ordinary case. Instead of waiting for a note of issue to trigger anything, a malpractice case gets a mandatory notice, a mandatory conference, and a locked-in schedule from the start, one that eventually feeds into the mandatory settlement conference CPLR 3409 requires once the note of issue and certificate of readiness are filed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a notice of medical malpractice action in New York?
It's the filing CPLR 3406(a) requires a malpractice plaintiff to make within sixty days of joinder, on a form the chief administrator of the courts specifies, along with proof of service and any demanded record authorizations.
How soon must a malpractice notice be filed under CPLR 3406?
Not more than sixty days after issue is joined, and that deadline can be extended only through a motion under CPLR 2004.
What happens at a pre-calendar conference in a New York malpractice case?
The court works toward settlement, narrows the issues, and sets a timetable for disclosure and trial, and where feasible, the same judge who holds the conference also decides pretrial motions and tries the case.
What are the discovery deadlines in a New York medical malpractice case?
CPLR 3406(b) requires disclosure to finish within twelve months of the malpractice notice and requires the parties to be ready for trial within eighteen months of that notice.
Can the deadline to file a malpractice notice be extended in New York?
Yes, but only through a motion made under CPLR 2004; there is no automatic or informal extension.
What penalties can a New York court impose for missing malpractice calendar deadlines?
CPLR 3406(b) allows costs, sanctions, reasonable attorney's fees, dismissal of a claim or defense, or a default judgment against a party or attorney who fails to comply with the calendar-control rules or a court order under them.
Amendment History
Add, L 1985, ch 294, § 5, eff July 1, 1985; amd, L 1986, ch 485, § 6, eff July 21, 1986; L 1988, ch 184, § 3, eff July 1, 1988; L 1991, ch 165, § 46, eff Oct 1, 1991.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: New York medical malpractice notice deadlinepre-calendar conference malpractice New Yorknotice of medical malpractice action NYmedical malpractice case timeline New Yorkpodiatric malpractice filing deadline NYdental malpractice pre-calendar conference