Tomorrow the judge will rule on the defamation suit--

[ginnyinWI]

whether it can move forward. If it does, Trump may be called to the stand. And they say there are a lot of outtakes from "The Apprentice" that make the Access Hollywood tape look tame. And if put under oath, would he or even could he tell the truth? If this accuser wins, there are at least 10 others waiting for their chance.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-may-face-a-reckoning-in-case-brought-by-female-accuser/2017/12/04/dd8f783a-d39b-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html?utm_term=.6326f6938e7e

As the nation wrestles with a historic shift in how to address old charges of sexual misbehavior, allegations against Trump, which date to his days as a New York developer, have become part of the public debate. Trump has repeatedly said the accusations against him are groundless. But by turning personal and branding the women liars, Trump has perhaps unwittingly played into a cutting-edge strategy in the legal pursuit of sexual misconduct — claims of defamation such as those used against comedian Bill Cosby and in a lesser-known New York case, argued by two lawyers who are now representing Zervos.

The defamation suit filed in January in New York State Supreme Court by Zervos, a short-lived contestant on “The Apprentice,” has reached a critical point, with oral arguments over Trump’s motion to dismiss scheduled for Tuesday, after which the judge is expected to rule on whether the case may move forward.

If it proceeds, Zervos’s attorneys could gather and make public incidents from Trump’s past and Trump could be called to testify, with the unwelcome specter of a former president looming over him: It was Bill Clinton’s misleading sworn testimony — not the repeated allegations of sexual harassment against him — that eventually led to his impeachment.

“It’s almost a train you can’t stop going down the tracks,” said Joseph Cammarata, who represented Paula Jones against Clinton and, more recently, represented seven Cosby accusers in a defamation suit. “It opens him up to have to answer questions about sexual relations, other relationships, what might have been said, to open up your whole life.”

[spanone]

1. K&R...

[LonePirate]

2. Could this case subpoena those outtakes from The Apprentice?

Burnett seems fortified against releasing them for any reason and I'm not sure if a judge would consider them relevant unless the plaintiff is also in them.

[jberryhill]

3. Th judge may or may not rule on the motion tomorrow

Sometimes you argue a motion and the judge rules from the bench. Sometimes the judge simply says he/she will rule on it later.

[Ms. Toad]

4. You took the words right out of my mouth. n/t

[druidity33]

10. When will we know? nt.

[jberryhill]

11. Well...

If the judge rules from the bench, that happens right away.

If the judge takes the case under advisement and rules later on, we’ll know when that happens.

It’s not as if judges have deadlines.

[Jim Lane]

12. Theoretically, within 60 days.

The case is in New York state court, and judges do have deadlines. Under CPLR 2219, the motion must be decided within 60 days.

A decision rendered after the deadline is still valid, however. The time limit is not jurisdictional.

The enforcement mechanism is that a party that wants a prompt decision can bring a special proceeding. It takes the form of "Litigant v. Judge", where the judge is named in his or her individual capacity as the respondent.

In a few decades of practice in New York, I have never been involved in a case in which this was done. In one case, when a few of us were trying to get a handle on everything, we realized that the motion had been submitted precisely one year earlier. We of course had a brief chorus of "Happy Birthday, dear motion," and then resumed waiting.

The leading treatise on New York practice comments that such a proceeding will not only get the lawyer a quick decision but will enable him or her to predict what it will be. Judges, for some reason, don't like being sued.

Nevertheless, my guess is that Justice Schechter will actually decide this one within 60 days. She knows that it will get more scrutiny than all of the rest of her docket put together, and she won't want anyone to be able to point out that she didn't comply with the rules.

[jberryhill]

13. -not only get the lawyer a quick decision but will enable him or her to predict what it will be-

Yup.

I do a lot of arbitration proceedings at WIPO that are supposed to be decided in 14 days. After a month or so goes by, there is nothing I like to see better than the other side complaining, "Hey, weren't we supposed to get a decision by now?"

I imagine the panelists thinking, "Oh, so you want a decision now, do you?"

[SunSeeker]

5. I can't see any grounds for dismissing the suit; she appears to have stated a cause of action.

[BadgerMom]

6. Summer Zervos is a hero, a brave, brave hero.

I hope she's getting help paying her legal bills. Better yet, I hope she wins and Trump has to pay them.

[dchill]

7. K&R for the truth that Trump is quite incapable of telling.

[joshdawg]

8. Truth and trump is(are) like oil and water.

He has no honesty. He has no morality, no honor, no integrity, and no sense whatsoever. Just your typical wannabe dictator.
He does bear a resemblance to Mussolini......just sayin'.

[Gothmog]

9. I have been following this case for a while

I hope that it survives the motion to dismiss

[madinmaryland]

14. He'll fold and settle out of court like he did with the Trump U case.

He will never testify.

[Vinca]

15. I don't think the plaintiff wants to settle.

She was only asking for a few thousand dollars. I suspect her goal is to get the "Apprentice" tapes out.