Admissible Evidence

[karl3712]

My question involves court procedures for the state of: New York

Is an affirmation by a foreign attorney admissible, or must he/she swear to an affidavit before a U.S. Consul?

[adjusterjack]

Depends on a lot of factors. The nature of the case. The court level. What the affidavit purports to attest to. Proper foundation.

You have many threads on what I am guessing is the same action. You should have kept all the information in one thread. I doubt if anybody is going to to back and try to piece together what all this is about.

I suggest you hire a lawyer since you seem to be in over your head.

[karl3712]

Depends on a lot of factors. The nature of the case. The court level. What the affidavit purports to attest to. Proper foundation.

I have a court deadline to get some papers from overseas which cannot be produced without a court order issued by the court overseas. The court overseas is now shut because of covid and only urgent essential matters are being entertained by one rotated judge at the court in question. I asked the attorney overseas to get me an affidavit to this effect in order to be able to extend the deadline here. To repeat the question, does the affidavit have to be executed at the American Embassy which takes a while for an appointment, or is a simple affirmation by the attorney is sufficient? I hope this clarifies it.

[adjusterjack]

Yes, it does clarify it. Unfortunately, I have no idea what your particular court would require. But, if I had to make a wild guess, since the affidavit just explains the need for the extension, I would think that such an affidavit would not be held to the stricter rules that would apply to evidence.

You're best bet is to ask your court what the requirement is.

If that doesn't work, all I can suggest is that you get what you can get the fastest, submit it, and hope you have enough time until the deadline to fix it if it's not acceptable.

Another option is to ask the opposing attorney to agree to a joint request for an extension.

[pg1067]

Is an affirmation by a foreign attorney admissible, or must he/she swear to an affidavit before a U.S. Consul?

An affirmation of what? Admissible for what purpose? Is the attorney a party to the lawsuit in which the evidence is sought to be admitted?

Questions about the admissibility of evidence can almost never be answered in the abstract. Details matter.

To repeat the question, does the affidavit have to be executed at the American Embassy which takes a while for an appointment, or is a simple affirmation by the attorney is sufficient? I hope this clarifies it.

Your New York admitted attorney knows the requirements for admission of evidence, and the answer to the question depends on context. New York civil courts proceed as slow as cold molasses right now.