Enough is finally enough, a Suffolk County, N.Y., judge has ruled.
In the 18th year of a malpractice action filed by a Coram, N.Y., woman against the second of five attorneys to represent her in divorce proceedings commenced two decades ago, Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Arlen Spinner has precluded the woman from filing any further papers without his written permission.
"This Court is mindful of New York's public policy which guarantees unfettered access to the courts," Spinner wrote in Scomello v. Firestone, 1994-23726. "However," he added after reviewing pro se plaintiff Adeline Scomello's 329-page application for reargument, "such unfettered access is not absolute but in appropriate instances, may be limited or curtailed."
Patsy Scomello initiated a divorce action against his wife Adeline in 1986. In the course of those proceedings and a series of appeals, Ms. Scomello hired five separate matrimonial attorneys, against all of whom she subsequently levied malpractice charges, according to Spinner's decision.
While the other actions have all been resolved, the case against the second of those five attorneys, Hauppauge, N.Y.-based matrimonial attorney Arnold B. Firestone, has dragged on for nearly a generation.