Rivera v. Bane: New York Supreme Court, New York County.  Class action filed in 1994 in which, following trial, the court ordered City defendant to make public assistance files available before fair hearings when timely requested by an appellant. The court denied class certification based on the City’s promise to follow the court's judgment in all future requests for files, a promise which the City has not kept.  In June 2003 the City moved to vacate the judgment and dismiss the case because the State regulation on which the Court based its ruling had been changed.  The regulation formerly required the City to make the file available within three business days, provided it had been requested at least five days before the hearing.  This rule was incorporated into the Judge’s decision, but the City claimed that it had been superseded by the amended regulation which requires the City to make the file available “within a reasonable time before the hearing.”  Plaintiffs opposed the City’s motion, moved for intervention and re-moved for class certification based on the City’s failure to keep its promise to produce all requested files in a timely fashion.  After extensive settlement negotiations, a settlement was approved by the Court and we received monitoring reports and retained the ability to seek compliance for two more years.  Plaintiffs then moved for extension of the stipulation based on defendant’s failures to provide all required monitoring information.  When Defendant provided the monitoring information, Plaintiffs determined that Defendant was in compliance and thus, the settlement will shortly sunset.  (JGS, ST)