As many practitioners are aware, the litigation process in New York often feels like a tortoise race, with many cases taking years to resolve. Section 3213 of the CPLR (“Summary Judgment in Lieu of Complaint”) is a bit of an outlier in New York practice, as it provides a mechanism to streamline cases without bearing
As readers of this blog no doubt are aware, clients sometimes take a “shoot first, ask questions later” approach during the early stages of litigation. This is especially true when bringing a CPLR 3213 motion for summary judgment in lieu of complaint, which, under narrow circumstances, provides an accelerated procedure for litigants to obtain a
As readers of this blog are aware—click here, here, here, and here for related posts—the CPLR 3213 motion for summary judgment in lieu of complaint can be a powerful tool to secure an expedited judgment, “meld[ing] pleading and motion practice into one step, allowing a summary judgment motion to be made before
In one of my previous posts, I discussed the basic requirements for bringing a CPLR 3213 motion for summary judgment in lieu of complaint. One such requirement (and the one that generates the largest body of case law), is that the document upon which the motion is based qualify as either a “money instrument”
Summary judgment plays an important role in litigation. So important, in fact, that many of our blog posts are devoted to the topic. Last week, my colleague Matthew Donovan discussed the policy against allowing successive summary judgment motions. A few weeks prior to that, in Summary Judgment 101, I discussed the basic, yet
There is a general policy in New York against allowing multiple or successive motions for summary judgment. And it stands to reason. After all, the word “summary,” from the Latin summa (as in Thomas Aquinas), refers to the essence, epitome, or totality of a thing; to a comprehensive statement that captures the whole, often
I made two observations coming out of Grand Central Station during my morning commute last week. First, the city really stinks after a string of oppressively hot and humid summer days. Second, there appears to be a temporary taxi stand, perhaps occasioned by the ongoing construction of the new One Vanderbilt building, just outside