From This Week’s “Latest Posts” Section (Below):

Failure to Respond to a Jury Note in a Criminal Trial Requires Reversal; What Happens When the Transcript of a Response to a Jury Note is Missing?

People v Salas, 2025 NY Slip Op 03603, CtApp 6-12-25

Can an Inmate Be Sanctioned for Misbehavior by 730 Days in Segregated Confinement When the Correction Law Allows a Maximum of 15?

Matter of Peterkin v New York State Dept. of Corr. & Community Supervision, 2025 NY Slip Op 03617, Third Dept 6-12-25

A Hospital Discharged a Patient with Schizophrenia and Paid for the Cab; Is the Hospital Liable for the Patient’s Assault on the Cab Driver?

 Melio v John T. Mather Mem. Hosp., 2025 NY Slip Op 03562, Second Dept 6-11-25

Plaintiff Was Killed Riding a Rented Moped; Why Does the Arbitration Clause Apply to the Negligence Actions But Not the Wrongful Death Action?

 Kresberg v Kerr, 2025 NY Slip Op 03559, Second Dept 6-11-25

NEW YORK STATE APPELLATE DECISIONS IN DIGEST

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How To Use the New York Appellate Digest

Note: Before Relying On Any Decision Summarized on this Site, Make Sure It Remains Good Law Using the Method You Trust for that Purpose. See the Discussion Under “Shepardize” Below.

Note: The Easiest Way to Save a Search Result Is to Highlight It and then Copy and Paste into a Word Document. All the Links Remain Functional in the Word Document.

The content of the smaller categories can serve as checklists for the preparation of a case. If you are bringing a Medical Malpractice case, for example, why not browse through all of the decision-summaries in that category before you interview your client? In a few minutes you can survey all the Medical Malpractice issues which have made it to the appellate courts since 2013. You may be able to avoid mistakes made by others. If you are bringing a construction-accident case, browse through the Labor Law-Construction Law category. The hidden pitfalls in that area of the law will surprise you. There are many smaller categories which can be used to jump-start the initial preparation of a case.

There are only three categories which are too large to browse: Negligence, Civil Procedure and Criminal Law. By getting comfortable with the Search function, even these larger categories can serve as “checklists” for case preparation.

Note: Before Relying On Any Decision Summarized on this Site, Make Sure It Remains Good Law Using the Method You Trust for that Purpose. See the Discussion Under “Shepardize” Below.

Note: The Easiest Way to Save a Search Result Is to Highlight It and then Copy and Paste into a Word Document. All the Links Remain Functional in the Word Document.

The summaries of the decisions released the week before are here on the Home Page, organized by release date (not legal category) with the most recent releases first. For readers who like to browse through all of last week’s decision-summaries in one place, the “Latest Posts” section (below) provides that service.

Each week’s “Latest Posts” are organized by legal category and compiled in a PDF document with a Table of Contents, the “Weekly Reversal Report.” The links to the most recent “Weekly Reversal Reports” are in the orange-brown panel on the Home Page. The past “Weekly Reversal Reports” are archived in “Update Service,” accessed in the Top Menu. Skimming through the Tables of Contents of the Weekly Reversal Reports is an easy way to quickly catch up with the issues our New York State appellate courts have been addressing since January 2023.

The Search Function allows the reader to zero in on the most recent decision-summaries in specific categories. Click on the “All Categories” line in the Search Panel (at the Top of the “Latest Posts” Section on the Home Page and on the right side all other website pages) to reveal the drop-down menu. Choose a category from the drop-down menu and click on “Search.” All the decision-summaries in that category will come up (going back to January 1, 2013), the most recent first.

Similarly, just clicking on any category in the Footer at the bottom of every page will bring up the all the decision-summaries in that category, the most recent first (an alternative to using the Search Panel for this purpose).

For the latest decision-summaries in all categories from a specific court, choose “All Categories” in the first line of the search panel, choose the court from the menu, and click on “Search.” To select multiple courts, hold the “Ctrl” key down and click on the courts. To de-select a selected court, hold the “Ctrl” key down and click on it.

For the latest decision-summaries in a specific legal category and from a specific court choose a category from the drop-down menu in the Search Panel, choose the court from the menu, and click on “Search.” To select multiple courts, hold the “Ctrl” key down and click on the courts. To de-select a selected court, hold the “Ctrl” key down and click on it.

Click on “Just Released” for more instructions on how to search for the most recent decisions.

Note: Before Relying On Any Decision Summarized on this Site, Make Sure It Remains Good Law Using the Method You Trust for that Purpose. See the Discussion Under “Shepardize” Below.

Note: The Easiest Way to Save a Search Result Is to Highlight It and then Copy and Paste into a Word Document. All the Links Remain Functional in the Word Document.

The search function can be used to get caught up on what all the courts have ruled on so far this year, or what any specific court has ruled on so far this year, or what any court has ruled on during any time period, going back weeks, months or years. Just add the “start” and “end” dates to your searches (the third and fourth lines in the search panel on the right side of the page).

In the posts “Just Released,” “Streamlined Research” and “Update Service,” how to do (1) searches in all legal categories, (2) searches in specific categories, (3) searches using keywords and phrases, and (4) searches confined to specific courts, is explained in some detail. Use the “start” and “end” date criteria to confine any of those types of searches to a specific time period.

If, for example, you want to see what the Fourth Department has addressed in the category “Criminal Law” in 2024, click on “Criminal Law” in the drop-down menu in the Search Panel (revealed when you click on “All Categories”), choose January 1, 2024, as the start date, choose today as the end date, click on “Fourth Department” in the Search Panel menu and click on “Search.”

If you want to see what the Court of Appeals ruled on this year in all categories, leave “All Categories” in the top line of the search panel, choose January 1, 2024, for the start date and today for the end date, click on “Court of Appeals” in the search panel menu and click on “Search.”

Any type of search can be confined to any specific time period between January 1, 2013, and today.

For more on this “personalized update service” capability, click on “Update Service.”

Note: Before Relying On Any Decision Summarized on this Site, Make Sure It Remains Good Law Using the Method You Trust for that Purpose. See the Discussion Under “Shepardize” Below.

Note: The Easiest Way to Save a Search Result Is to Highlight It and then Copy and Paste into a Word Document. All the Links Remain Functional in the Word Document.

The New York Appellate Division database is comprised of over 14,000 summaries of selected decisions released since January, 2013, by all four departments of the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeals. All areas of the law addressed by the courts are covered, from Administrative Law to Zoning. See the drop-down menu in the Search Panel at the top of the “Latest Posts” section on the Home Page and on the right side of every other website page (revealed by clicking on “All Categories”) or the Footer on every page for the complete list of covered legal categories.

The database is unique among case-law databases because the decisions have already been selected for their instructive value, studied and analyzed. The summaries of the decisions that make up this database have already been organized and placed in all relevant legal categories. The issues in each decision have already been identified and described in the headings of the summaries. The most instructive portions of the decisions have already been located and are directly quoted in the summaries. Much of the work that ordinarily goes into case-law research has been done before you click on the “Search” button.

Because all the decision-summaries have been organized by linking each one to all relevant legal categories, searches are focused, fast and efficient. Choosing the right category and/or searching for a single strong keyword or a strong phrase (in the “Search by Keywords” line of the search panel) is often enough to bring up most or all of the summaries on that specific topic.

The time it takes to sort through search results, eliminate the irrelevant, and collect the relevant, is drastically reduced because the concise summary-headings describe the issues addressed by each decision.

For instructions on how to use the site as an up-to-date research tool click on “Just Released,” “Update Service,” and “Streamlined Research.”

Note: Before Relying On Any Decision Summarized on this Site, Make Sure It Remains Good Law Using the Method You Trust for that Purpose. See the Discussion Under “Shepardize” Below.

Note: The Easiest Way to Save a Search Result Is to Highlight It and then Copy and Paste into a Word Document. All the Links Remain Functional in the Word Document.

Since January, 2013, without interruption, I have been sifting through all the Appellate Division and Court of Appeals decisions released each week, choosing the most instructive for inclusion in the New York Appellate Digest database.

With only two narrow exceptions (attorney-grievance decisions, and no-fault serious-injury decisions) every area of the law addressed by our appellate courts over the past ten years or so is covered in the New York Appellate Digest database (see the footer for the list of covered categories). It is now rare for a completely new or novel legal issue to come up, an indication the 14,000 decision-summaries present a fairly complete picture of the law of New York.

The key to finding what you are looking for in the database is choosing the most relevant legal categories and the best keywords or phrases for database searches. For the basics on searches click on “Just Released,”  “Update Service,” and “Streamlined Research.”

The pages linked to below are offered to provide some idea of the depth of coverage in the database of specific areas of the law and may therefore help in choosing the best categories and keywords for a database search.

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW;

APPEALS;

ARBITRATION;

ATTORNEYS;

BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS;

CIVIL PROCEDURE;

CIVIL RIGHTS LAW;

CONSUMER LAW;

CONTRACT LAW;

CRIMINAL LAW;

DEBTOR-CREDITOR;

DEFAMATION;

EDUCATION-SCHOOL LAW;

EMPLOYMENT LAW;

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW;

FAMILY LAW;

FORECLOSURE;

FRAUD;

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW (FOIL);

INSURANCE LAW;

INTENTIONAL TORTS;

LANDLORD-TENANT;

MENTAL HYGIENE LAW;

MUNICIPAL LAW;

PERSONAL INJURY;

PRODUCTS LIABILITY;

REAL PROPERTY;

TAX LAW;

TRUSTS AND ESTATES;

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE;

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION;

ZONING AND LAND USE.

Note: The Easiest Way to Save a Search Result Is to Highlight It and then Copy and Paste into a Word Document. All the Links Remain Functional in the Word Document.

When a decision is reversed, modified, remitted, reargued, overruled, etc., the summary of any related decision already in the New York Appellate Digest database is NOT flagged.

I have made an effort to summarize every substantive Court of Appeals decision released since January 2013, and every reversal by the Court of Appeals, even if the reversal-decision is not substantive. So a “post-January, 2013” reversal of an Appellate Division decision should be in the “Court of Appeals” portion of the New York Appellate Digest database. Bear in mind, however, a single Court of Appeals decision may reverse more than one lower-court decision. Therefore a Court of Appeals citation in the New York Appellate Digest database may not include all parties affected by a reversal.

The database may not include every reversal by the Court of Appeals (I don’t think I missed any, but …). In addition, a reversal is not the only way a decision can be rendered obsolete. Court of Appeals and Appellate Division decisions may be overruled by the United States Supreme Court (i.e., the Supreme Court’s warrant-requirement for cell-phone-location records). Decisions at both the Court of Appeals and Appellate Division levels sometimes indicate prior contrary rulings should not be followed. One Appellate Division department may expressly disagree with rulings on the same issue made in other departments. Decisions may subsequently be reargued, or remitted before or after appeal, leading to a different result. It is certainly possible that not every decision stemming from the same proceeding has been included in the New York Appellate Digest database.

Therefore, before relying on any decision summarized here, make sure it is good law using the method you trust for that purpose.

Latest Posts

Posted Below Are Summaries of Selected Decisions Released June 9 – 13, 2025, by the First, Second and Third Departments Organized by Date Only (Not by Legal Category or Court).

Use the Search Panel (Immediately Below) to Pull Up the Latest Posts in a Specific Legal Category. Click on “All Categories,” Pick the Category from the Drop-Down Menu, and Click on “Search.” A Category Search Brings Up All the Posts in the Database Going Back to January 2013, Most Recent Posts First.

The Latest Posts in a Specific Legal Category Can Also Be Accessed Simply by Clicking on the Category in the Footer at the Bottom of All of the Website Pages.

For the Latest Posts from a Specific Court, Most Recent First, Use the Search Panel—Either Choose “All Categories” or a Specific Category in the Drop-Down Menu (Revealed by Clicking on “All Categories” at the Top of the Search Panel) and Choose the Desired Court by Clicking On It in the Menu, then Click on “Search”—To Choose Multiple Courts, Hold Down the “Ctrl” Key and Click on Them—To De-Select a Selected Court, Hold Down the “Ctrl” Key and Click on It.

Sign Up for the Mailing List in the Footer (below) to be Notified As Soon As the Latest Posts Are Online

SEARCH PANEL

Use the Search Panel to Access the More than 17,000 Decision-Summaries in the Database. Keyword Searches Are Easy Because the Decision-Summaries Are Organized by Legal Category. So, For Example, If  You Click on “Negligence” and Use “Fall” as a Keyword, Only Slip and Fall Decision-Summaries Will Come Up. Or If You Click on “Labor Law-Construction Law” and Use “Ladder” as a Keyword, Only Ladder-Fall Decision-Summaries Will Come Up.

Before Relying On Any Decision Summarized on this Site, Make Sure It Remains Good Law Using the Method You Trust for that Purpose. See the Discussion Under “Shepardize” Above in the “How to Use the New York Appellate Digest” section.

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The Court of Appeals, remitting the matter for a hearing, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Singas, determined (1) the absence of the transcript of a response to a jury note did not require reversal, and (2) defendant’s motion to vacate his conviction on ineffective-assistance grounds should not have been denied without a hearing:

Re: missing response-to-a-jury-note transcript:

… [A] missing transcript alone does not entitle a defendant to the extreme remedy of vacatur, but may entitle a defendant to a reconstruction hearing … . To be sure, if a defendant shows that they are entitled to a reconstruction hearing, and that the missing transcript at issue “cannot be reconstructed . . . , there must be a reversal” … . But defendant has not made that showing. Thus, the missing transcript does not warrant reversing defendant’s conviction.

Re: motion to vacate conviction, ineffective assistance:

Where a defendant moves to vacate their conviction under CPL 440.10, the court “must” decide “whether the motion is determinable without a hearing to resolve questions of fact” … . The court “may deny” the motion summarily under enumerated circumstances, including where purported facts essential to the motion are unsupported by “sworn allegations” that “substantiat[e] or tend[ ] to substantiate” those facts … , or where such a fact “is contradicted by a court record or other official document” and “there is no reasonable possibility that [the] allegation is true” … . We review a CPL article 440 motion’s summary denial for abuse of discretion … .

Defendant’s ineffective assistance claim cannot be decided without first resolving questions of fact. Defense counsel’s affirmation, together with the trial record, suggest that counsel may have lacked a strategic or other legitimate basis for one or more of his actions relating to eyewitness identification testimony at the heart of the People’s proof. Whether counsel in fact had such a basis for his conduct turns on factual information outside the present record that should be developed at an evidentiary hearing. People v Salas, 2025 NY Slip Op 03603, CtApp 6-12-25

Practice Point: A missing jury-note-response transcript does not require reversal unless the defendant shows entitlement to a reconstruction hearing and the transcript cannot be reconstructed.​

Practice Point: Where a motion to vacate the conviction on ineffective-assistance grounds turns on facts outside the record, here the strategic or other legitimate basis for counsel’s actions, it is an abuse of discretion to deny the motion without a hearing.

The Third Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Garry, determined the Workers’ Compensation Board properly held that the employer’s workers’ compensation carrier was entitled, pursuant to Workers’ Compensation Law section 15 (3)(w), to take credit toward awards of temporary disability. The opinion is too detailed to fairly summarize here.:

On December 19, 2017, claimant was involved in a work-related accident, and his subsequent claim for workers’ compensation benefits was established for injuries to his back, thoracic spine and both shoulders. Awards were made at various rates for periods of temporary disability and lost time beginning on December 20, 2017. In April 2021, claimant’s treating pain management specialist opined that claimant had reached maximum medical improvement (hereinafter MMI) with respect to his lumbar spine, and, in November 2021, the carrier’s consultant in physical medicine and rehabilitation, who conducted an independent medical examination of claimant, found that MMI in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation had been established. In a June 2022 decision, a Workers’ Compensation Law Judge (hereinafter WCLJ) directed the parties to produce medical evidence of permanency. Following subsequent examinations for permanency, as well as deposition testimony from several of the physicians who examined claimant for permanency and testimony from claimant, the WCLJ, in a November 2022 decision, classified claimant as having a permanent partial disability with a loss of wage-earning capacity of 65%, entitling him to 375 weeks of compensation at the specified rate. The WCLJ also found that, pursuant to Workers’ Compensation Law § 15 (3) (w), the employer’s workers’ compensation carrier was entitled to a credit against the number of statutory cap weeks based upon its payment of 78.8 weeks of awards to claimant for periods of temporary partial disability after June 16, 2020 — the 130th week following the accident of record. Matter of Quoma v Bob’s Discount Furniture, 2025 NY Slip Op 03610, Third Dept 6-12-25

The Third Department, in a full fledged opinion by Justice Pritzker, determined that the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act (the HALT Act) prohibited petitioner’s confinement in a special housing unit (SHU), now known as segregated confinement, for 730 days. The maximum permitted by the Correction Law is 15 consecutive days:

… [P]ursuant to Correction Law § 137 (6) (k) (i), DOCCS [NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision] “may place a person in segregated confinement for up to three consecutive days and no longer than six days in any [30-]day period if, pursuant to an evidentiary hearing, it determines that the person violated [DOCCS] rules which permit a penalty of segregated confinement. [DOCCS] may not place a person in segregated confinement for longer than three consecutive days or six days total in a [30-]day period unless the provisions of subparagraph (ii) . . . are met.” … Correction Law § 137 (6) (k) (ii) provides that DOCCS “may place a person in segregated confinement beyond the limits of subparagraph (i) . . . or in [an RRU] only if, pursuant to an evidentiary hearing, it determines by written decision that the person committed one of [certain statutorily provided] acts and if the [C]ommissioner or his or her designee determines in writing based on specific objective criteria the acts were so heinous or destructive that placement of the individual in general population housing creates a significant risk of imminent serious physical injury to staff or other incarcerated persons, and creates an unreasonable risk to the security of the facility.” Although Correction Law § 137 (6) (k) (ii) does not contain a specific temporal limitation, this can be found in Correction Law § 137 (6) (i) (i), which provides, with certain exceptions, that “[n]o person may be placed in segregated confinement for longer than necessary and no more than [15] consecutive days. Nor shall any person be placed in segregated confinement for more than [20] total days within any [60-]day period.” Given these limitations, we find that not only the penalty imposed by the Hearing Officer, but also the reduced penalty of 730 days in SHU, violates the HALT Act. Matter of Peterkin v New York State Dept. of Corr. & Community Supervision, 2025 NY Slip Op 03617, Third Dept 6-12-25

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined a hearing was required on whether defendant was properly served by “nail and mail.” The first affidavit from the process server did not mention the required mailing. A second affidavit which described the mailing was subsequently submitted. The second affidavit did not cure the flaw in the original affidavit:

… Supreme Court erred in determining the defendant’s cross-motion, inter alia, to vacate the judgment and to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction without first conducting a hearing to determine the validity of service of process. The original affidavit of service sworn to on July 26, 2018, failed to aver that the process server mailed the summons and complaint as required by CPLR 308(4). The new affidavit of service sworn to on November 23, 2021, submitted by the plaintiff in opposition to the defendant’s cross-motion, could not be used to cure the apparent defect in the original affidavit of service … . Further, the defendant raised an issue of fact as to whether the summons and complaint were affixed to the door of the defendant’s dwelling place or usual place of abode … . Miller v Fuentes, 2025 NY Slip Op 03564, Second Dept 6-11-25

Practice Point: If the original affidavit by the process server does not describe the mailing requirement for “nail and mail” service, that flaw is not cured by submitting a second affidavit which describes the mailing. The flaw in the original affidavit mandates a hearing on the validity of the service of process.

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendant hospital did not owe a duty of care to the cab driver injured (assaulted) by a patient (Barrio) who was just released, despite the fact that the cab fare was paid by the hospital:

… [T]he defendant Francis Barrios was taken by ambulance to the emergency department of the defendant John T. Mather Memorial Hospital (hereinafter the hospital). Barrios, who had a history of schizophrenia, complained of anxiety, tremors, and blurry vision. The hospital records indicated that Barrios did not have a history of threatening or attempting to hurt others, or of actually hurting others, and that Barrios did not display any signs of violent behavior. After consultation with the psychiatrist on call, it was determined that Barrios should be discharged and should seek outpatient treatment. * * *

“The elements of a cause of action alleging common-law negligence are a duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff, a breach of that duty, and a showing that the breach was a proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury” … . “Without a duty running directly to the injured person, there can be no liability” … . “Generally, a defendant has no duty to control the conduct of third persons so as to prevent them from harming others” … . “A duty may arise, however, where there is a relationship either between defendant and a third-person tortfeasor that encompasses defendant’s actual control of the third person’s actions, or between defendant and plaintiff that requires defendant to protect plaintiff from the conduct of others” … .

Here, the plaintiffs failed to establish, prima facie, that the hospital owed the injured plaintiff a duty. There is no evidence that the hospital had sufficient authority and ability to control Barrios’s actions after he was discharged and left the hospital … . The hospital’s decision to pay for a taxi service for Barrios after his discharge did not make the hospital the injured plaintiff’s employer, make the hospital an agent for Barrios, or otherwise create a special duty … . Further, absent evidence in the record that the hospital knew or should have known that Barrios posed a threat to the injured plaintiff, she was a member of the general public and not of a class of people to whom the hospital owed a duty … . Melio v John T. Mather Mem. Hosp., 2025 NY Slip Op 03562, Second Dept 6-11-25

Practice Point: Here a discharged patient with schizophrenia assaulted the cab driver paid by the hospital to take the patent home. The hospital did not owe a duty of care to the cab driver.

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice McCormack, determined the plaintiffs in this wrongful death action, who are the parents of plaintiffs’ decedent and the administrators of decedent’s estate, are not bound by the decedent’s agreement to arbitrate. The decedent rented an electric moped from defendant Ravel by downloading an app with an arbitration clause. Decedent was killed when he was thrown from the moped and struck by a car. All agreed that the negligence causes of action were subject to the arbitration clause. Plaintiffs successfully argued the wrongful death action is distinct from the negligence actions and is not subject to the arbitration clause. The winning argument was first raised on appeal. The court heard the appeal because it “present[ed] a pure question of law that appears on the face of the record and could not have been avoided if raised at the proper juncture” …:

Here, it is undisputed that the plaintiffs, individually, did not enter into an agreement with Revel to arbitrate. However, the plaintiffs are the administrators of the decedent’s estate, and the causes of action arise from the same incident that caused the decedent’s death. The issue, therefore, turns on the nature of wrongful death causes of action and whether they are derivative of negligence causes of action or independent of negligence causes of action. * * *

The law of this State is clear that a wrongful death cause of action is a separate and distinct cause of action to redress the injuries suffered by a decedent’s distributees as a result of the decedent’s death. “‘A cause of action to recover damages for wrongful death is a property right belonging solely to the distributees of the decedent and vests in them at the decedent’s death'” … . This is true even where no cause of action alleging negligence exists. * * * … [T]his Court [has] determined that a cause of action alleging wrongful death was not derivative of a negligence cause of action, but [is] an independent cause of action vested in the distributees. “… [T]he surviving personal injury action and the wrongful death cause of action … are different in many respects. The two causes of action exist in order to protect the rights of different classes of persons, and the measure of damages is entirely different” … . “Wrongful death actions are brought not to compensate the decedent or his [or her] estate for the pain and suffering attendant to the injury, but rather to recover, on behalf of decedent’s distributees, the pecuniary value of the decedent’s life” … . Further, the different causes of action accrue at different times. A negligence cause of action accrues at the time of the injury, while a wrongful death cause of action does not accrue until the decedent’s death, which can occur after the injury is sustained … . Marinos v Brahaj, 2025 NY Slip Op 03561, Second Dept 6-11-25

Practice Point: Negligence and wrongful death causes of action are distinct and address different injuries. Here an arbitration clause in a moped rental contract executed to by plaintiffs’ decedent was deemed to apply to the negligence causes of action stemming from the moped accident, but not to the related wrongful death cause of action.​

Practice Point: Consult this opinion for an example of when an issue raised for the first time on appeal will be considered by the appellate court.

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the plaintiff’s failure to respond to the ninety-day CPLR 3216 demand to file a note of issue required dismissal of the medical malpractice action. The law-office-failure excuse was vague and conclusory and plaintiff did not demonstrate a meritorious cause of action:

“Where, as here, a plaintiff has been served with a 90-day demand . . . pursuant to CPLR 3216(b)(3), the plaintiff must comply with the demand by filing a note of issue or by moving, before the default date, either to vacate the demand or to extend the 90-day demand period” … . Here, the plaintiff did neither.

“In opposition to a motion to dismiss pursuant to CPLR 3216, a plaintiff may still avoid dismissal if he or she demonstrates ‘a justifiable excuse for the failure to timely abide by the 90-day demand, as well as the existence of a potentially meritorious cause of action'” … . “‘Although the court has the discretion to accept law office failure as a justifiable excuse (see CPLR 2005), a claim of law office failure should be supported by a detailed and credible explanation of the default at issue'” … . Here, the vague and conclusory claim of law office failure set forth by the plaintiff’s attorney did not constitute a justifiable excuse … . Moreover, the plaintiff failed to submit evidentiary proof from a medical expert demonstrating the existence of a potentially meritorious cause of action … . Kresberg v Kerr, 2025 NY Slip Op 03559, Second Dept 6-11-25

Practice Point: Here a vague and conclusory allegation of law-office-failure was not a reasonable excuse for failure to respond to the ninety-day demand to file a note of issue.

The Second Department determined the referee’s report in this foreclosure action should not have been confirmed because a proper foundation for the admissibility of the records relied upon by the referee was not provided by the accompanying affidavit:

“The report of a referee should be confirmed whenever the findings are substantially supported by the record and the referee has clearly defined the issues and resolved matters of credibility” … . Here, in computing the amount due on the mortgage loan, the referee relied upon the affidavit of Frank Rosas, a vice president of Nationstar Mortgage, LLC (hereinafter Nationstar), the servicer of the mortgage loan. Rosas stated in his affidavit that Nationstar’s records pertaining to the mortgage loan included records of PHH Mortgage, a prior servicer. However, Rosas did not state when Nationstar began servicing the loan, did not state that “[he] was personally familiar with the record-keeping practices and procedures” of PHH Mortgage … , and did not “establish that the records provided by [PHH Mortgage] were incorporated into [Nationstar’s] own records and routinely relied upon by [Nationstar] in its own business” … . Thus, Rosas’s affidavit failed to satisfy the admissibility requirements of CPLR 4518(a) … . HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v Coxall, 2025 NY Slip Op 03557, Second Dept 6-11-25

Practice Point: An affiant’s failure to lay a proper foundation for the admissibility of business records in a foreclosure action results in reversal.

The Second Department, reversing the denial of defendants’ motion to set aside the verdict and ordering a new trial, held the jury should have been instructed to determine whether the security guard (Vetell) who assaulted plaintiff was acting within the scope of his employment at the time of the assault. Apparently plaintiff left the defendant diner to get money at an ATM to pay the bill. When he retuned to the diner, the security guard knocked him to the ground and choked him:

… Supreme Court erred in denying the appellants’ counsel’s request to ask the jury to determine whether Vetell was acting within the scope of his employment when he attacked the plaintiff. The interrogatories that were given to the jury made it possible for the jury to find the appellants liable for Vetell’s acts based only on his being a special employee without determining that he was acting within the scope of his employment when he attacked the plaintiff. Since a determination that Vetell was acting within the scope of his employment is a necessary element to render the appellants vicariously liable for his acts, the court should have added the requested interrogatory to the verdict sheet … . Eaton v Fiotos, 2025 NY Slip Op 03553, Second Dept 6-10-25

Practice Point: Whether an employer is vicariously liable for the actions of an employee depends upon whether the employee’s conduct was within the scope of employment. Here the failure to so instruct the jury required a new trial.​

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff’s motion to strike defendants’ answer or compel compliance with discovery demands should not have been denied on the ground plaintiff failed to first conference the matter as required by the court’s Part Rules:

… Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion in denying the motion on the ground that plaintiff failed to first conference the matter with the court in accordance with its Part Rules. The court may not condition the making of a motion on prior judicial approval … . Reyes v City of New York, 2025 NY Slip Op 03545, First Dept 6-10-25

Practice Point: Here plaintiff’s failure to comply with Supreme Court’s Part Rule requiring a conference before moving to compel discovery was not a valid ground for denying the motion. A court may not condition the making of a motion on prior judicial approval.