Untimely Summary Judgment Motion Which Is Nearly Identical to a Summary Judgment Motion Already Before the Court Should Be Considered

The Second Department explained when an untimely summary judgment motion, which is nearly identical to a timely summary judgment motion already before the court, should be considered:

While the cross motion was made more than 120 days after the note of issue was filed and, therefore, was facially untimely …, an untimely cross motion for summary judgment may be considered by the court where, as here, a timely motion for summary judgment was made on nearly identical grounds … . “In such circumstances, the issues raised by the untimely cross motion are already properly before the motion court and, thus, the nearly identical nature of the grounds may provide the requisite good cause (see CPLR 3212 [a]) to review the merits of the untimely cross motion. Notably, a court, in deciding the timely motion, may search the record and award summary judgment to a nonmoving party” (…see CPLR 3212 [b]). Therefore, the Supreme Court should have entertained the plaintiff’s cross motion for summary judgment. Wernicki v Knipper, 2014 NY Slip Op 05324, 2nd Dept 7-16-14