COURT PROPERLY AWARDED DECLARATORY JUDGMENT IN DEFENDANT’S FAVOR AS A MATTER OF LAW UPON DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS.

The Second Department determined Supreme Court properly determined a declaratory judgment action in defendant’s favor as a matter of law in the context of defendant’s motion to dismiss:

A motion to dismiss a cause of action for declaratory relief generally “presents for consideration only the issue of whether a cause of action for declaratory relief is set forth, not the question of whether the plaintiff is entitled to a favorable declaration” … . However, “where the court, deeming the material allegations of the complaint to be true, is nonetheless able to determine, as a matter of law, that the defendant is entitled to a declaration in his or her favor, the court may enter a judgment making the appropriate declaration” … . Here, deeming the material allegations of the complaint to be true and considering the documents that were attached to and made part of the complaint (see CPLR 3014), including the stipulation of settlement, the Supreme Court properly determined, as a matter of law, that defendant was entitled to a declaration in her favor … . Pilgrim v Pantorilla, 2016 NY Slip Op 07634, 2nd Dept 11-16-16

CIVIL PROCEDURE (COURT PROPERLY AWARDED DECLARATORY JUDGMENT IN DEFENDANT’S FAVOR AS A MATTER OF LAW UPON DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS)/DECLARATORY JUDGMENT (COURT PROPERLY AWARDED DECLARATORY JUDGMENT IN DEFENDANT’S FAVOR AS A MATTER OF LAW UPON DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS)