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CPLR 5003-A, WHICH MANDATES PROMPT PAYMENT OF A SETTLEMENT TO THE PLAINTIFF, DOES NOT APPLY TO PAYMENTS TO THIRD PARTIES REQUIRED BY THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT 3RD DEPT.

The Third Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Peters, determined CPLR 5003-a, which requires the prompt payment of a settlement to the plaintiff, does not apply to payments owed to a third-party, even though the settlement agreement requires that the third party be paid. Here the settlement agreement required defendant to pay a Worker’s Compensation lien:

… [W]e conclude that CPLR 5003-a applies only to the nonpayment of settlement monies owed directly to a settling plaintiff pursuant to a settlement agreement. This construction is not only in accord with the plain language of the prompt payment mandate itself, but is also supported by the language of the statutory enforcement mechanism set forth in subdivision (e). CPLR 5003-a (e), the teeth that effectuate subdivision (a)’s prompt payment directive, authorizes an “unpaid plaintiff” to enter judgment inclusive of interest, costs and disbursements against the nonpaying settling defendant … . Simply put, plaintiff here is not “unpaid” — all sums required to be paid to him pursuant to the parties’ settlement agreement (i.e., $3.25 million) were paid by defendant within the statutorily-prescribed 21-day time period. Had the Legislature intended to extend the reach of CPLR 5003-a to a settling defendant’s failure to promptly pay all valuable consideration due a settling plaintiff pursuant to the parties’ settlement agreement, it could have easily said so. It did not, and “‘a court cannot amend a statute by inserting words that are not there'” … . Ronkese v Tilcon N.Y., Inc., 2017 NY Slip Op 05905, 3rd Dept 7-27-17

CIVIL PROCEDURE (SETTLEMENTS, CPLR 5003-A, WHICH MANDATES PROMPT PAYMENT OF A SETTLEMENT TO THE PLAINTIFF, DOES NOT APPLY TO PAYMENTS TO THIRD PARTIES REQUIRED BY THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT 3RD DEPT)/SETTLEMENTS (CPLR 5003-A, WHICH MANDATES PROMPT PAYMENT OF A SETTLEMENT TO THE PLAINTIFF, DOES NOT APPLY TO PAYMENTS TO THIRD PARTIES REQUIRED BY THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT 3RD DEPT)

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