PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT’S COUNSEL IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE DID NOT SEEK LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION FOR FIVE YEARS AFTER PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT’S DEATH; THE ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED PURSUANT TO CPLR 1021 (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the slip and fall action should have been dismissed. The slip and fall occurred in 2013. The plaintiff died in 2015.and the letters of administration were issued in 2021. Plaintiff’s attorney’s failure to move for substitution of a representative within a reasonable time warranted dismissal:
CPLR 1021 provides as follows: “A motion for substitution may be made by the successors or representatives of a party or by any party . . . . If the event requiring substitution occurs before final judgment and substitution is not made within a reasonable time, the action may be dismissed as to the party for whom substitution should have been made, however, such dismissal shall not be on the merits unless the court shall so indicate . . . . [I]f the event requiring substitution is the death of a party, and timely substitution has not been made, the court, before proceeding further, shall, on such notice as it may in its discretion direct, order the persons interested in the decedent’s estate to show cause why the action or appeal should not be dismissed” (emphasis added).
In determining reasonableness, a court should consider the plaintiff’s diligence in seeking substitution, prejudice to the other parties, and whether the action is shown to have potential merit … . Here, the unexplained, more than five-year delay in seeking letters of administration shows a lack of diligence … . Further, no demonstration of a potentially meritorious cause of action was made. Neither the attorney affirmation, complaint, bill of particulars, nor supplemental bill of particulars constituted an affidavit of merit, as counsel had no personal knowledge of the facts of this case … . Since an affidavit of merit was not submitted and no reasonable justification for the delay in petitioning for letters of administration was provided, the Supreme Court should have granted that branch of Nargis’s motion which was pursuant to CPLR 1021 to dismiss the complaint insofar as asserted against it … . Mesniankina v 302 BBA, LLC2023 NY Slip Op 04765, Second Dept 9-27-23
Practice Point: If your client dies and you wait five years before substituting an administrator for the decedent, you risk dismissal pursuant to CPLR 1021.