A RULING ON A MOTION TO DISMISS DEALS ONLY WITH THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE PLEADINGS AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE LAW OF THE CASE WITH RESPECT TO A SUBSEQUENT MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (FOURTH DEPT). ​

The Fourth Department, reversing the Court of Claims, determined the judge improperly refused to consider evidence submitted by defendants in opposition to claimant’s summary judgment motion citing the law of the case doctrine. The judge’s “law of the case” ruling, however, was based on her prior ruling on a motion to dismiss. Because a motion to dismiss addresses only the sufficiency of the pleadings, a ruling on a motion to dismiss is not the law of the case with respect to a subsequent summary judgment motion:

It is well settled that the law of the case doctrine “applies only to legal determinations that were necessarily resolved on the merits in a prior decision” … , and that a court’s order denying a motion to dismiss is “addressed to the sufficiency of the pleadings” and does not “establish the law of the case for the purpose of” motions for summary judgment … . We thus agree with defendants that the court erred in refusing to consider defendants’ proof in opposition to the motion … . Riley v State of New York, 2024 NY Slip Op 01647, Fourth Dept 3-22-24

Practice Point: A ruling on a motion to dismiss is not the law of the case for a subsequent summary judgment motion.