A JUDGE SHOULD NOT, SUA SPONTE, ORDER THE DISMISSAL OF A COMPLAINT ABSENT “EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES,” NOT PRESENT HERE (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined there were no extraordinary circumstances to justify the judge’s “sua sponte” dismissal of the complaint:
“A court’s power to dismiss a complaint, sua sponte, is to be used sparingly and only when extraordinary circumstances exist to warrant dismissal” … . Here, no extraordinary circumstances existed warranting dismissal of the complaint … . Accordingly, the Supreme Court should not have, sua sponte, directed dismissal of the complaint. Project Guardianship v Chai 91 St. Marks PLC, LLC, 2025 NY Slip Op 02360, Second Dept 4-23-25
Practice Point: There have been many reversals of “sua sponte” dismissals of complaints.