PROPERTY DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO JOIN THE SLIP AND FALL ACTION WITH A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION STEMMING FROM THE SLIP AND FALL INJURY PROPERLY DENIED (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department determined the property defendants’ motion to join the slip and fall action with a medical malpractice action stemming from the slip and fall injury was properly denied. Plaintiff had stepped in a rodent hole and subsequently sued hospitals for malpractice in the treatment of her foot injury:
“When actions involving a common question of law or fact are pending before a court, the court, upon motion, may order a joint trial of any or all the matters in issue” (CPLR 602[a]…). The determination of such a motion is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court… . Denial of the motion may be warranted where common questions of law or fact are lacking … , where the actions involve dissimilar issues or disparate legal theories … , or where a joint trial would substantially prejudice an opposing party … or pose a risk of confusing the jury or rendering the litigation unwieldy … .
Here, the Supreme Court providently exercised its discretion in denying the property defendants’ motion for a joint trial given the limited commonality between the two actions, the disparate legal theories and dissimilar issues they involve, the very different procedural stages of the two actions at the time the motion was made, and the potential prejudice to the opposing parties as well as the risks of juror confusion and unwieldy litigation if a joint trial was granted … . Cromwell v CRP 482 Riverdale Ave., LLC, 2018 NY Slip Op 05137, Second Dept 7-11-18
CIVIL PROCEDURE (PROPERTY DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO JOIN THE SLIP AND FALL ACTION WITH A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION STEMMING FROM THE SLIP AND FALL INJURY PROPERLY DENIED (SECOND DEPT))/NEGLIGENCE (CIVIL PROCEDURE, JOINDER, PROPERTY DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO JOIN THE SLIP AND FALL ACTION WITH A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION STEMMING FROM THE SLIP AND FALL INJURY PROPERLY DENIED (SECOND DEPT))/MEDICAL MALPRACTICE (CIVIL PROCEDURE, JOINDER, PROPERTY DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO JOIN THE SLIP AND FALL ACTION WITH A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION STEMMING FROM THE SLIP AND FALL INJURY PROPERLY DENIED (SECOND DEPT))/CPLR 602 (PROPERTY DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO JOIN THE SLIP AND FALL ACTION WITH A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION STEMMING FROM THE SLIP AND FALL INJURY PROPERLY DENIED (SECOND DEPT))/JOINDER (CIVIL PROCEDURE, (PROPERTY DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO JOIN THE SLIP AND FALL ACTION WITH A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION STEMMING FROM THE SLIP AND FALL INJURY PROPERLY DENIED (SECOND DEPT))/SLIP AND FALL (CIVIL PROCEDURE, JOINDER, PROPERTY DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO JOIN THE SLIP AND FALL ACTION WITH A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION STEMMING FROM THE SLIP AND FALL INJURY PROPERLY DENIED (SECOND DEPT))
