Law Office Failure Can Be a Valid Excuse Re: Vacating a Default Judgment

In reversing Supreme Court’s denial of a motion to vacate a default judgment, the Fourth Department explained that law office failure can be excused:

The court erred in rejecting that excuse on the ground that “law office failure is not an excuse that is accepted by the Court of Appeals.”    It is well established that law office failure may be excused, in the court’s discretion, when deciding a motion to vacate a default order (see CPLR 2005;…). With respect to other relevant factors, we note that defendants had contested plaintiff’s claims in federal court for more than a year before this action was recommenced in Supreme Court, and their attorneys had filed timely notices of appearances in Supreme Court and had been communicating with plaintiff’s attorney before the answer was due. We further note that plaintiff was not prejudiced by defendants’ inadvertent default, and that the extent of the delay was minimal. Calaci v Allied Interstate, Inc…, 750, 4th Dept 7-5-13