Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2005

Liotti v. Peace

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York · Decided February 14, 2005

15 A.D.3d 452; 790 N.Y.S.2d 512; 2005 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1655

Cases that cite this one

15 later published cases cite this decision.

Hobbins v. North Star Orthopedics, PLLC (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2017)
Rockland Transit Mix, Inc. v. Rockland Enterprises, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2006)
Gironda v. Katzen (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2005)
Damsky v. Williams (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2022)
Advanced Remodeling of Long Is., Inc. v. Monahan (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2019)
Quercia v. Silver Lake Nursing Home, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2019)
Muhammadu v. Barcia (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2012)
Muhammadu v. Barcia (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2012)
Andelman v. Berardi (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2010)
Cava Construction Co. v. Gealtec Remodeling Corp. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2009)
Simpson v. Tommy Hilfiger U.S.A., Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2008)
Montefiore Medical Center v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2007)
Chiarello v. Alessandro (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2007)
White v. Incorporated Village of Hempstead (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2007)
Allstate Insurance v. Hayes (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2005)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

In an action to recover damages for defamation, the defendant Ernest J. Peace appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (DiBlasi, J.), entered November 7, 2003, which denied his motion pursuant to CPLR 5015 to vacate an order of the same court dated August 13, 2003, granting the plaintiffs motion for judgment against him on the issue of liability, upon his default in appearing at a pretrial conference, and to restore the matter to the Supreme Court’s pretrial conference calendar.

Ordered that the order is reversed, on the law and as a matter of discretion, with costs, the motion is granted and the order dated August 13, 2003, is vacated.

*453A party seeking to vacate a default is required to demonstrate both a reasonable excuse for the default and a meritorious cause of action or defense (see CPLR 5015 [a] [1]). It is within the discretion of the Supreme Court, in the interest of justice, to excuse a default resulting from law-office failure (see CPLR 2005). Under the circumstances of this case, the defendant Ernest J. Peace established a reasonable excuse that he mistakenly diaried the place of the pretrial conference (see CPLR 2005; Crystal Run Sand & Gravel v Milnor Constr. Corp., 301 AD2d 491 [2003]). This was an isolated incident of nonappearance (see Kingsland Group v Satcin Realty Corp., 287 AD2d 440 [2001]), and there was no evidence that the default was willful (see Beizer v Funk, 5 AD3d 619 [2004]). Moreover, Peace arguably has a meritorious defense (see Gross v New York Times Co., 82 NY2d 146, 152-54 [1993]). Accordingly, the Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion in denying the motion. Cozier, J.P, Ritter, Luciano and Lifson, JJ., concur.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.