Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Summary Judgment Practice — New York State Court

Timing is everything. The plaintiff in Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP v. IBuyDigital.com, Inc., 2007 NY Slip Op 50149U; 2007 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 191 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. Jan. 11, 2007), moved for summary judgment on an account stated claim for unpaid legal bills but its moving papers did not contain detailed enough affidavits as to its regular practice of mailing out bills (or, better, the mailing of the particular bills at issue) to demonstrate that the bills had been received by the defendant — an element of its prima facie case. The defendant pointed out this omission, so the plaintiff rectified the error in its reply papers by filing detailed affidavits as to mailing. All is well, right? Held, reply papers are not timely to prove an element of your prima facie case in New York State court: "[I]t is well-settled that a plaintiff seeking summary judgment may not cure its failure to establish a prima facie case by submitting the missing evidence by way of reply" (citations omitted). Held, reply affidavits ignored; summary judgment denied.

Share this article:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Recent Posts

(1) Appellate Review of Inherent Power Sanctions (7th Circuit): Factual Findings Reviewed for Clear Error, Choice of Sanction for Abuse of Discretion — 4-Element Test for Reversal; (2) Sanctions and Class Actions: Monetary Sanctions Properly Imposed on Defendants for Improper Communications with Class Members (Represented Parties) — “[I]f The Class And The Class Opponent Are Involved In An Ongoing Business Relationship, Communications From The Class Opponent To The Class May Be Coercive” (Good Quote); (3) Monetary Sanctions under Goodyear v. Haeger: If Same Fact-Gathering Would Have Been Conducted Absent The Misconduct, No But-For Causation — But Only “Rough Justice” Required, “Not Accountant-Like Precision” (Good Quote) — Once Misconduct Is Clear, Time Spent Ferreting It Out Compensable under Goodyear; (4) Goodyear Did Not Overrule Long-Standing Rule That Courts May Impose Modest Civil Monetary Sanctions to Curb Litigation Abuse; (5) Appellate Jurisdiction Lacking Where Sanctioned Attorney Fails to File Notice of Appeal and Lawyer’s Intent to Appeal Not Apparent from Client’s Notice; (5) Rule 11 Improper Purpose — Party May Have Many Purposes for Pursuing Claim — As Long As Claim Is Supported by Good Faith Belief in the Merits, “A Parallel Reason Does Not Violate Rule 11” — To Deny A Motion for Sanctions, The District Court Need Not Address Every Argument: “Arguments Clearly Without Merit Can, And For The Sake Of Judicial Economy Should, Be Passed Over In Silence” (Good Quote); Non-Monetary Sanction on Counsel: Complete Twice The Required Amount Of Professional Responsibility Hours For Her Next Continuing Legal Education Cycle Imposed By The State Bar

Archives