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Bahar v. Sanieoff
Citation: 2022 NY Slip Op 06314Docket: Index No. 150328/18 Appeal No. 16315 Case No. 2021-04196
Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York; November 9, 2022; New York; State Appellate Court
Original Court Document: View Document
Alice Bahar, the Plaintiff-Appellant, filed an appeal against Defendants-Respondents Abraham Sanieoff and others, stemming from a Supreme Court order dated May 4, 2021. The order granted the defendants' motion to hold the plaintiff in contempt and dismissed her amended complaint while severing and continuing the defendants' counterclaims. The Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed the lower court's decision. The court held that the Supreme Court had the discretion to waive the requirement for the defendants to file a new answer in response to the amended complaint. Under CPLR 3025(d), while defendants typically must respond to amended complaints, the court may choose to dispense with this requirement. In this case, the amended complaint did not introduce new factual allegations, the changes made were irrelevant to the counterclaims, and the plaintiff was already aware of the counterclaims being litigated. Thus, the court deemed that requiring a new answer would waste judicial resources. The Appellate Division concluded that the trial court acted within its discretion in dismissing the amended complaint and allowing the counterclaims to proceed, leading to the affirmation of the order.