Court Permits Belated Summary Judgment Motion

Posted: June 16, 2025 / Written by: Jeffrey M. Eilender, Thomas A. Kissane, Samuel L. Butt, Joshua Wurtzel, Channing J. Turner / Categories Commercial, Summary Judgment

Court Permits Belated Summary Judgment Motion

On June 6, 2025, Justice Joel M. Cohen granted Plaintiff’s motion for leave to file a belated summary judgment motion in J.T. Magen & Company Inc. v. Nissan North America, Inc. et al., Index No. 160497/2017. The Court explained:

The Court has discretion to permit Plaintiff to make a belated motion for summary judgment upon good cause shown (CPLR 3212 [a]). Good cause may be found where intervening decisions in the case raise new grounds to seek summary judgment or narrow the scope of the issues such that consideration of the motion serves judicial economy (see Trump Vil. Section 3, Inc. v New York State Hous. Fin. Agency, 307 AD2d 891, 893-94 [1st Dept 2003]). JTM contends that no trial would be required if it prevails on its proposed motion, which is directed to certain categories of damage it argues cannot be recovered as a matter of law. Further, many of JTM’s arguments are premised on the Court’s intervening decisions invalidating its liens and awarding damages for willful exaggeration, and thus could not have been raised at an earlier time. In particular, JTM asserts that Counterclaim-Plaintiffs cannot recover punitive damages as a matter of law, that the fraud damages would duplicate damages already awarded, and that large sums of the amount sought cannot have been caused by JTM’s conduct, including disbursements for the work of nonparty contractors.

The proposed motion, if it has merit, would serve the interests of judicial economy by obviating the need for trial altogether. Though the trial date is near, there is sufficient time for Counterclaim-Plaintiffs to frame a response to the limited issues raised in Plaintiff’s proposed motion. In sum, it is in the interest of the parties, the Court, and, perhaps most importantly, prospective jurors whose time will be preserved—to avoid the time and expense of trial if that is the appropriate result.

Contact the Commercial Division Blog Committee at commercialdivisionblog@schlamstone.com if you or a client have questions concerning summary judgment motions.