Summary Judgment Motion Denied Because Made Before Joinder of Issue

On May 24, 2016, the First Department issued a decision in Stone Column Trading House Ltd. v. Beogradska Banka A.D. in Bankruptcy, 2016 NY Slip Op. 03996, upholding the denial of a premature motion for summary judgment, explaining:

The motion court correctly determined that Stone Column's motion for summary judgment was premature because it served the motion prior to joinder of issue. Pursuant to a stipulation, the parties agreed to proceed against each other in a consolidated interpleader action involving the parties' competing claims to an amount on deposit at a bank in liquidation proceedings. The stipulation shows that the parties contemplated answering interrogatories in lieu of filing answers to each other's complaints. As interrogatories have yet to be completely answered, and objections thereto resolved, issue has not been joined.

(Internal quotations and citations omitted).