Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

Re: Collections

This is smelly.

If the case is in the Supreme Court, you can track it directly online at http://portal.courts.state.ny.us/pls/portal30/CMS_DEV.DECISIONS_NDAWCASE.show_parms

If it's in a lower court, it won't be online. You could ask the lawyer to tell you the index number of the case, and look it up at the courthouse. Or you could get really down to brass tacks and demand a copy of the summary judgment papers.

You're basically right: if summary judgment was denied, the usual outcome is that the case goes to trial. But summary judgment is a "record searching" motion, which means that the judge may have seen something during the motion process that sent his antennae up and made the judge grant summary judgment dismissing the case. Then again, maybe the lawyer fouled up the case and is lying to you about what is going on. While you're at the website, you might want to look and see if the lawyer is in good standing: click on the link at http://www.courts.state.ny.us for litigants, then for Attorney Directory.

I would never make a motion for summary judgment without discussing it with my client and sending him a copy of the papers, usually before I serve them, so that the client can sign off on them or tell me I've made a mistake. Normally, too, a motion for summary judgment requires that the plaintiff make its prima facie case in admissible form, which usually means an affidavit signed by the client. In other words, this does not smell kosher.

Re: Collections

Appeals take quite a while to be heard....Additionally, on a motion for summary judgment, the court can decide any and all issues, even of not raised by the debtor.

It is difficult to second guess what happened without knowing the specifics.

Good Luck