Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York
Motion for summary judgment
I am involved in civil litigation with an HOA in upstate New York. As plaintiff I have submitted a motion for summary judgment and defendant has declined to contest the motion.
My attorney informs me that the judge requires that I enter into a settlement with defendant or face sanctions up to and including a ruling in the favor of defendant. I am also informed that the judge and defendants attorney have arranged, ex parte, that a simple letter to the court by defendant will suffice to contest the motion and that an answer on the merits is not required. Does a judge have such discretion to for go the CPLR stipulations of motion practice and coerce a moving party to settle??
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Motion for summary judgment
I have never heard of a judge doing what you describe. However, I have heard of attorneys trying to convince their clients to do something they think should be done by blaming it on the court.
Most of the counties outside of NYC have bifurcated trials: this means liability and damages are decided separately. Therefore even
if you as Plaintiff suceed on a summary judgment motion, you still have to prove damages. If there is a reasonable offer , the judge may be pressuring your attorney to convince you to settle. A judge can award sanctions for frivolous litigation.
Re: Motion for summary judgment
The short answer is that while a judge has wide latitude with respect to encouraging settlement and applying pressure to settle, a judge may not coerce an unvoluntary settlement, I would be curious regarding the specific facts in your matter in order to comment more broadly.
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