| LVOV Acupuncture, P.C. v Amica Mut. Ins. Co. |
| 2019 NY Slip Op 52063(U) [66 Misc 3d 130(A)] |
| Decided on December 13, 2019 |
| Appellate Term, Second Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports. |
Kopelevich & Feldsherova, P.C. (David Landfair of counsel), for appellant. Lawrence N. Rogak, LLC (Lawrence N. Rogak of counsel), for respondent.
Appeal from an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County (Richard J. Montelione, J.), entered May 23, 2018. The order granted defendant's motion to vacate a judgment of that court entered December 20, 2016 upon defendant's failure to appear or answer the complaint, and to compel plaintiff to accept defendant's answer.
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with $25 costs.
A defendant seeking to vacate a default in appearing or answering based on an excusable default must demonstrate both a reasonable excuse for the default and the existence of a potentially meritorious defense to the action (see CPLR 5015 [a] [1]; Eugene Di Lorenzo, Inc. v A.C. Dutton Lbr. Co., 67 NY2d 138, 141 [1986]). The determination of what constitutes a reasonable excuse for a default lies within the sound discretion of the motion court (see Matter of Gambardella v Ortov Light., 278 AD2d 494 [2000]).
Contrary to plaintiff's contention, the Civil Court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in finding that defendant had established a reasonable excuse for not timely answering the complaint. Further, defendant demonstrated that it had a potentially meritorious defense.
Accordingly, the order is affirmed.
PESCE, P.J., ALIOTTA and SIEGAL, JJ., concur.