Today I appeared in Bronx Supreme Court on behalf of a plaintiff in a personal injury (trip-and-fall) case.
The defendant had made a motion to strike the case from the trial calendar (due, in part, to its claim that plaintiff still owed it discovery) and to change the venue to another (less plaintiff-friendly) county. I was there to seek more time to submit opposition papers and set a timetable for providing the identified discovery. The court, however, denied the motion – without even reaching its merits – “for failure to comply with 22 NYCRR 202.7.”
The cited rule is Section 202.7 of Part 202 of the Uniform Civil Rules for the Supreme Court and the County Court, which provides, in pertinent part:
Calendaring of motions; uniform notice of motion form; affirmation of good faith. [] There shall be compliance with the procedures prescribed in the [New York Civil Practice Law and Rules] for the bringing of motions. In addition … no motion shall be filed with the court unless there have been served and filed with the motion papers … with respect to a motion relating to disclosure or to a bill of particulars, an affirmation that counsel has conferred with counsel for the opposing party in a good faith effort to resolve the issues raised by the motion.
This is not to fault the law firm/attorney who made the motion without including the required affirmation – everyone makes mistakes – but rather to illustrate the importance of including the so-called “good faith” affirmation when making a motion in NY Supreme Court.