Patel v. Primary Construction, LLC

Summary

The Appellate Division reversed an order that converted the defendants’ CPLR 3211(a) motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment and granted dismissal. The court held that CPLR 3211(c) required notice of the intended conversion, and that the parties had not unequivocally charted a summary judgment course sufficient to excuse the notice requirement.

Holdings

1. A court intending to treat a CPLR 3211 motion as one for summary judgment under CPLR 3212 must notify the parties of that intention.
2. The exception to the notice requirement does not apply where the parties' evidentiary submissions were not so extensive as to demonstrate that they were laying bare their proof.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Supreme Court could convert defendants' CPLR 3211(a) motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment without providing notice under CPLR 3211(c).
2. Whether the parties' evidentiary submissions were sufficiently extensive to establish that they had unequivocally charted a summary judgment course, thereby excusing the notice requirement.

Disposition

reversed