Summary
The Appellate Division, Second Department, addressed appeals concerning a motion to compel the execution of a deed conveying real property to a decedent's estate, substitute the estate as a party, and award a money judgment. The court dismissed the purported appeal by the deceased plaintiff because the filing attorney lacked authority, and affirmed the lower court's denial of the intervenors' motion under the law of the case doctrine. Costs were awarded to the respondents.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the law of the case doctrine bars the appellate court from reconsidering the second motion after the first motion was denied.
- Whether the appeal by the deceased plaintiff Phyllis Lloyd is proper when the filing attorney lacked authority.
Holdings
- The appellate court affirmed the Supreme Court's order and held that the law of the case doctrine bars reconsideration of the second motion.
- The appeal by the deceased plaintiff is dismissed because the attorney who filed the notice of appeal lacked authority to act on her behalf.
Key quotations
“The doctrine of the law of the case applies to "legal determinations that were necessarily resolved on the merits in the prior decision, and to the same questions presented in the same case."”
Factual background
Phyllis Lloyd and her daughter Eve sued Joseph Lloyd and David Headley over ownership of certain real property. The parties settled the dispute in 2002, and Phyllis died later that year. In 2020 the surviving children, Keith B. Lloyd and Bernard Lloyd, as co‑executors of Phyllis's estate, moved to compel Headley to execute a deed to the estate and to obtain a $35,000 money judgment. The trial court denied those motions.
Procedural history
Phyllis Lloyd and her daughter sued Joseph Lloyd and David Headley over property ownership. The case settled in 2002; Phyllis died later that year. In 2020 the intervenors filed a contempt motion to compel a deed and seek a money judgment. The Supreme Court denied the first motion (Dec. 7, 2021) and later denied portions of a second motion (May 25, 2022). The intervenors appealed the denial; the deceased plaintiff's appeal was dismissed for lack of authority.