Hodges v. 37-11 30th St., LLC

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department, reversed an order denying the defendants' motion for summary judgment because the motion papers lacked a word count certification. The court held that the omission should have been overlooked because no substantial right was prejudiced and remitted the matter for a determination on the merits.

Holdings

1. A court should overlook the appellants' failure to submit a word count certification with their summary-judgment motion where no substantial right of any party was prejudiced.
2. Because the Supreme Court did not consider the merits, the matter must be remitted to the Supreme Court, Kings County, for a new determination on the merits.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Supreme Court should have denied the appellants' summary-judgment motion solely because the motion papers lacked a word count certification.
2. Whether the matter should be remitted for the Supreme Court to determine the merits of the summary-judgment motion after the procedural defect is overlooked.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded