James J. Thomas, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. Kane Construction Group Inc., et al., Defendants–Respondents, Modell's Sporting Goods, Inc., et al., Defendants. (2017)

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Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Joan M. Kenney, J.), entered April 28, 2017, which granted the motion of defendants Kane Construction Group Inc. and Southport 2013 LLC to change venue from New York County to Suffolk County, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the motion denied.

In seeking a change of venue to Suffolk County for the convenience of material witnesses (CPLR 510[3] ), defendants' initial moving papers were deficient in not setting forth, inter alia, the names and addresses of witnesses who would be willing to testify, the nature and materiality of their anticipated testimony, and the manner in which they would be inconvenienced by a trial in New York County (see Job v. Subaru Leasing Corp., 30 AD3d 159 [1st Dept 2006] ).  Defendants' attempt to cure these deficiencies in their reply papers improperly raised new facts that were not responsive to plaintiff's opposition, and should not be considered (id.;  Marko v. Culinary Inst. of Am., 245 A.D.2d 212 [1st Dept 1997] ).  In any event, the inconvenience of the two material witnesses identified in defendants' reply papers was not convincingly established, or sufficient to warrant the transfer of venue (see e.g. Gissen v. Boy Scouts of Am., 26 AD3d 289, 291 [1st Dept 2006] ).

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CLERK