ANTOINE v. BEE (2006)

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Hurkin-Torres, J.), dated July 16, 2004, which, inter alia, denied his motion pursuant to CPLR 5105(a)(1) to vacate an order of the same court dated June 6, 2003, granting the defendant's unopposed motion for summary judgment.

ORDERED that the order dated July 16, 2004, is affirmed, with costs.

 To vacate a default, a plaintiff must demonstrate a reasonable excuse for the default and the existence of a meritorious cause of action (see Scarlett v. McCarthy, 2 A.D.3d 623, 768 N.Y.S.2d 342;  Weekes v. Karayianakis, 304 A.D.2d 561, 758 N.Y.S.2d 117).   The determination of what constitutes a reasonable excuse is left to the sound discretion of the court (see Scarlett v. McCarthy, supra;  Holt Constr. Corp. v. J & R Music World, 294 A.D.2d 540, 742 N.Y.S.2d 876;  Matter of Gambardella v. Ortov Light., 278 A.D.2d 494, 717 N.Y.S.2d 923).

Here, the Supreme Court providently exercised its discretion in rejecting the plaintiff's proffered excuse that his counsel was engaged in settlement negotiations with the defendant's counsel (see Majestic Clothing v. East Coast Stor., LLC, 18 A.D.3d 516, 518, 795 N.Y.S.2d 289;  DeRisi v. Santoro, 262 A.D.2d 270, 271, 691 N.Y.S.2d 111;  Flora Co. v. Ingilis, 233 A.D.2d 418, 419, 650 N.Y.S.2d 24).   The plaintiff had already requested and been granted an adjournment to secure his physician's affidavit in order to respond to the defendant's motion for summary judgment.

In light of our determination, we need not reach the plaintiff's remaining contentions.