Opinion
2002-01066
Submitted January 16, 2003.
March 10, 2003.
In an action to recover damages for breach of contract, the defendant appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Orange County (Owen, J.), dated December 17, 2001, which granted the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability and denied his cross motion for leave to amend his answer. Presiding Justice Prudenti has been substituted for the late Justice O'Brien (see 22 NYCRR 670.1[c]).
Douglas R. Dollinger, Warwick, N.Y., appellant pro se.
Rubin Rothman, LLC, Islandia, N.Y. (Kelly A. Deiters of counsel), for respondent.
Before: A. GAIL PRUDENTI, P.J., SANDRA J. FEUERSTEIN, LEO F. McGINITY, HOWARD MILLER, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The plaintiff made a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law (see Zuckerman v. City of New York, 49 N.Y.2d 557). In opposition, the defendant failed to raise a triable issue of fact (see Alvarez v. Prospect Hosp., 68 N.Y.2d 320, 324).
While leave to amend a pleading should be freely given (see CPLR 3025[b]), the decision as to whether to grant such leave is generally left to the sound discretion of the court (see Edenwald Contracting Co. v. City of New York, 60 N.Y.2d 957, 959; Branch v. Abraham Strauss Dept. Store, 220 A.D.2d 474) and its determination will not be lightly set aside (see Beuschel v. Malm, 114 A.D.2d 569). The Supreme Court's determination to deny the defendant's cross motion for leave to amend the answer was a provident exercise of discretion (see Matter of Goggins, 231 A.D.2d 634, 635; Caruso v. Anpro, Ltd. 215 A.D.2d 713).
The defendant's remaining contentions are without merit.
PRUDENTI, P.J., FEUERSTEIN, McGINITY and H. MILLER, JJ., concur.