Opinion
April 12, 1971
In a negligence action to recover damages for personal injuries, defendants appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Dutchess County, dated January 18, 1971, which granted plaintiff's motion to amend his complaint to allege $5,000,000 in lieu of $1,000,000 as damages. Order reversed, with $10 costs and disbursements, and motion denied. In our opinion the amount in an ad damnum clause should bear some reasonable relationship to a verdict which a jury could return; and in this case we do not find such showing. In any event, under all the circumstances, it was an improvident exercise of discretion to grant plaintiff's motion on the eve of trial. Hopkins, Acting P.J., Gulotta, Christ, Brennan and Benjamin, JJ., concur.