Opinion
Argued October 29, 1999
December 20, 1999
In an action, inter alia, for a judgment declaring that a constructive trust in favor of the plaintiff exists with regard to the initial capital investment in the defendant CI Company, the plaintiff appeals, as limited by his brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Bucaria, J.), dated February 10, 1997, as granted those branches of the motion of the defendant Sanda Tanny which were (a) to vacate a judgment entered June 5, 1998, upon her failure to oppose the plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment, and (b) to transfer venue of this action from the Supreme Court, Nassau County, to the Supreme Court, Monroe County.
Stein Schonfeld, Garden City, N.Y. (Robert L. Schonfeld of counsel), for appellant.
Samuelson, Rieger Yovino, Garden City, N.Y. (Elliot D. Samuelson and Wendy B. Samuelson of counsel), for respondent.
SONDRA MILLER, J.P., MYRIAM J. ALTMAN, ROBERT W. SCHMIDT NANCY E. SMITH, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.
We agree with the court's determination that the respondent demonstrated a reasonable excuse for her failure to oppose the plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment as well as a meritorious defense (see, Moore v. Claudio, 224 A.D.2d 502, 503 ;Brown v. Brown, 148 A.D.2d 377, 381 ; Warren v. Warren, 82 A.D.2d 881, revd on other grounds 55 N.Y.2d 874, on remand 95 A.D.2d 807 ).
Further, the Supreme Court providently exercised its discretion in transferring venue of this action to the Supreme Court, Monroe County (see, Naples v. Daubert Chem. Co., 93 A.D.2d 745 ; O'Brien v. Vassar Bros. Hosp., 207 A.D.2d 169 ).
S. MILLER, J.P., ALTMAN, SCHMIDT, and SMITH, JJ., concur.