Opinion
Argued October 20, 2000.
November 20, 2000.
In an action, inter alia, to recover damages for breach of contract, the defendant appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Lally, J.), dated March 27, 2000, which denied his motion pursuant to CPLR 5015 to vacate an order of the same court, dated August 30, 1999, granting the plaintiff's application to strike his answer upon his default in appearing at a court conference, and directed an inquest on the issue of damages.
Kroll, Moss Kroll, LLP, Garden City, N.Y. (Martin N. Kroll and John K. Moss of counsel), for appellant.
Irving Anolik, New York, N.Y., for respondents.
Before: CORNELIUS J. O'BRIEN, J.P., WILLIAM C. THOMPSON, HOWARD MILLER, ROBERT W. SCHMIDT, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.
A defendant attempting to vacate a default must establish both a reasonable excuse for the default and a meritorious defense (see, Rodriguez v. Read, 266 A.D.2d 271; Roussodimou v. Zafiriadis, 238 A.D.2d 568). The Supreme Court properly denied the defendant's motion to vacate his default as he failed to demonstrate that he had a meritorious defense to the plaintiff's action.