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finding that the plaintiffs' summons with notice, which stated that the nature of the action was, inter alia, "negligence of defendant resulting in personal injury and loss of spousal services . . . provided the necessary basic information and complied with CPLR 305(b)," and noting that " liberal construction of the statutory requirement of the contents of the notice accompanying a summons served without a complaint is consistent with the general notice sufficient to comply with C.P.L.R. 305(b), even though it was more cryptic than we would desire" (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted)
Summary of this case from Kane v. City of IthacaOpinion
May 13, 1999
Appeal from the Supreme Court (Best, J.).
The only issue on this appeal is whether plaintiffs' summons with notice, which stated that the nature of the action is "negligence of [d]efendant resulting in personal injury and loss of spousal services" and specified the dollar amount of the damages to be recovered, complies with the notice requirement of CPLR 305 (b). "A liberal construction of the statutory requirement of the contents of the notice accompanying a summons served without a complaint is consistent with the general policy of the CPLR" ( Bullis v. American Motors Corp., 175 A.D.2d 535, 536). Thus, we have found a notice sufficient to comply with CPLR 305 (b) even though it was "more cryptic than we would desire" ( Town of Esopus v. Simoes Assocs., 145 A.D.2d 840, 841). "Absolute precision is not necessary" ( Clark v. City of Ithaca, 235 A.D.2d 746, 748) if the notice provides the defendant with "'"basic information concerning the nature of [the] plaintiff's claim and the relief sought"'" ( Viscosi v. Merritt, 125 A.D.2d 814). We conclude that the notice in this case provided the necessary basic information and complied with CPLR 305 (b) ( compare, Pilla v. La Flor De Mayo Express, 191 A.D.2d 224; Rowell v. Gould, Inc., 124 A.D.2d 995, with Scaringi v. Broome Realty Corp., 191 A.D.2d 223).
Mercure, Peters, Spain and Carpinello, JJ., concur.
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.