Opinion
3474.
Decided April 27, 2004.
Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Dianne T. Renwick, J.), entered April 4, 2003, which, in an action for personal injuries sustained in an automobile collision, granted defendant's motion to renew plaintiff's prior motion for partial summary judgment, and, upon renewal, denied the motion, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Robin Mary Heaney, Rockville Centre, for appellant.
Law Offices of Robert P. Tusa, Yonkers (David Holmes of counsel), for respondent.
Before: Nardelli, J.P., Saxe, Sullivan, Gonzalez, JJ.
Defendant's excuse for not submitting an affidavit of merit in opposition to plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment is that he relocated to Florida some three weeks before the motion was made, and failed to advise his attorney thereof until at or about the time the motion was decided some three weeks after it was submitted. While defendant should have kept in closer contact with his attorney, we are satisfied that his failure to do so was inadvertent, and, given a short delay that resulted in no prejudice, renewal was properly granted ( see Diaz v. New York Downtown Hosp., 262 A.D.2d 62; Cespedes v. McNamee, 308 A.D.2d 409). On the merits, an issue of fact as to plaintiff's fault is raised by defendant's assertion that the accident occurred when plaintiff's vehicle cut in front of his vehicle ( see Singh v. Sanders, 286 A.D.2d 256).
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.