Opinion
Submitted March 15, 2001.
April 5, 2001.
In an action, inter alia, to recover on an account stated, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Phelan, J.), dated June 19, 2000, which denied its motion for summary judgment on the complaint and to dismiss the defendants' counterclaims for failure to state a cause of action.
Thaler Gertler, LLP, Westbury, N.Y. (Mark J. Krueger of counsel), appellant pro se.
Robert B. Pollack, East Meadow, N.Y., for respondents.
Before: FRED T. SANTUCCI, J.P., SONDRA MILLER, WILLIAM D. FRIEDMANN, ROBERT W. SCHMIDT, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the motion is granted, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Nassau County, for the entry of an appropriate judgment.
The plaintiff established its prima facie right to judgment as a matter of law upon proof that the defendants received and retained, without objection, the invoices that the plaintiff sent them seeking payment for professional services rendered (see, Bracken Margolin v. Schambra, 270 A.D.2d 221; Ruskin, Moscou, Evans Faltischek v. FGH Realty Credit Corp., 228 A.D.2d 294). The defendants' unsubstantiated conclusory allegation that they believed they were to pay the plaintiff on a contingency basis is unsupported by any evidence and was insufficient to raise a triable issue of fact (see, Rona-Tech Corp. v. LeaRonal, Inc., 254 A.D.2d 473; Werner v. Nelkin, 206 A.D.2d 422).
The defendants' counterclaims alleging breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation failed to plead the facts underlying the alleged causes of action with specificity and consisted of conclusory allegations without details (see, CPLR 3016[b], 3211; Priolo Communications v. MCI Telecommunications Corp., 24 8 A.D.2d 453; Glickman v. Alper, 236 A.D.2d 230; Michaelson v. Scaduto, 205 A.D.2d 507, 508; Conroy v. Ford Motor Co., 147 A.D.2d 885). Since the defendants failed to factually support the allegations of the counterclaims in opposition to that branch of the plaintiff's motion which was to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action (see, Penna v. Caratozzolo, 131 A.D.2d 738; Gervasio v. Di Napoli, 126 A.D.2d 514), the counterclaims should have been dismissed (see, Silverman Mordfin v. Jacobs, 57 A.D.2d 531).