Opinion
03-12-2024
Jia WANG et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Anthony T.J. MARANO et al., Defendants–Respondents, 4–6 West 14th Street Ventures LLC, Defendants.
Jia Wang appellant pro se. Zehua Yu and Yayin Jia, New York, for Gia Wang LLC, appellant. Press Koral LLP, New York (Matthew J. Press of counsel), for respondents.
Jia Wang appellant pro se.
Zehua Yu and Yayin Jia, New York, for Gia Wang LLC, appellant.
Press Koral LLP, New York (Matthew J. Press of counsel), for respondents.
Manzanet-Daniels, J.P., Moulton, Scarpulla, Pitt–Burke, O’Neill Levy, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Lyle E. Frank, J.), entered December 20, 2022, which denied defendants’ motion to compel production but did not address plaintiffs’ cross-motion for, among other things, default judgment against defendants, unanimously modified, on the law and in the exercise of discretion, to remand to Supreme Court for the express disposition of plaintiffs’ cross-motion, and otherwise affirmed, without costs.
It is unclear whether the motion court exercised its inherent discretion with respect to plaintiffs’ cross-motion for default judgment against defendants or considered any of the documentary evidence submitted by plaintiffs to support their request for dismissal of the counterclaim. Accordingly, we remand for express disposition of plaintiffs’ cross-motion (see United Airlines, Inc. v. Ogden N.Y. Servs., Inc., 305 A.D.2d 239, 240, 761 N.Y.S.2d 16 [1st Dept. 2003]; see also Knight v. City of New York, 179 A.D.3d 456, 457, 116 N.Y.S.3d 232 [1st Dept. 2020]). We note that plaintiffs have since purported to assign Gia Wang LLC’s (GWLLC) claims to plaintiff Jia Wang, which may render some of the issues regarding whether GWLLC could be represented by nonattorney Wang in this appeal moot (see CPLR 321[a]; see Kinlay v. Henley, 57 A.D.3d 219, 220, 868 N.Y.S.2d 62 [1st Dept. 2008]).