Steinberg v. Altschuler

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York

Steinberg v. Altschuler

21 A.D.2d 779, 250 N.Y.S.2d 975, 1964 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3431

CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York

DecidedJune 25, 1964

StatusPublished

This text of 21 A.D.2d 779 (Steinberg v. Altschuler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Steinberg v. Altschuler, 21 A.D.2d 779, 250 N.Y.S.2d 975, 1964 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3431 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1964).

Pincite

Opinion

Order, entered on May 1, 1964, denying defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of prosecution, unanimously reversed, on the law and the facts and as a matter of discretion, with $20 costs and disbursements to appellants and the motion granted, with $10 costs. This stockholders’ derivative action was begun in 1954. The last step taken was the completion of an examination before trial of the plaintiffs in January, 1961. The affidavit of merits, the correspondence between the attorneys, and the history of the course of the lawsuit present the picture of an action brought in the hope of obtaining a settlement. When this was not forthcoming, there was extreme reluctance to proceed with the action. This, plus the long period of inactivity, are the indicia of abandonment which mandate dismissal (Sortino v. Fisher, 20 A D 2d 25). While actions of this character usually, and to a degree necessarily, move more slowly than most others, they are still, making allowance for their difficulties, subject to the same rules as regards dismissal for failure to prosecute (Lurie v. Abelove, 20 A D 2d 631). Concur — Botein, P. J., McNally, Eager, Steuer and Staley, JJ.

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Order, entered on May 1, 1964, denying defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of prosecution, unanimously reversed, on the law and the facts and as a matter of discretion, with $20 costs and disbursements to appellants and the motion granted, with $10 costs. This stockholders’ derivative action was begun in 1954. The last step taken was the completion of an examination before trial of the plaintiffs in January, 1961. The affidavit of merits, the correspondence between the attorneys, and the history of the course of the lawsuit present the picture of an action brought in the hope of obtaining a settlement. When this was not forthcoming, there was extreme reluctance to proceed with the action. This, plus the long period of inactivity, are the indicia of abandonment which mandate dismissal (Sortino v. Fisher, 20 A D 2d 25). While actions of this character usually, and to a degree necessarily, move more slowly than most others, they are still, making allowance for their difficulties, subject to the same rules as regards dismissal for failure to prosecute (Lurie v. Abelove, 20 A D 2d 631). Concur — Botein, P. J., McNally, Eager, Steuer and Staley, JJ.

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Bluebook (online)

21 A.D.2d 779, 250 N.Y.S.2d 975, 1964 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3431, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/steinberg-v-altschuler-nyappdiv-1964.