Key Takeaway
Court grants motion to restore case to trial calendar after erroneous "settled" marking on eCourts website, ruling no enforceable settlement existed.
GLM Med., P.C. v Geico Gen. Ins. Co., 2015 NY Slip Op 25405 (App. Term 2d Dept. 2015)
(1) “In this action by a provider to recover assigned first-party no-fault benefits, plaintiff filed a notice of trial on May 19, 2008. A notation on the New York State Unified Court System eCourts public website indicates that the matter was “settled” on March 9, 2009. Approximately three and a half years later, plaintiff, asserting that the case was mistakenly marked “settled,” moved to restore the action to the trial calendar and for an order exempting plaintiff from filing another notice of trial.”
(2) “In support of plaintiff’s motion, its attorney stated that her review of the file shows that there had been no settlement, whereas defendant’s attorney asserts that the case was dismissed because the same causes of action had been settled with previous counsel. While the eCourts website, of which we may take judicial notice (see Matter of Cento Props. Co. v Assessor, 71 AD3d 1015 ;Kingsbrook Jewish Med. Ctr. v Allstate Ins. Co., 61 AD3d 13 ), states that this matter was settled on March 9, 2009, such a notation on the website “does not constitute a sufficient memorialization of the terms of the alleged settlement so as to satisfy the open-court requirement of CPLR 2104”
(3) “Since there is no proof that an enforceable settlement was ever reached, plaintiff’s motion should have been granted.”
