A. Fischer

The defendants sought over $20,000 in costs after successfully obtaining directions to defer the plaintiffs' proposed summary judgment motion.

The costs claimed related to the motion itself and various informal appearances, including Case Conferences and Civil Practice Court.

The court denied costs for the Case Conferences, emphasizing that costs consequences for informal appearances should be rare to encourage access to justice and efficiency.

The costs of the motion itself were reserved to the judge who finally disposes of the action.

The plaintiffs sought to schedule a motion for summary judgment arising from the termination of a distributorship agreement shortly after they paid over $1 million to buy out a partner’s interest in the business.

The defendants opposed scheduling the motion, arguing that the dispute involved complex factual issues and incomplete discovery.

The court held that summary judgment is most appropriate where a discrete, determinative issue can resolve all or a substantial portion of the litigation.

Given the numerous pleaded causes of action, disputed contractual terms, and the need for discovery, the court found the proposed motion premature and unlikely to produce proportional savings in time or cost.

The plaintiffs were granted time to reformulate their motion around discrete issues; otherwise the matter would proceed through discovery and toward trial.