The defendants in a medical malpractice action brought a motion for partial summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiff's claim under the Family Law Act, arguing she did not meet the definition of a spouse.
The court dismissed the motion, finding it was brought too close to the scheduled trial date contrary to prior instructions.
Applying the principles from Hryniak, the court held that granting partial summary judgment would risk duplicative proceedings and was not in the interest of justice, as the spousal status issue could be efficiently determined at trial.
