December 18, 2020

GPM Chiropractic, P.C. v State Farm Mut. Ins. Co. (2020 NY Slip Op 51521(U))

Headnote

The court considered a case involving GPM Chiropractic, P.C. as the appellant and State Farm Mutual Insurance Co. as the respondent. The appellant sought to recover no-fault statutory interest for services rendered in 2001, and the issue was joined in December 2002. The Civil Court initially denied the respondent's cross motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, and upon reargument, adhered to its prior determination. The court ultimately ruled that the accrual of interest is tolled from November 26, 2005 to April 13, 2018, as the appellant took no meaningful action to prosecute the case after the court's decision on the respondent's motion. The holding of the case was that the accrual of interest is tolled within the specified timeframe.

Reported in New York Official Reports at GPM Chiropractic, P.C. v State Farm Mut. Ins. Co. (2020 NY Slip Op 51521(U))

GPM Chiropractic, P.C. v State Farm Mut. Ins. Co. (2020 NY Slip Op 51521(U)) [*1]

GPM Chiropractic, P.C. v State Farm Mut. Ins. Co.

2020 NY Slip Op 51521(U) [70 Misc 3d 129(A)]

Decided on December 18, 2020

Appellate Term, Second Department

Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.

This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.

Decided on December 18, 2020

SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, SECOND DEPARTMENT, 2d, 11th and 13th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS

PRESENT: : THOMAS P. ALIOTTA, P.J., MICHELLE WESTON, DAVID ELLIOT, JJ
2019-1298 Q C

GPM Chiropractic, P.C., as Assignee of Emilio Rosario, Appellant,
against
State Farm Mutual Insurance Co., Respondent.

Law Office of David O’Connor, LLC (David O’Connor of counsel), for appellant. Rivkin Radler, LLP (Stuart M. Bodoff and Cheryl F. Korman of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal from an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Queens County (Maurice E. Muir, J.), entered December 12, 2018. The order, insofar as appealed from as limited by the brief, granted the branch of defendant’s motion seeking to dismiss so much of the complaint as sought to recover no-fault statutory interest to the extent of tolling the accrual of that interest from September 28, 2005 to April 13, 2018.

ORDERED that the order, insofar as appealed from, is modified by providing that the accrual of no-fault statutory interest is tolled from November 26, 2005 to April 13, 2018; as so modified, the order is affirmed, with $25 costs.

Plaintiff commenced this action in 2002 to recover assigned first-party no-fault benefits for services allegedly rendered in 2001. The record demonstrates that issue was joined in December 2002. Thereafter, plaintiff moved for summary judgment and defendant cross-moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint. By order entered October 13, 2004, the Civil Court denied the motion and cross motion. By order entered November 26, 2005, the Civil Court, upon granting reargument to defendant, adhered to the court’s prior determination denying defendant’s cross motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint. Plaintiff appeals from so much of an order entered December 12, 2018 as granted the branch of defendant’s motion seeking to dismiss so much of the complaint as sought to recover no-fault statutory interest to the extent of tolling the accrual of that interest from September 28, 2005 to April 13, 2018.

As plaintiff took no meaningful action to prosecute the case after the court decided defendant’s motion for leave to reargue its cross motion for summary judgment, for the reasons stated in A.M. Med. Servs., P.C., as Assignee of Boris Simanovsky v State Farm Mut. Ins. Co. (___ Misc 3d ___, 2020 NY Slip Op _____ [appeal No. 2018-2460 Q C], decided herewith), the order, insofar as appealed from, is modified by providing that the accrual of interest is tolled from November 26, 2005 to April 13, 2018.

ALIOTTA, P.J., WESTON and ELLIOT, JJ., concur.

ENTER:
Paul Kenny
Chief Clerk
Decision Date: December 18, 2020