NYC Office Successfully Defends a Non-Party and Former Estate Representative of a Clergy Member Accused of Sexual Misconduct

The Hon. Sabrina Krauss of the Supreme Court, New York County issued a decision and order from the bench after oral arguments that the Firm’s client, a non-party and former representative of the estate of a clergy member who was accused of sexual misconduct occurring decades earlier, should not be substituted in place of a deceased, octogenarian clergy member and plead into the matter. The Plaintiff’s allegations related to claims of sexual misconduct in the early 1970’s in New York City and under provision of New York’s look-back window statutes, such civil lawsuits are permitted to proceed decades after the abuse claims are alleged to have occurred.

Here, the NYC Office prevailed and the Court found that Plaintiff’s “inordinate and unexcused delay in seeking a substitution resulted in undue prejudice” to the Firm’s client and “should not be overlooked.” Partners Michael Tuttle and Dennis Vega drafted the arguments and the papers in opposition to Plaintiff’s motion.