In any event, the Court of Appeals has said that "[t]he stay is meant to 'afford a litigant, who has, through no act or fault of his own, been deprived of the services of his counsel, a reasonable opportunity to obtain new counsel before further proceedings are taken against him in the action'" (Moray v Koven & Krause, Esqs., 15 NY3d at 389, quoting Hendry v Hilton, 283 App Div at 171). In this contentious, complex estate litigation, the Surrogate's Court determined, in the context of a motion by the attorneys for the petitioner to withdraw from representing her, that the attorney primarily responsible for the matter had become unable to continue to represent the petitioner due to health reasons. Here, however, there is nothing in the record indicating that Marianne's voluntary act or wrongdoing caused Reppert's withdrawal. Harper, in a later affirmation, claimed that the court declined to hear argument from McKay after he answered that he would not be making a general appearance for Marianne. Of moment, while Marianne's affidavit suggests that she did not learn that RK's motion for leave to withdraw in the accounting proceeding had been granted until May 23, 2016, she also stated therein that she began her search for new counsel in April. Harper, in a later affirmation, asserted that McKay refused to make a general appearance on Marianne's behalf and so, when the parties and attorneys moved into a conference with Keller, McKay was asked to leave the conference. CPLR 321 (c) expressly permits the court to grant leave to continue the proceedings, and deny a stay, in particular cases where the attorney of record has been removed or suspended. Accordingly, (1) the appeals from the orders dated November 14, 2017, and December 21, 2017, respectively, are dismissed,{**182 AD3d at 58} (2) the order dated March 6, 2017, is reversed, on the law, the petitioner's motion to vacate the order dated July 1, 2016, is granted, the order dated July 1, 2016, is vacated, the matter is remitted to the Surrogate's Court, Nassau County, for a new determination of the objectants' cross motion to appoint a receiver, and pending the new determination of the cross motion, the receiver appointed pursuant to the order dated July 1, 2016, shall continue as temporary receiver, and (3) the amended order dated November 13, 2017, is reversed, on the law, the petitioner's motion to vacate and declare void all decisions, orders, and judgments entered after March 14, 2016, is granted to the extent that all decisions, orders, and judgments entered in all proceedings herein between March 14, 2016, and July 25, 2016, are vacated, and the motion is otherwise denied. By the terms of the statute, the termination of the stay is dependent upon service of a notice to appoint by the adverse party or parties, with the notice to be served personally or as the court directs. According to the objectants, Marianne had ample opportunity to oppose their cross motion to appoint a receiver and failed to avail herself of it. The March 14, 2016 order required the movant, RK, to serve the order upon Marianne and all interested parties within 10 days. The objectants argue that Marianne is not aggrieved by the order appointing a receiver since the Surrogate's Court determined that OCI and CPL are estate assets and Marianne is no longer an estate fiduciary. This was, under the circumstances, the practical equivalent of more than 30 days' notice to the litigant to appoint new counsel. The Amended Order Dated November 13, 2017, By notice of motion dated April 12, 2017, Marianne moved pro se to{**182 AD3d at 36}. In an order dated November 5, 2015, the Surrogate's Court, inter alia, granted that branch of the motion which was for summary judgment sustaining certain objections to Marianne's account, and denied that branch of Marianne's cross motion which was for summary judgment dismissing objection 34. Marianne urged that Reppert's affirmation made clear that he was willing to provide additional medical proof at the court's request. Kelly stated that he just received the cross motion to appoint a receiver, also returnable on January 13, 2016, which he described as voluminous and complex and which, he asserted, bore no relationship to the pending motions for leave to withdraw. Meanwhile, Marianne filed a petition in the Surrogate's Court, Nassau County, for judicial settlement of her intermediate account as executor, covering the period from March 17, 2006, through December 21, 2010, and listing total{**182 AD3d at 18} gross assets of more than $56 million (hereinafter the accounting proceeding). Marianne was given until June 22, 2016, to interpose opposition to the objectants' motion to preclude, with the motion to be submitted on June 29, 2016. Corp. v Pellicane (78 AD3d 622), which involved a Florida statute providing that two years after the death of a person, neither the decedent's estate, the personal representative, nor the beneficiaries shall generally be liable for any claim or cause of action against the decedent (see Fla Stat Ann 733.710[1]). The Surrogate's Court issued an order dated December 21, 2017, in which it determined that Marianne had failed to purge her contempt. The court dismissed some objections, held some objections in abeyance, and sustained some objections. Appellate Division, Second Department The receiver, in a later affidavit, asserted that she appeared in court on July 13, 2016, to meet with the parties. On April 15, 2016, having received no further word from the court, Kelly wrote a letter to Surrogate Reilly, with an emailed copy to Keller and to other counsel, "to respectfully inquire as to the status of our firm's motion to withdraw as counsel for Petitioner in the above-referenced accounting proceeding.". The objectants did not oppose the withdrawal motions. On or about July 11, 2016, Marianne made two pro se motions. ", In opposition, the objectants assert that CPLR 321 (c) does not apply to the situation at hand because RK and Sills Cummis moved for leave to withdraw under CPLR 321 (b) (2) and there is no evidence that any force majeure event occurred which would have triggered the application of CPLR 321 (c). Legal Battles Over Oleg Cassinis Estate Continue Second, CPLR 321 (b) (2) permits the attorney of record for a party to be changed by order of the court. We conclude that it was not, bearing in mind that on the July 25, 2016 trial date, Marianne appeared with prospective counsel, McKay. Marianne's appeal from this order is addressed on a related appeal decided herewith (Matter of Cassini, Oleg Cassini's widow defies court order, sits in Nassau jail The other July 11, 2016 pro se motion was to vacate the July 1, 2016 order, inter alia, appointing a receiver. Additionally, in Harper's description, "Marianne engaged in a pattern of obstruction the likes of which is rarely seen in litigation." The protection of the statute is confined to causes which, as to the client, may be said to arise from a force majeure or one over which the client has no control (see id.). Harper averred that Marianne was evasive with her answers and Marianne had stated that she was aware that her attorneys had moved for leave to withdraw and that she would be seeking to replace them. By letter also dated May 25, 2016, Marianne also wrote to Surrogate Reilly, seeking similar relief, namely, that "since I did not receive the Decision and Order until May 24, 2016 the stay be continued for a minimum of 30 days, from the date of my receipt of your Honor's Decision and Order." marianne nestor. Marianne Nestor Cassini et al v. Brian Curran - UniCourt There is a sharp dispute as to who was in attendance at the March 2nd conference. The Florida statute, on its face, " wipe[s] out the substantive right'" by declaring nonliability upon the passage of time, while the California statute at issue here " merely suspends the remedy'" (Tanges v Heidelberg N. While Harper noted that the Surrogate's Court had allowed Sills Cummis and RK to withdraw by orders dated March 3 and March 14, 2016, respectively, he did not state when he first became aware of the existence of those two orders. The March 14, 2016 order, also like the two earlier orders, set forth the Surrogate's Court's finding and determination that Reppert was unable to continue to represent Marianne "due to health reasons." According to a letter that Kelly sent to Surrogate Reilly, dated May 25, 2016, Kelly received the March 14, 2016 order only two days earlier, i.e., May 23, 2016. Oleg Cassini [2] Here, in moving for leave to withdraw from representing Marianne, Reppert asserted that, for medical reasons, he had been unable to fully return to the practice of law full-time since July 2015. Div. Matter of Cassini (2020 NY Slip Op 01057) The objectants asserted that Marianne commenced the Accounting Proceeding in January 2011, that the trial was originally scheduled for August 2015, but On the other hand, it may be fairly said that the conduct of the conference on March 2, 2016, contravened the spirit of the stays imposed by the February 16, 2016 orders and that proceeding with the conference at that time was unwise. Harper, in an affirmation submitted in connection with a later motion, asserted that no attorney from either RK or Sills Cummis appeared on the return date of the withdrawal motions even though an appearance typically was required on the return date of a motion in the Surrogate's Court. Marianne posits that, since Reppert was found to be disabled from further representation of her, a stay pursuant to CPLR 321 (c) automatically went into effect and no further proceedings could be taken against her until a notice to appoint a new attorney was served upon her. Marianne Nestor Cassini claims the county, Surrogate Court Judge Margaret Reilly, Nassau Public Administrator Brian Curran, the Nassau Sheriff and numerous Oleg Cassinis widow is blaming former friend Si Newhouse for errors in a Vanity Fair piece, according to a lawsuit filed recently in Manhattan Supreme Court. We have considered whether her interposition of the motion constitutes a voluntary election to proceed pro se as of that date. Since the issuance of the July 1, 2016 order violated the statutory stay, it should have been vacated. MATTER OF CASSINI | 180 A.D.3d 773 (2020)
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