CPLR 306-b

The First Department dismissed the complaint for failure to make service within 120 days after filing the summons and complaint, pursuant to CPLR 306-b, in Okoh v. Bunis, which was decided on February 28, 2008. The court noted that, in addition to plaintiff's lack of diligence in serving, there was no showing of merit so as to justify an extension of time.

New York practice point: Fatal to the motion to extend was the fact that it addressed only the failure to serve within the 120-day statutory period. There was no explanation whatsoever why plaintiff's attorney waited more than 14 months to ask for an extension, and, even then, only in response to defendants' motion to dismiss.