Mary Eaton v. Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, Inc., and. Marine Midland Bank, Inc.

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals reversed the Appellate Division’s order vacating a default judgment against Marine Midland Bank, holding that the lower court abused its discretion by treating "law office failure" as a sufficient excuse. The Court relied on Barasch v. Micucci’s rule that law office failure is not a valid excuse for procedural defaults. Two dissenting opinions argued that the Appellate Division’s decision should be affirmed.