Opinion
November 28, 1994
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Durante, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.
It is undisputed that at the time the court dismissed the action for failure to comply with discovery, the plaintiff Robert Brogan had died and a proper substitution for him had not been made. It is well settled that the death of a party divests the court of jurisdiction to render a judgment until a proper substitution has been made, and that any judgment rendered without a substitution is generally deemed void (see, Matter of Einstoss, 26 N.Y.2d 181, 189-190; Bossert v. Ford Motor Co., 140 A.D.2d 480; Silvagnoli v. Consolidated Edison Empls. Mut. Aid Socy., 112 A.D.2d 819; cf., Nieves v. 331 E. 109th St. Corp., 112 A.D.2d 59). Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly vacated the dismissal, and substituted Mary Brogan for Robert Brogan, as his representative.
We note that at the time the court dismissed the action, the plaintiffs' counsel had been disbarred as a result of his conviction on Federal racketeering and conspiracy charges (see, Judiciary Law § 90; Matter of Reich, 128 A.D.2d 329; Matter of Sugarman, 64 A.D.2d 166). This fact, in and of itself, justified the vacatur of the dismissal (see, CPLR 321 [c]).
The appellants' remaining contentions are either unpreserved for appellate review or without merit. Ritter, J.P., Santucci, Friedmann and Goldstein, JJ., concur.