Opinion
January 12, 1998
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (McCaffrey, J.).
Ordered that the appeal from the order dated October 30, 1996, is dismissed, as that order was superseded by the order entered April 9, 1997, made upon reargument; and it is further,
Ordered that the order entered April 9, 1997, is affirmed insofar as appealed from; and it is further,
Ordered that the respondent is awarded one bill of costs.
Since the plaintiff failed to move for leave to enter a default judgment within one year after the defendant's default in answering the complaint (see, CPLR 3215 [c]), she was required to demonstrate the merits of her cause of action and an excuse for the delay (see, Sanders v. Marino Falcone Brick Contr., 133 A.D.2d 342). While a court has discretion to excuse defaults resulting from "law office failure" in the interests of justice (see, CPLR 2005, 3012 [d]), based on the lengthy delay in bringing this motion and the unacceptable excuse proffered by the plaintiff's counsel, we find that the Supreme Court providently exercised its discretion in dismissing the complaint (see, Correa v. Ahn, 205 A.D.2d 575; Grosso v. Hauck, 99 A.D.2d 750).
Miller, J.P., Ritter, Sullivan, Santucci and McGinity, JJ., concur.