In a decision dated May 8, 2026, the Hon. Ralph J. Porzio of Richmond County Supreme Court granted our clients’ pre-answer motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint as a matter of law. In this commercial matter, the plaintiff claimed that he was entitled to payment of nearly $300,000 in unpaid invoices for work spanning from 2020 to 2023. Rather than engaging in discovery, our firm took an aggressive approach and filed a pre-answer motion to dismiss the lawsuit in its entirety based on the argument that the contract on which the alleged claim was based was not reduced to writing and was, therefore, unenforceable under the statute of frauds. We also argued that the plaintiff could not rely on a claim for quantum meruit to circumvent the statute of frauds. The plaintiff also improperly included numerous individual defendants, including one defendant who was deceased when the lawsuit was commenced, and another who was merely an employee of the corporate defendant and undertook no separate obligation to pay the invoices. Ultimately, the Judge agreed with all of our arguments and dismissed the plaintiff’s complaint, with prejudice, as to all defendants.

Rocco’s Landscaping and Concrete Service LLC v. Baron Hirsch Cemtery Association Inc., et Al., Index No. 150663/2026 (Sup. Ct. Richmond Co., May 8, 2026)