Commercial Credit Corp. v. Lafayette Lincoln-Mercury, Inc.

Chief Judge Desmond.

Before September 1, 1964, CPLR 3216 read as follows: " Where a party unreasonably neglects to proceed in the action against any party who may be liable to a separate judgment, the court, on its own initiative or upon motion, may dismiss the party’s pleading on terms. "Unless the order specifies otherwise, the dismissal is not on the merits.” This was a 1962 rewrite of old section 181 of the Civil Practice Act. According to the revisers, who produced the CPLR effective September 1,1963, the intention was then to devise a flexible rule to deal with the ‘ ‘ multifarious…