Mont v. Goldman

OPINION OF THE COURT

David B. Saxe, J.

Prior to 1992, when a defendant challenged the propriety of service of process, it was a standard procedure to simply reserve the defendant to obviate the need for a court-ordered traverse hearing. These motions raise the question of whether the commencement-by-filing statute (CPLR 304), which *858requires the proof of service of the summons to be filed within 120 days of the initial filing of the summons (CPLR 306-b [a]), in effect serves to eliminate the option of re-serving a defendant if more than 20 days have passed since the filing of the summons.

This…