Steven V. DeBraccio (Associate-White Plains, NY) defended the owner of an apartment complex in a case that involved an alleged slip-and-fall accident on the sidewalk of our client’s complex. Our client, due to COVID-19 staffing issues, did not receive notice of the lawsuit and a default judgment was entered against him. The First Department, citing Sara’s Studios, LLC v. Sparkle World LLC (217 AD3d 465 [1st Dept 2023]), relied upon by Steven in his appellant’s brief, concluded that our client did not receive actual notice of the lawsuit. Moreover, in a rare turn of events, the First Department concluded in the interest of justice that it would consider a subsequent affidavit from our client’s property manager, and that the affidavit, taken together with a number of other unrelated lawsuits filed by the plaintiff, was sufficient to raise a meritorious defense, in particular, as to whether our client was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s alleged fall and whether our client negligently maintained the subject sidewalk.