MAURICE v. ANN MAURICE

Ordered that the judgment is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the facts and in the exercise of discretion, and the defendants' motion for leave to enter a default judgment on their counterclaims is denied; and it is further,

Ordered that the appeal from the order is dismissed as academic in light of our determination on the appeal from the judgment; and it is further,

Ordered that one bill of costs is awarded to the plaintiff.

To successfully oppose the defendants' motion for leave to enter a default judgment upon his failure to serve a reply to the counterclaims, the plaintiff was required to demonstrate a reasonable excuse for the delay and a potentially meritorious defense ( see MMG Design, Inc. v Melnick, 35 AD3d 823; Twersky v Kasaks, 24 AD3d 657, 658; Beizer v Funk, 5 AD3d 619, 620). Inasmuch as the plaintiff met his burden in this case, the Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion in granting the defendants' motion for leave to enter a default judgment on the counterclaims.

The plaintiffs remaining contentions are not properly before this Court or need not be addressed in light of our determination.