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.