BEHRENS v. ORIGINAL GRAPHICS, INC

Given plaintiff's reliance upon the erroneous advice of his Maryland bankruptcy counsel as to the effect of the automatic stay provisions of the Bankruptcy Code ( 11 U.S.C. § 362 [a] [1]), as well as the other circumstances presented, it was an improvident exercise of discretion to deny plaintiff's request for a short continuance in the midst of trial and to dismiss the complaint, essentially on the ground of abandonment. Inasmuch as the matter is being remanded for a new trial, we deem it advisable that it be assigned to a different Justice.

Concur — Williams, J. P., Wallach, Andrias and Saxe, JJ.