The motion court had the discretion to strike defendant's pleadings upon her failure to appear at the preliminary conference ( 22 NYCRR 202.27). While that failure alone would not have warranted the striking of the pleadings, the court properly exercised its discretion in this case by reason of defendant's repeated dilatory tactics with respect to the claims against her, long periods of inaction with respect to her claims against plaintiffs, and history of noncompliance with court orders, all to plaintiffs' resultant prejudice ( see, Mitrany v. American Tit. Ins. Co., 238 A.D.2d 179). Moreover, the lack of merit of defendant's claims and counterclaims further militates against vacatur of the order.
Concur — Rosenberger, J.P., Ellerin, Nardelli, Wallach and Saxe, JJ.