- Court
- New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department
- Case
- Roosevelt Lee 38, LLC v. Bhatia & Associates, PLLC
- Date
- June 3, 2026
- Slip Op. No.
- 2026 NY Slip Op 03463
Background
Plaintiff Roosevelt Lee 38, LLC commenced this action to recover unpaid rent against defendants Bhatia & Associates, PLLC and others. Defendants appealed from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Phillip Hom, J.), which granted the branch of plaintiff’s motion under CPLR 3012 extending its time to reply to defendants’ counterclaims. Defendants assembled a record on appeal that omitted exhibits pertaining to plaintiff’s argument that it established a meritorious defense to the counterclaims.
Holding
The Appellate Division, Second Department, dismissed the appeal, without costs or disbursements. The Court held that the record on appeal was inadequate because defendants failed to include critical exhibits that were before the Supreme Court. Citing Wilmington Trust, N.A. v. Donadio, 218 AD3d 519, and Fitzpatrick v. Affairs & Banquets Floral Services, Inc., 227 AD3d 954, the Court reiterated that “it is the obligation of the appellant to assemble a proper record on appeal, and the record must contain all of the relevant papers that were before the Supreme Court.” Where the failure to compile a complete and proper record renders meaningful appellate review “virtually impossible,” the appeal must be dismissed.
Takeaways
This decision is a practical reminder that the obligation to assemble a complete appellate record lies squarely on the appellant. Appellate courts will not speculate about what was before the trial court when the record is incomplete. The omission of even a subset of relevant exhibits can be fatal to an appeal if those exhibits bear on the issues raised. Appellants must carefully review the trial court file and ensure that every paper considered by the lower court is included in the appellate record.
Why It Matters
Appellate practitioners—especially pro se litigants and solo practitioners—must treat record compilation as a critical step in the appellate process. A meritorious appeal can be dismissed outright if the record is incomplete. This case illustrates that appellate courts take the completeness requirement seriously and will not attempt to reconstruct what the trial court considered. Counsel should err on the side of over-inclusion when assembling the record and should cross-reference the trial court’s order to identify every exhibit, affidavit, and brief that was before the court when it made its determination.