On April 18, 2024, the First Department issued a decision in 3B Assoc. LLC v. Ecommission Solutions, LLC, 2024 NY Slip Op. 02086, holding that a contract action should not have been consolidated with a later-filed tort action, explaining:
In 2016, plaintiff commenced a breach of contract action against defendant eCommission Solutions, LLC (eCommission). In 2022, plaintiff commenced a fraudulent conveyance action against eCommission and its president, Paul Hoffman, and his wife, alleging that Hoffman transferred millions from eCommission to himself with the intent to defraud creditors like plaintiff.
The actions should not have been consolidated. When one action sounds in contract and the other in tort, it is inappropriate to grant consolidation. Indeed, the breach of contract and fraudulent conveyance actions present different questions of law and fact. Moreover, the fraudulent conveyance action will be moot if plaintiffs fail to win the breach of contract action. Finally, the two actions are at different stages, so that consolidation would lead to delay in trying the breach of contract action.
(Internal citations omitted).