Dissenting Opinion
dissents and -votes to affirm the order, with the following memorandum: A policy of life insurance was issued -by plaintiff under date of October 16, 1959 to Lillian M. Conway, who died on July 17, 1960. The insurer, feeling that the insured had materially misrepresented her physical condition, on September 15, 1960 notified the beneficiaries that it intended to rescind the policy and tendered a check representing the premium paid, with interest. Subsequently, in April, 1961, the insurer commenced an action for rescission. In such action the beneficiaries interposed a counterclaim for recovery on the policy. That was the first time the beneficiaries asserted any right to recover upon the policy. In other words, the beneficiaries allowed seven months of the applicable six-year Statute of Limitations to elapse before asserting their claim in litigation (Civ. Prac. Act, § 48). Although the beneficiaries have not placed themselves within the purview of section 426 of the Civil Practice Act with respect to waiver of the constitutional right to a jury trial in a civil action, the majority deem that the beneficiaries have waived that constitutional right by having permitted seven months out of six years to elapse before attempting to litigate their claim. With the exception of Prudential Ins. Co. of America v. Haney (163 Misc. 179), which is here being followed for the first time by an appellate court, the decisions where a party has been held to have waived a jury, without reliance hy the court on the grounds stated in section 426 of the Civil Practice Act, have involved situations where trial without a jury of a common-law claim was expressly obtained either by placement of the ease on the Special Terra. Calendar or in some
Lead Opinion
In our opinion, defendants’ failure to bring an action within the seven-month period after plaintiff notified them of its intention to rescind the policy on the ground of fraud, constituted a waiver of their right to a jury trial (Prudential Ins. Co. of America v. Haney, 163 Misc. 179; American Life Ins. Co. v. Stewart, 300 U. S. 203). We are also of the opinion that under the circumstances here, since the action for rescission was commenced first, it should be tried first (Wolff v. Mutual Life Ins. Co. of New York, 154 Misc. 431, affd. 241 App. Div. 869; New York Life Ins. Co. v. Marcin, 164 Misc. 781). Beldock, P. J., Hill, Rabin and Hopkins, JJ., concur;
