Norman B. Oppenheimer v. Jeffrey P. Westcott, Defendants Hancock Securities Corporation, and Harold P. Bernstein…

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals held that the Bernstein defendants were "interested persons" under CPLR 5015 and therefore entitled to move to vacate the default judgment against Hancock Securities, which was obtained through fraud or misconduct. The Court reversed the Appellate Division's denial of the motion and ordered a new inquest. A dissent argued that the denial of the motion to intervene should also be reversed and that the majority’s approach to intervention was erroneous.