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N.Y. MIL Law § 303

This is the official text of N.Y. MIL Law § 303, part of New York’s MIL Law — part of the compiled statutory law of New York, published by the state as "MIL Law." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Representation; opening judgment; default

Official statutory text

§ 303. Representation; opening judgment; default. 1. In any action or\nproceeding in which a person in military service is a party, if such\nparty does not personally appear therein or is not represented by an\nauthorized attorney, the court may appoint an attorney to represent him;\nand in such case a bond, approved by the court, conditioned to indemnify\nthe defendant, if in military service, against any loss or damage that\nhe may suffer by reason of any judgment, should the judgment be\nthereafter set aside in whole or in part, may be required and an order\nmade to protect the rights of such person. But no attorney appointed\nunder this act to protect a person in military service shall have power\nto waive any right of the person for whom he is appointed or bind him by\nhis acts.\n 2. If any judgment shall be rendered in any action or proceeding\nagainst any person in military service during the period of such\nservice, or within thirty days thereafter, and it appears that such\nperson was prejudiced by reason of his military service in making his\ndefense thereto, such judgment may, upon application, made by such\nperson or his legal representative, not later than ninety days after the\ntermination of such service, be opened by the court rendering the same\nand such defendant or his legal representative let in to defend;\nprovided it is made to appear that the defendant has a meritorious or\nlegal defense to the action or proceeding, or to some part thereof.\nVacating, setting aside, or reversing any judgment because of any of the\nprovisions of this act shall not impair any right or title acquired by\nany bona fide purchaser for value under such judgment.\n 3. Where a default judgment may properly be rendered in any action or\nproceeding in any court, the court shall not require the attorney for\nthe plaintiff or petitioner to submit an affidavit or affirmation that\nthe defendant or respondent is not in military service, provided that\nthe court may impose such requirement where authorized by federal law.\nFor purposes of this subdivision, the term "military service" shall have\nthe meaning ascribed by the provisions of the Federal Soldiers' and\nSailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940, as amended.\n

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.