In 1985, CPLR 5601(a) was amended to narrow considerably the then existing grounds on which appeals could be taken as of right to the Court of Appeals. The amendment eliminated as grounds for an appeal as of right a reversal or modification respecting any part of the judgment or order appealed from, and it changed the unqualified prior requirement of one dissent to “a dissent by at least two justices on a question of law in favor of the party taking such appeal.” Although reduced in number, such appeals as of right still form an important part of the Court’s docket. In the year 2010, 21.2 percent of all civil appeals decided by the Court (29 out of 137) were appeals as of right whose jurisdictional predicate was two dissents in the Appellate Division.1
Dissent Requirement
As the statute makes clear, it is not enough for two justices to dissent. In addition, the dissent (i) must be on a question of law, and (ii) it must be in favor of the party taking the appeal. Failure to meet these requirements will result in dismissal of the appeal. In Christovao v. Unisul-Uniao de Coop. Transf. de Tomate do sul do Tejo, S.C.R.L.,2 the Court of Appeals stated that the history and purpose of the narrowing amendment to CPLR §5601 leads it “to view the statutory dissent requirement in a practical, not literal, sense.
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