Which is a proper ground for relief from a judgment or order?

• A. Newly discovered evidence
• B. Change of law
• C. Lack of jurisdiction based on error in the record
• D. Appeal of the judgment

Answer: (A)

Relief from a judgment or order is a post-judgment remedy in New York that allows a court to set aside a prior ruling when fairness requires it. The strongest ground among the options is newly discovered evidence. If evidence could not have been obtained with reasonable diligence before the judgment and that evidence is material—meaning it would likely have changed the outcome—the court may vacate the judgment. The idea is that justice must sometimes override a final ruling when genuinely new facts come to light that could affect the result.

Change of law after the judgment isn’t, by itself, a basis to vacate. The judgment stands under the law as it existed when entered, and any challenge to the ruling based on later legal developments would typically come through appeal or another appropriate post-judgment mechanism, not a general relief-from-judgment motion.

An error in the record that does not involve a lack of jurisdiction isn’t themselves a ground for relief from judgment. Issues about the record are typically addressed by correcting the record or through appellate review if proper grounds exist.

An appeal challenges the correctness of the judgment itself rather than serving as a direct relief-from-judgment remedy. Relief under this rule is focused on correcting injustices that stem from new facts or other specific grounds, with newly discovered evidence being the clearest fit.