Plaintiffs' failure to file a note of issue in response to defendants' 90-day demand was properly excused upon a showing that plaintiffs and their attorneys frequently relocated throughout the time the action has been pending, and medical documentation, including some of defendants' own records, demonstrating a meritorious cause of action. Defendants' claim of prejudice is unpersuasive since it appears that the case will turn mainly on medical records rather than witnesses' memories ( see, Esbri v. Westchester Sq. Med. Ctr., 260 A.D.2d 217).

Concur — Rosenberger, J. P., Mazzarelli, Rubin, Saxe and Buckley, JJ.