In Maldonado v. DePalo, (277 A.D.2d 21) [1st Dept 2000]), the trial court had granted summary judgment to plaintiffs on the issue of liability and directed an inquest on the issue of damages, ruling inter alia that its order finally resolved the issue of serious injury in favor of plaintiffs and limited defendants to contesting only the amount of damages to be awarded at the inquest. The Appellate Division affirmed, finding that serious injury is a threshold issue and a "a necessary element to a prima facie case," and holding that "in granting summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs on the issue of liability, the LAS court necessarily decided that they sustained serious injuries." The First Department held that summary judgment on liability necessarily included a finding of serious injury. However, in that case, the defendant's answer had been stricken, and therefore, all issues in the complaint were deemed to have been admitted by the defendant.