In Mitchell v. Board of Educ, of the City School Dist. of the City of New York, 15 AD3d 279 [1st Dept 2005] the Court held that the defendant did not expressly deny the plaintiff's claim for payment under a stipulation of settlement until a meeting at which the defendant's counsel informed the plaintiff that it would not comply with the settlement. In so holding, the Court reasoned that the claim had not been rejected during prior negotiations when the plaintiff's counsel was attempting to obtain compliance and the defendant's counsel said he would "look into it" or "speak to his clients." (Id. at 280-281.)