In Valentin v. Rinder, 65 A.D.2d 716, 716 (1st Dep't 1978) the First Department rejected an excuse that plaintiff's counsel repeatedly contacted the defendant, encouraging defendant to answer the complaint, but that defendant's counsel did not respond to those communications. There, the defendant failed to answer the complaint and was in default as of June 1974. Id. Plaintiff, however, did not move for an entry of default until November 1977. Id. Plaintiff argued that it made efforts to reach out to defendant to obtain an answer to the complaint and was unaware defendant had retained new counsel. Id. The court explained, "the duty of prosecuting . . . an action rests upon the person who brings it, not the party who defends it" Id. The court concluded the plaintiff did not fulfill its obligation because plaintiff never made an effort to determine why communications to previous counsel went unanswered and was under no obligation to wait for an answer to the complaint. Valentin v. Rinder, 65 A.D.2d at 716. Therefore, the court dismissed the complaint as abandoned. Id.