New Hearing Needed to Determine Reasonable Attorney's Fees

April 25, 2017

LVT Number: #27611

Landlord sued to evict tenant for illegal subletting. The court ruled against landlord without a trial, and awarded tenant $262,000 in attorney's fees as the prevailing party. Landlord appealed, and the case was sent back to the lower court for a hearing to determine an appropriate attorney's fee award. Tenant’s attorney had spent 300 hours on legal research, 175 hours on document composition, and 50 hours meeting with clients.

Landlord sued to evict tenant for illegal subletting. The court ruled against landlord without a trial, and awarded tenant $262,000 in attorney's fees as the prevailing party. Landlord appealed, and the case was sent back to the lower court for a hearing to determine an appropriate attorney's fee award. Tenant’s attorney had spent 300 hours on legal research, 175 hours on document composition, and 50 hours meeting with clients. Tenant was entitled to attorney's fees, but the court should have analyzed whether the time the attorney claimed was expended was useful and reasonable, and the record was insufficient to determine whether the court’s decision was reasonable. The case was sent back for a new hearing.

 

 

281 St. Nicholas Partners LLC v. Blake: 55 Misc.3d 126(A), 2017 NY Slip Op 50339(U) (App. T. 1 Dept.; 3/22/17; Schoenfeld, JP, Shulman, Ling-Cohan, JJ)

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