Right to Fees Not Included in Settlement Agreement

Landlord sued to evict tenant for keeping a dog in his apartment in violation of tenant's lease. Landlord and tenant settled the case through a court-ordered settlement agreement. Landlord later asked the court to award attorney's fees. The court ruled against landlord because there was no provision in the agreement for attorney's fees. Landlord appealed and lost. A settlement agreement is intended to resolve all issues in a case. The agreement in this case didn't provide for the recovery of attorney's fees by either side and stated that it could only be changed by a signed written agreement between the parties. Since landlord hadn't preserved its claim in the agreement, it had given up any claim for attorney's fees.

130 W. 57 Co., LLC v. Farley: NYLJ, p. 29, col. 3 (2/16/99) (App. T. 1 Dept.; Parness, JP, McCooe, Davis, JJ)