Tenant Gets Part of Claimed Fees in Nonpayment Case

Landlord sued to evict Yonkers tenant for nonpayment of rent. Tenant raised a number of counterclaims. The court ruled for tenant and found that she was entitled to attorney's fees. Tenant was represented by Westchester/Putnam Legal Services and several attorneys worked on her case. They claimed that the hours spent on the case amounted to $19,350 in legal fees. The court ruled that tenant was entitled only to $1,200. The number of hours spent isn't the only factor used to determine the amount of attorney's fees. The court also considered that the issues involved weren't complicated, that tenant was awarded only $1,000 in damages by the court, and that one attorney rather than three would usually handle such a case. The court also looked at the standard fees private attorneys would receive for nonpayment proceedings. A reasonable fee was $400 per day for the three-day jury trial.

Hasso v. Medina: NYLJ, p. 34, col. 4 (3/29/95) (Yonkers City Ct.; Liebowitz, J)