Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Fees on Fees

By Joseph I. Farca
September 01, 2019

Does your New York commercial lease form expressly provide that the landlord may recover the legal fees it incurs to recover legal fees from its tenant? If not, then the landlord may be out of luck trying to recover such "fees on fees," as they are known. But it wasn't always this way.

New York law provides that a prevailing party in litigation may recover attorneys' fees from the losing party only where such recovery is authorized by an agreement between the parties, by statute or by court rule. See, Hooper Associates, Ltd. v. AGS Computers, Inc., 74 NY2d 487, 491 (1989), followed by TAG 380, LLC v. ComMet 380, Inc., 10 NY3d 507, 515-16 (2008); A.G. Ship Maint. Corp. v. Lezak, 69 NY2d 1, 5 (1986). To be entitled to recover legal fees, the party seeking such fees must be the prevailing party with respect to the central relief it sought in such action or proceeding. See, Nestor v. McDowell, 81 NY2d 410, 415-16 (1993), and 25 East 83 Corp. v. 83rd Street Assocs., 213 AD2d 269 (1st Dept. 1995), both followed by Vanchiro v. Powells Cove Owners Corp., 135 AD3d 851, 852-53 (2nd Dept. 2016).

This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473

Read These Next
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It Image

Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?

Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough Image

There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.

The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later Image

The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.

A Lawyer's System for Active Reading Image

Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.

Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent Trolls Image

With trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.