Board of Managers of 55 Walker Street Condominium v. Walker Street, LLC

• Decision Date: 20 April 2004
• Docket Number: 3408N.
• Citation: Board of Managers of 55 Walker Street Condominium v. Walker Street, LLC, 6 A.D.3d 279, 701 N.Y.S.2d 774, 2004 NY Slip Op 2885 (N.Y. App. Div. 2004)
• Parties: BOARD OF MANAGERS OF 55 WALKER STREET CONDOMINIUM, Respondent, v. WALKER STREET, LLC, et al., Appellants.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

6 A.D.3d 279

701 N.Y.S.2d 774

2004 NY Slip Op 02885

BOARD OF MANAGERS OF 55 WALKER STREET CONDOMINIUM, Respondent, v. WALKER STREET, LLC, et al., Appellants.

3408N.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, First Department.

April 20, 2004.

Appeal from order, Supreme Court, New York County (Alice Schlesinger, J.), entered on or about December 3, 2002, deemed to be an appeal from a subsequent judgment, same court and Justice, entered April 30, 2003, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, awarded plaintiff attorneys' fees, and so considered, the judgment is unanimously affirmed, with costs.

The condominium bylaws provided for recovery of attorneys' fees for litigation in connection with a unit owner's default in payments. The court initially found such a default and granted summary judgment to plaintiff, deferring the issue of attorneys' fees. After review of extensive billing submissions, and defendant having declined a hearing, the court made appropriate reductions and granted plaintiff's application. Defendants now protest the entitlement to fees because plaintiff did not prevail in the underlying litigation.

In order to justify an award of contractual attorneys' fees, the court need not adopt each claim raised in a lawsuit (Senfeld v I.S.T.A. Holding Co., 235 AD2d 345 [1997], lv...