Legal Question in Business Law in New York

This is an issue of a very heated debate between several attorneys we've consulted and we can't seem to get a definite answer on this case. My brother and I own a data recovery company in NYC that we just started up about 1 year ago. We are now facing our first legal trouble and would like some advice on the matter as we do not have deep pockets to hire an attorney.

The case:

We had a wedding photographer (client) who needed photos recovered from a hard drive. The client agreed to proceed with a $4500 quote to recover the data. After a successful recovery, we made several attempts to contact the client to pay the outstanding debt. After sending numerous letters and emails we learned that the client fled the country. The contract that the client signed stated that his property would be ours after a certain amount of days if he did not claim it.

About a week later we received a call from one of the brides whose photos were on the recovered disk. She said she knew the other brides and would contact them to gather the sum owed.

A few days later her father who happens to be an attorney in NYC sent us a letter that basically stated that her daughter does not know the brides and she is willing to pay $1000 of the total amount owed. He gave us by Friday to respond or he will be taking "further action" to obtain the photos.

Our contract with the photographer states: "The client is the legal owner, representative, or otherwise has a legitimate right to the property or act on the owners behalf and all data contained therein sent to NYC Data Recovery Services. Any property left with NYC Data Recovery Services and unclaimed for 60 days, will be disposed. At which time, NYC Data Recovery Services shall have no liability to the client or any third party."

We've sent this to the attorney and he replied with the following email:

"If you are suggesting you intend to destroy the hard drive and discs containing the photographs of my daughter's wedding and those of 5 other couples, I strongly urge you to consult with legal counsel. Doing so would constitute an intentional prima facie tort that would subject you and your company to compensatory and punitive damages. You are on notice of my daughter's interest and rights to the images as well as the rights of the others as yet unknown. I further suggest you reconsider my daughter's offer of $1,000 for her images; in the event of litigation, the costs will far exceed the amount in controversy and makes no sense. I will be in touch as soon as I have further information."

What are our options? What if destroy the data? Are we liable?


Asked on 2/05/13, 7:06 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Keep in mind that not every legal claim and assertion that opposing counsel makes means that it's a correct legal claim or assertion.

You may recall that I replied with a brief general overview a few days ago. I'm sure this is very stressful for you, so keep in mind that it would not be costly at all to retain an attorney to write a reply letter and negotiate a fair amount for your recovery services. Feel free to contact me directly.

Roman R. Fichman, Esq.

www.TheLegalist.com │ @TheLegalist

email: Info (@) TheLegalist (dot) com

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Answered on 2/05/13, 10:31 am


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