Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

Re: attorney's fees claim

Attorney's fees are not generally recoverable

This may be altered by contract

If the underlying claim provides for the

recovery of attorneys fees then the Small

Claims Court may award them

If there is a statute involved (such as anti-

trust), which is highly unlikely in Small

Claims, then they also may be awarded

Re: attorney's fees claim

The rule in NYC small claims court is the same as the general "American Rule", i.e., parties to a litigation pay their own attorneys' fees. The exception to that rule is where the legislature has enacted a "fee shifting statutue" to reward the prevailing party in particular claims. Examples of such statutues include the Civil Rights Act and the antitrust laws. Assuming that the corporate claim you write about does not involve such a statute, the corporation must pay its own legal fees if it chooses to be represented by counsel. Under section 1809-A of the NYC Civil Court Act, which governs small claims court, a corporate claimant may appear by counsel or by "any authorized officer, director or employee of the corporation." Thus, any legal fees incurred by the corporate claimant are incurred at its own choosing.