Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York
attorney's fees claim
Can a NY corporation represented by attorney and suing individual in small claims court in NYC, claim, and successfully recover, the attorney's fees if it wins the lawsuit?
2 Answers from Attorneys
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.