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PHILLIPS NIZER BENJAMIN KRIM BALLON v. CHU

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jun 12, 1997
240 A.D.2d 231 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)

Opinion

June 12, 1997

Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Harold Tompkins, J.).


The motion court correctly held that the general denial in defendants' answer was insufficient to raise an issue of fact as to the reasonable value of plaintiff's services as itemized in the invoices that were annexed to the complaint (CPLR 3016 [f]; Millington v. Tesar, 89 A.D.2d 1037, lv denied 58 N.Y.2d 601). In any event, we have reviewed the submissions on the motion, as the motion court did, and agree with it that, except insofar as was conceded by plaintiff, defendants' opposition failed to adduce any facts tending to show that plaintiff's invoices did not reflect the reasonable value of its services ( see, Hodgson, Russ, Andrews, Woods Goodyear v. Roth, 186 A.D.2d 1001). We note that the use of multiple attorneys was not unreasonable in the underlying actions ( see, Williamsburg Fair Hous. Comm. v Ross-Rodney Hous. Corp., 599 F. Supp. 509, 518). Although the retainer agreement excluded defendants Eastbank and Alex Chu from joint and several liability and required payment only for their proportionate share of the legal fees, since both of the underlying actions were based upon the same facts, and thus all discovery and research covered the issues in both actions, the court properly found all defendants jointly and severally liable for all of the fees.

Concur — Murphy, P.J., Milonas, Andrias and Colabella, JJ.


Summaries of

PHILLIPS NIZER BENJAMIN KRIM BALLON v. CHU

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jun 12, 1997
240 A.D.2d 231 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)
Case details for

PHILLIPS NIZER BENJAMIN KRIM BALLON v. CHU

Case Details

Full title:PHILLIPS NIZER BENJAMIN KRIM BALLON LLP, Respondent, v. JOSEPH CHU et al.…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department

Date published: Jun 12, 1997

Citations

240 A.D.2d 231 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)
659 N.Y.S.2d 4

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