Opinion
No. 2008-06386.
December 15, 2009.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, nonparty Talisman, Rudin DeLorenz, P.C., the plaintiffs former attorney, appeals, as limited by its brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County, (Rothenberg, J.), dated February 4, 2008, as, after a hearing upon remittitur from this Court ( Calabro v Board of Educ. of City of N. Y., 39 AD3d 680) to determine the proper fee to be awarded in satisfaction of its charging lien pursuant to Judiciary Law § 475, in effect, granted its motion to enforce its charging lien to the extent of fixing its fee in the sum of only $11,287.33. Justice Angiolillo has been substituted for former Justice Spolzino ( see 22 NYCRR 670.1 [c]).
Richard Paul Stone, New York, N.Y., for nonparty-appellant.
Reitano, Spata Bellini, LLP, Staten Island, N.Y. (Anthony Bellini of counsel), nonparty-respondent pro se.
Before: Florio, J.P., Covello, Angiolillo and Eng, JJ., concur.
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The Supreme Court properly awarded the law firm of Talisman, Rudin DeLorenz, P.C. (hereinafter the Talisman firm), the sum of $11,287.33 as an attorney's fee for its proportionate share of the work in obtaining a recovery for the plaintiff in the instant personal injury action, based upon the hearing testimony as to the hours that the Talisman firm and the nonparty respondent, Reitano, Spata Bellini, LLP (hereinafter the Reitano frm), each worked on the action ( see Matter of Cohen v Grainger, Tesoriero Bell, 81 NY2d 655, 658-659; Lai Ling Cheng v Modansky Leasing Co., 73 NY2d 454, 457). Contrary to the contention of the Talisman firm, it did not establish that its work in the action was any more important or crucial than was the work of the Reitano firm in bringing the action to a successful conclusion in favor of the plaintiff.
The remaining contentions of the Talisman firm are without merit.