Opinion
2015–10410 Index No. 4645/11
03-20-2019
Michael DIEDERICH, Jr., Respondent, v. Lorraine WETZEL, etc., Appellant.
Dwight D. Joyce, Stony Point, NY, for appellant. Michael D. Diederich, Jr., suing herein as Michael Diederich, Jr., Stony Point, NY, respondent pro se.
Dwight D. Joyce, Stony Point, NY, for appellant.
Michael D. Diederich, Jr., suing herein as Michael Diederich, Jr., Stony Point, NY, respondent pro se.
MARK C. DILLON, J.P., JOHN M. LEVENTHAL, FRANCESCA E. CONNOLLY, LINDA CHRISTOPHER, JJ.
DECISION & ORDER
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
The plaintiff, an attorney, represented the defendant in various actions over multiple years. After the defendant refused to pay the plaintiff's fees, the plaintiff commenced this action. On a prior appeal, this Court, inter alia, granted the plaintiff's motion pursuant to CPLR 3215 for leave to enter judgment on the issue of liability upon the defendant's failure to appear or answer, and remitted the matter for an inquest on the amount of attorney's fees, if any, to which the plaintiff was entitled (see Diederich v. Wetzel , 112 A.D.3d 883, 979 N.Y.S.2d 605 ). After an inquest, the Supreme Court awarded the plaintiff the principal sum of $ 150,000. The defendant appeals from the judgment.
In reviewing a determination made after a nonjury trial, the power of this Court is as broad as that of the trial court, and we may render a judgment we find warranted by the facts, bearing in mind that, in a close case, the trial judge had the advantage of seeing the witnesses (see Northern Westchester Professional Park Assoc. v. Town of Bedford , 60 N.Y.2d 492, 499, 470 N.Y.S.2d 350, 458 N.E.2d 809 ; Manson v. Kejo Enters., LLC , 145 A.D.3d 994, 995, 44 N.Y.S.3d 167 ). Here, in view of the evidence submitted at the inquest, including, among other things, time sheets showing the time the plaintiff spent working on the defendant's cases, we agree with the Supreme Court's determination awarding the plaintiff the sum of $ 150,000.
DILLON, J.P., LEVENTHAL, CONNOLLY and CHRISTOPHER, JJ., concur.