Graham Court Owner's Corp. v. Taylor, 115 A.D.3d 50 (2014)

Citation: Graham Court Owner's Corp. v. Taylor, 115 A.D.3d 50 (2014)
Parent Document: Graham Court Owner's Corp. v. Taylor, 115 A.D.3d 50 (2014)
Jurisdiction: New York (state)
Effective Date: 2014-01-21
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/6107762/graham-court-owners-corp-v-taylor/ ↗

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At common law, attorneys’ fees are incidents of litigation and a prevailing party may not collect them from the loser unless an award is authorized by agreement between the parties, statute or court rule (see Hooper Assoc. v AGS Computers, 74 NY2d 487, 491 [1989]). After Bunny Realty was handed down, the Court of Appeals decided Gottlieb v Kenneth D. Laub & Co. (82 NY2d 457 [1993]) where it held that a statute providing for an award of attorneys’ fees should be narrowly construed in light *64of New York’s adherence to the common-law rule disfavoring any award of attorneys’ fees to a prevailing party in litigation (id. at 464-465, citing McKinney’s Cons Laws of NY, Book 1, Statutes § 301 [a]). “ ‘The common law is never abrogated by implication, but on the contrary it must be held no further changed than the clear import of the language used in a statute absolutely requires’ ” (Gottlieb, 82 NY2d at 465, quoting McKinney’s Cons Laws of NY, Book 1, Statutes § 301 [b]). Because the lease in question does not provide for an award of attorneys’ fees, I submit that the majority’s interpretation of Real Property Law § 234 as well as our decision in Bunny Realty cannot be reconciled with the strict construction standard articulated by the Court in Gottlieb. As the majority correctly notes, Real Property Law § 234 is a remedial statute and such statutes are generally construed liberally. However, where, as in this case, “remedial statutes create liability not otherwise existing, or increase common law liability, the rule of liberal construction does not apply, but on the contrary the statute must be followed with strictness” (McKinney’s Cons Laws of NY, Book 1, Statutes § 321).

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