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Yannitelli v. D. Yannitelli Sons Const

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Feb 17, 1998
247 A.D.2d 271 (N.Y. App. Div. 1998)

Summary

requiring fee forfeiture where there had been "numerous violations . . . over a period of years"

Summary of this case from Rein v. Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Opinion

February 17, 1998

Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Beverly Cohen, J.).


The court's denial of recusal was a proper exercise of discretion. We find no merit to appellant's argument that a mandatory statutory basis for disqualification arose in this case (see, Judiciary Law § 14). In the absence of statutory grounds, the decision upon a recusal motion is a discretionary one "within the personal conscience of the court" (People v. Moreno, 70 N.Y.2d 403, 405), and should not be disturbed "[u]nless the moving party can point to an actual ruling which demonstrates bias", which appellant does not do here (Solow v. Wellner, 157 A.D.2d 459; see also, Scott v. Brooklyn Hosp., 93 A.D.2d 577, 580).

The penalty of forfeiture of the contingent legal fee was not excessive. Contrary to appellant's contention, we perceive no meaningful distinction between this case and cases where the attorney was formally discharged. Where, as here, the attorney has admitted committing numerous violations of the Code of Professional Responsibility in this case over a period of years, we agree that the attorney has, as a result, forfeited any entitlement to fees (see, Pessoni v. Rabkin, 220 A.D.2d 732; Matter of Winston, 214 A.D.2d 677). There were no material disputed factual issues requiring an evidentiary hearing. The undisputed and conceded facts presented to the court over the course of the underlying litigation warranted forfeiture.

We have considered appellant's remaining arguments and find them to be without merit.

Concur — Rosenberger, J. P., Williams, Mazzarelli and Andrias, JJ.


Summaries of

Yannitelli v. D. Yannitelli Sons Const

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Feb 17, 1998
247 A.D.2d 271 (N.Y. App. Div. 1998)

requiring fee forfeiture where there had been "numerous violations . . . over a period of years"

Summary of this case from Rein v. Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

In Yannitelli, the court observed that there is "no meaningful distinction between this case [where the lower court declared that an attorney had forfeited his right to collect fees from a former client] and cases where the attorney was formally discharged."

Summary of this case from Schreiber v. Friedman
Case details for

Yannitelli v. D. Yannitelli Sons Const

Case Details

Full title:JEANNETTE YANNITELLI et al., Respondents, v. D. YANNITELLI SONS…

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

Date published: Feb 17, 1998

Citations

247 A.D.2d 271 (N.Y. App. Div. 1998)
668 N.Y.S.2d 613

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