AWARD OF LEGAL FEES RESCINDED
After the Nassau County Family Court zonked her with her partner’s legal fees, based upon her frivolous litigation conduct, the mother, F.C., appealed.
In order for a party to be penalized for “frivolous conduct,” it must be shown that "(1) it is completely without merit in law and cannot be supported by a reasonable argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law; (2) it is undertaken primarily to delay or prolong the resolution of the litigation, or to harass or maliciously injure another; or (3) it asserts material factual statements that are false.”
While she engaged in “inconsistent statements and evasive testimony,” since it wasn’t shown that her conduct was “frivolous” within the meaning of the governing rule, the Appellate Division, Second Department, ended up reversing the underlying determination “on the law and the facts.”
Looks like she evaded legal fees, too,
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DECISION