Fischbarg v. Doucet

38 A.D.3d 270, 832 N.Y.S.2d 164
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedMarch 13, 2007
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 38 A.D.3d 270 (Fischbarg v. Doucet) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fischbarg v. Doucet, 38 A.D.3d 270, 832 N.Y.S.2d 164 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinions

[271]*271Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Shirley Werner Kornreich, J.), entered October 24, 2005, which denied defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction, affirmed, without costs.

Plaintiff Gabriel Fischbarg is a lawyer and solo practitioner who lives and works in New York City. Defendant Suzanne Doucet is a California resident and the president of Only New Age Music, Inc. (ONAM), a California corporation. In early 2001, plaintiff received a call from Doucet. Based upon this call, plaintiff agreed to research and pursue potential claims for copyright infringement that ONAM may have had against nonparty Allegro Corporation (Allegro). On February 23, 2001 Doucet sent a letter to plaintiff at his New York office. The letter stated:

“Thank you for offering to help us with our legal efforts concerning [Allegro]. Our understanding is that you offered to take this case on contingency.
“Our understanding is also, that we only have to pay a deposit of $2000 against expenses, if you go forward with this case after reviewing our material. After settlement in or outside of court the moneys received from Allegro will be split Vs (you) h us, after the deduction of expenses incurred [by] both parties. Expenses will be reimbursed before split.
“Please find enclosed the requested information (contracts, copyrighted material, outline of events, and copies of correspondence) regarding Allegro’s fraudulent and infringing activities, which we discovered first in May 1999.
“Our previous attorney, Gerry Weiner said he would be happy to forward all materials regarding the history of this case to you, when needed. His material includes also CDs that we purchased for proof of their violations and all related other materials.” In the letter, Doucet also informed plaintiff that it thought ONAM might have to cancel all their agreements with Allegro; confiscate certain unauthorized reproductions of ONAM’s property; and demand disclosure of “accounting, negotiations and legal procedures” regarding Allegro’s use of ONAM property. Doucet wrote that Allegro had committed fraud, copyright infringement, and breach of contract. At its conclusion, the letter thanked plaintiff for “your time and consideration to look at this complex issue.”

In May 2001, defendants were sued by Allegro in federal district court in Oregon. Plaintiff was admitted pro hac vice in Oregon, and he represented defendants there from May 2001 to January 2002. However, plaintiff physically never appeared in Oregon and did all of his work in the Oregon lawsuit in New [272]*272York. He took and defended depositions, appeared at court conferences, and argued defendants’ motion for summary judgment all by telephone. His time sheets, which are in the record, itemize 238.4 hours of legal work, all performed by plaintiff on defendant’s behalf in New York.

In August 2002, after a fee dispute, defendants discharged plaintiff. Plaintiff made an application to the Oregon court in the pending litigation to order payment of his fees. But that court held that it did not have personal or subject matter jurisdiction to determine whether plaintiff should be awarded the approximately $60,000 claimed due. Plaintiff thereafter brought this action in New York to recover that sum.

As a jurisdictional predicate for his claims against defendants, plaintiff relied on CPLR 302 (a) (1), New York’s long-arm statute. Defendants moved to dismiss the action for lack of jurisdiction, pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (8).

The IAS court found that it had personal jurisdiction over the defendants, under the long-arm statute, because: (1) defendants solicited plaintiff in New York to provide them with legal advice; (2) plaintiff was thereafter consulted in New York, at least twice a week for approximately a year, for legal advice which included the drafting of pleadings and conducting discovery in the Oregon action; and (3) this action concerns fees for the exact services solicited and performed by plaintiff with respect to the copyright dispute with Allegro for which he was retained. Defendants appeal.

It is defendants’ contention that they are not subject to jurisdiction in New York under the long-arm statute because they never physically came to New York. They argue that they never physically met with plaintiff; plaintiff was retained by a California corporation with respect to a claim against it by Allegro, an Oregon corporation; and plaintiff conducted a portion of ONAM’s defense in an Oregon federal court.

Plaintiff opposes, arguing, pro se, that defendants’ retention of him, a New York solo practitioner, and his subsequent work as counsel on defendants’ behalf in New York were sufficient to confer jurisdiction over the defendants under CPLR 302 (a) (1). We agree and thus affirm.

CPLR 302 (a) (1), entitled “Personal jurisdiction by acts of non-domiciliaries,” provides:

“(a) Acts which are the basis of jurisdiction. As to a cause of action arising from any of the acts enumerated in this section, a court may exercise personal jurisdiction over any non-domiciliary, or his executor or administrator, who in person or through an agent:
[273]*273“(1) transacts any business within the state or contracts anywhere to supply goods or services in the state . ...” New York courts have interpreted this section to require, “some articulable nexus between the business transacted and the cause of action sued upon” (McGowan v Smith, 52 NY2d 268, 272 [1981]). In cases involving an out of state party’s retention of a New York attorney, jurisdiction has been upheld where a defendant, beyond merely retaining a lawyer in New York, has purposely availed itself of the services of that New York lawyer in this state (see Pennie & Edmonds v Austad Co., 681 F Supp 1074, 1077 [SD NY 1988] [although litigation took place in Maryland, defendant’s participation, through an agent in the preparation for that litigation in New York, was sufficient to confer personal jurisdiction for purposes of the long-arm statute]; and see Kelly v MD Buyline, Inc., 2 F Supp 2d 420, 430 [SD NY 1998] [although retainer agreement was signed in Texas, there was a factual basis for long-arm jurisdiction over one defendant based upon that defendant’s contacts with its attorney in New York, and subsequent New York litigation]).

The facts of this case support the conclusion that Doucet and ONAM had sufficient contacts with plaintiff in New York to subject them to jurisdiction here for purposes of determining their fee dispute. Defendants sought out plaintiff, previously unknown to them, in New York to perform legal services. At the time plaintiff was retained, it was not known whether defendants’ difficulties with nonparty Allegro would result in litigation. Nor was it known that the litigation would take place in an Oregon court. Allegro did not bring suit against defendants in Oregon until three months after plaintiff was retained and had begun to work for defendants in New York. Throughout plaintiffs representation, defendants made frequent phone calls to plaintiff in New York, and sent their e-mails and fax communications to him in New York. They made their payments to plaintiff’s office in New York, where they consulted plaintiff about their lawsuit and formulated and executed their litigation strategy.

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Bluebook (online)
38 A.D.3d 270, 832 N.Y.S.2d 164, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fischbarg-v-doucet-nyappdiv-2007.