TRB Acquisition LLC, et al. v Jack Yedid
Categories
Attorneys and Parties
Brief Summary
The appeal concerned whether a defendant could recover attorneys' fees on the theory that plaintiffs had filed a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP).
The Supreme Court, New York County, granted defendant's motion for attorneys' fees and awarded him $350,000.
The Appellate Division reversed the order granting attorneys' fees, denied the motion, and vacated the $350,000 award.
The court had already held in a related 2025 appeal that plaintiffs' complaint should be reinstated and that the action was not a SLAPP suit, which meant defendant was not entitled to attorneys' fees.
Background
Plaintiffs sued defendant Jack Yedid, and the motion court later awarded defendant $350,000 in attorneys' fees. While the fee issue was on appeal, the Appellate Division in TRB Acquisitions LLC v Yedid, 239 AD3d 578 [1st Dept 2025], reinstated plaintiffs' complaint and expressly held that the action was not a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP). Plaintiffs also asked on this appeal to have the matter reassigned to a different justice.
Lower Court Decision
The Supreme Court, New York County (Jennifer G. Schecter, J.), entered an order on November 21, 2024 granting defendant's motion for attorneys' fees and awarding $350,000.
Appellate Division Reversal
The Appellate Division unanimously reversed on the law, denied defendant's motion for attorneys' fees, and vacated the award. It held that its prior 2025 decision controlled because that decision reinstated the complaint and expressly ruled that defendant was not entitled to fees since the action was not a SLAPP suit. The court also rejected plaintiffs' request for reassignment, finding it unpreserved because they did not seek that relief in the motion court, and further stating that plaintiffs showed no factual basis for a claim that the court had a predetermined outcome in mind.
Legal Significance
The decision confirms that an attorneys' fee award premised on a case being a SLAPP action cannot stand once the appellate court has determined that the lawsuit is not a SLAPP action. It also underscores that requests for reassignment must be preserved in the trial court and supported by concrete facts showing bias or predetermination.
Because the First Department had already ruled that plaintiffs' suit was not a SLAPP action, defendant had no right to attorneys' fees, and the $350,000 fee award had to be vacated.