The Second Department determined the expense required to defend an action that resulted from an attorney’s misrepresentation can meet the injury requirement of a Judiciary Law 487 cause of action:
Judiciary Law § 487 imposes civil and criminal liability on any attorney who “(1) [i]s guilty of any deceit or collusion, or consents to any deceit or collusion, with intent to deceive the court or any party; or, (2) [w]ilfully delays his client’s suit with a view to his own gain”… . A plaintiff may state a Judiciary Law § 487 cause of action by relying upon a defendant’s intentional deceit during the course of an underlying action … . A cause of action alleging a violation of Judiciary Law § 487 must be pleaded with specificity … and is “focuse[d] on the attorney’s intent to deceive, not the deceit’s success” … . Accordingly, although injury to the plaintiff is an essential element of a Judiciary Law § 487 cause of action … , “recovery of treble damages under Judiciary Law § 487 does not depend upon the court’s belief in a material misrepresentation of fact in a complaint”… . Rather, because defending the action is a result of the misrepresentation, a party’s legal expenses in defending the lawsuit may be treated as the proximate result of the misrepresentation … . Betz v Blatt, 2018 NY Slip Op 02444, Second Dept 4-11-18
ATTORNEYS (JUDICIARY LAW 487, THE EXPENSE OF DEFENDING AN ACTION WHICH STEMMED FROM AN ATTORNEY’S MISREPRESENTATION CAN MEET THE INJURY REQUIREMENT OF A JUDICIARY LAW 487 ACTION (FIRST DEPT))/JUDICIARY LAW 487 (ATTORNEYS, THE EXPENSE OF DEFENDING AN ACTION WHICH STEMMED FROM AN ATTORNEY’S MISREPRESENTATION CAN MEET THE INJURY REQUIREMENT OF A JUDICIARY LAW 487 ACTION (FIRST DEPT))/FRAUD (ATTORNEYS, JUDICIARY LAW 487, THE EXPENSE OF DEFENDING AN ACTION WHICH STEMMED FROM AN ATTORNEY’S MISREPRESENTATION CAN MEET THE INJURY REQUIREMENT OF A JUDICIARY LAW 487 ACTION (FIRST DEPT))