Case Name: American Stevedoring, Inc., Respondent, v. Red Hook Container Terminal, LLC, et al., Defendants, et al., Nominal Defendant. Hiller, PC, Nonparty Appellant. (And a Third-Party Action.)
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 2015-12-01
Citations: 134 A.D.3d 419
Docket Number: 
Parties: American Stevedoring, Inc., Respondent, v Red Hook Container Terminal, LLC, et al., Defendants, et al., Nominal Defendant. Hiller, PC, Nonparty Appellant. (And a Third-Party Action.)
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 134
Pages: 419–420

Head Matter:
American Stevedoring, Inc., Respondent, v Red Hook Container Terminal, LLC, et al., Defendants, et al., Nominal Defendant. Hiller, PC, Nonparty Appellant. (And a Third-Party Action.)
[19 NYS3d 726]

Opinion:
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (O. Peter Sherwood, J.), entered May 29, 2015, which, inter alia, directed nonparty Hiller, PC (HPC), plaintiff's former counsel, to turn over its litigation file within 10 days of the date of the order, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and that part of the order vacated.
The court erred in requiring HPC to turn over its litigation file, on which HPC had a retaining lien, without first ensuring that payment for HPC's legal services was made or secured, and in the absence of any waiver or exigent circumstances (see Wankel v Spodek, 1 AD3d 260 [1st Dept 2003]; Schneider, Kleinick, Weitz, Damashek & Shoot v City of New York, 302 AD2d 183, 186-187 [1st Dept 2002]; Corby v Citibank, 143 AD2d 587, 588 [1st Dept 1988]). The court also erred in not directing plaintiff, as the former client, to bear the costs of reproduction and delivery of the file (see Matter of Sage Realty Corp. v Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn, 91 NY2d 30, 38 [1997]). Concur — Mazzarelli, J.P., Moskowitz, Richter and Manzanet-Daniels, JJ.