Appellate Practice

Lester D. Steinman, Daniel Pozin

Appellate Practice – Municipal Law & Land Use – Trusts and Estates – Motion to Intervene

McCarthy Fingar represents a diverse collection of clients, including municipal and governmental entities. Here, McCarthy Fingar’s interdisciplinary team of litigators, which included James K. Landau, Edward P. Borrelli and Frank W. Streng, succeeded in defeating an attempt by a neighboring landowner to intervene and obtained a dismissal of a petition filed by the firm on behalf of its client, the County of Westchester. By the petition, the County seeks to modify or extinguish certain restrictions on the use of Merestead, 130 acres of property donated to the County so that Merestead can better carry out the original intentions of the family that donated the property for various uses, including as a park. The Supreme Court, Westchester County, denied the neighboring landowner’s motion, and the landowner appealed to the Appellate Division, Second Department. The Second Department unanimously affirmed the decision of the motion court, agreeing that the motion to intervene was fatally defective because the neighboring landowner did not submit a proposed pleading with their motion. The Second Department also agreed with the motion court’s decision denying the motion without leave to renew on proper papers “since the proposed intervenors failed to show a real and substantial interest in the outcome of the proceeding.”

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Mitarotonda v. Mitarotonda, _ A.D.3d _ (2d Dep’t 2019)

Kristen Mackay Pennessi

Matrimonial & Family Law – Child Custody – Appellate Practice – Constructive Emancipation

Our matrimonial lawyers often represent clients on financial issues relating to child custody. Here, Kristen Pennessi & Kathleen Donelli won an appeal in the Appellate Division in which the lower court denied a post-divorce judgment motion, brought by the noncustodial parent (the “father”), to stop paying the custodial parent (our client, the “mother”) child support based on constructive emancipation. Under the doctrine of constructive emancipation, New York courts have held that child support payments may be suspended where the “custodial parent unjustifiably frustrates the noncustodial parent’s right of reasonable access.” Kristen and Kathleen successfully argued that our client, the custodial parent, did not deliberately frustrate or actively interfere with the father’s relationship with his children. Therefore, the court ordered that the father continue to pay child support even though his children refused to have meaningful contact with him.

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Mamaroneck Coastal Environmental Coalition v. Village of Mamaroneck Board of Appeals _ A.D. 3d (2d Dep’t July 26, 2017).

Lester D. Steinman

Municipal Law & Land Use – Appellate Practice – Defending Land Use Board Decision

Developing a proper record and articulating detailed findings are the keys for our Municipal Law & Land Use lawyers to successfully defending local land use board decision making, both in the lower court and in the appellate court. Here, Petitioner brought an Article 78 proceeding challenging the ZBA’s determination to grant a special permit to the Hampshire Club to conduct nonmember events on its property as arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law. Representing the ZBA, Lester D. Steinman and Anna L. Georgiou successfully argued that the ZBA’s determination was rationally based and supported by substantial evidence in the record. The Supreme Court, Westchester County, (Jamieson, J.S.C.) agreed dismissing the Article 78 proceeding. On appeal, the Supreme Court’s determination was affirmed by the Appellate Division, Second Department.

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Village/Town Scarsdale v. Kreuter, 144 A.D.3d 1033 (2d Dep’t 2016)

Municipal Law & Land Use – In Rem Tax Foreclosure – Appellate Practice

Our Municipal Law & Land Use lawyers know that attention to procedural details is critical for the exercise of municipal rights. Here, the Appellant challenged the Village of Scarsdale’s in rem tax foreclosure proceedings on the basis of, among other things, inadequate notice. Representing the village, Daniel Pozin and Lester D. Steinman, as special counsel to the village, persuaded the Appellate Division, Second Department, that the Appellant’s arguments were wrong, and the Second Department dismissing the appeal and the case.

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Sylvan Development Corp. v. Westchester Joint Water Works, 853 N.Y.S.2d 918 (2d Dep’t 2008).

Tax Certiorari & Condemnation – Appellate Practice – Prior Negative Declarations Support Long, Hard Look

As part of their work, Tax Certiorari and Condemnation lawyers must understand environmental issues and their impact on a property’s valuation. Representing Westchester Joint Water Works (WJWW), Stephen Davis successfully upheld WJWW’s condemnation against attack from an alleged failure of WJWW to undertake adequate environmental considerations. Exercising its original jurisdiction, the Appellate Division sustained the argument that WJWW properly relied upon three prior negative declarations for the affected subdivision in discharging WJWW’s obligation to take and consider the required long, hard look at the project’s effect upon the environment.

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Davis v. Willinger, 31 A.D.3d 429 (2d Dep’t 2006)

Surrogate’s Court Litigation – Appellate Practice – Post Nuptial Agreement Contest – Replacing Condo Unit Triggers Ademption

Our lawyers represent clients on dispute on prenuptial and post nuptial agreements. Here, in a declaratory judgment action involving an esoteric point of law, Stephen Davis and Joel M. Aurnou achieved an abatement of a surviving spouse’s contract with her husband to bequeath the proceeds of sale of the couple’s Miami Beach oceanfront condominium residence to her late husband’s daughter. Applying the ademption concept, the trial court – unanimously affirmed by the appellate court – ruled that the promise to bequeath pertained only to the condominium owned by the couple at the time of the promise, notwithstanding that they replaced their original condominium with another in the very same Collins Avenue condominium building.

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Keiser v. Todd, 290 A.D.2d 492, 736 N.Y.S.2d 255 (2d Dep’t 2005)

Appellate Practice – Commercial Litigation – Real Estate Transactions – Option to Purchase Real Estate

If a dispute as to a real estate transaction cannot be settled, lawyers need skill and experience to win a case in court. In this matter, Robert H. Rosh successfully defended our client at both the lower court and appellate levels, in an action brought by a tenant to enforce a purported option to purchase our client’s real property. Rob moved for, and obtained, an order dismissing the tenant’s complaint. In support of its dismissal, the court held that the draft option agreement between the parties did not identify the property to be conveyed with sufficient particularity to satisfy New York’s Statute of Frauds, General Obligations Law §5-703(2), and was therefore unenforceable.

Following our client’s victory, the tenant refused to vacate the premises and Rob successfully pursued on our client’s behalf a proceeding that resulted in the eviction of the tenant from the premises.

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Frankel v. Ford Leasing Dev. Co., 7 A.D.3d 757, 776 N.Y.S.2d 905 (2d Dep’t 2004)

Commercial Litigation – Appellate Practice – Statute of Frauds on Real Estate Transaction

Our lawyers defend clients on unwarranted lawsuits for enforcement of alleged contracts. Here, Robert H. Rosh successfully defended an action that was brought against his client for specific performance of a contract to sell real property. Rob moved for and was awarded summary judgment dismissing the action. On appeal, the lower court’s decision was affirmed, finding that the parties never had a meeting of the minds, and that the documents which had been relied upon by the plaintiff in support of his claim had omitted essential terms of a contract; and, thus, the claim was barred under the statute of frauds. The appellate court also found that the actions taken by the plaintiff were not unequivocally referable to a contract of sale so as to constitute part performance sufficient to defeat the statute of frauds, and were merely steps taken in contemplation of a future agreement.

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Papadopolous v. Goldstein, Goldstein & Rikon, P.C., 283 A.D.2d 649, 725 N.Y.S.2d 364 (2d Dep’t 2001), appeal denied, 97 N.Y.2d 677

Commercial Litigation – Appellate Practice – Attorney Fee Dispute

In this case, Robert H. Rosh and Robert M. Redis successfully represented two (2) individuals at both the lower court and appellate levels in a fee dispute with their former counsel involving a condemnation proceeding. The dispute arose after the individuals discharged their former counsel and negotiated a sale of their properties on their own. The court held that the individuals had the right to settle their case on their own, and that their former counsel were only entitled to recover in quantum meruit for the legal services rendered to the individuals in connection with the condemnation proceeding.

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Matter of Marsh, 265 A.D.2d 253 (1st Dep’t 1999), app. denied, 95 N.Y.2d 755 (2000), app. dismissed, 95 N.Y.2d 956 (2000), cert. denied, 532 U.S. 1038, 121 S. Ct. 1999, 149 L.Ed.2d 1002 (2001)

Surrogate’s Court Litigation – Appellate Practice – Contested Accountings

Our lawyers often represent beneficiaries in contested accountings of executors and trustees. In one such case, Frank W. Streng and Robert M. Redis succeeded at the trial court level and obtained a surcharge against a former executor in excess of $1.6 million and an award of attorneys fees against that former fiduciary in the amount of $250,000. Bob and Frank then succeeded in upholding the Surrogate’s Court’s determinations on all appeals.

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Hudson Communities Coalition, Inc. v. New York State Office Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, 251 A.D.2d 504, 673 N.Y.S.2d 595 (2d Dep’t 1998)

Commercial Litigation – Appellate Practice – Article 78 Proceeding – Nursing Home

Our lawyers represent clients in disputes over different types of real estate matters. Here, Robert H. Rosh and Robert M. Redis intervened on behalf of St. John’s Riverside Hospital and successfully defended it in the lower court in an Article 78 proceeding, and on an appeal to the Appellate Division, Second Department. In this case, a coalition sought to overturn certain administrative determinations as to the siting and design of St. John’s proposed nursing home facility in Yonkers, New York.

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Matter of Marsh, 236 A.D.2d 404 (2d Dep’t 1997)

Surrogate’s Court Litigation – Appellate Practice – Will & Trust Contests

McCarthy Fingar often represents clients in Will & Trust Contests. Frank W. Streng, as counsel to the named executor, successfully defended against objections to the filing of a Codicil to the Decedent’s Will. At trial, a jury upheld the Codicil to the Decedent’s Will and threw out objections made to such Codicil by one family member. On appeal, we persuaded the Appellate Division, Second Depatment, to uphold the trial judge’s refusal to set aside the jury verdict.

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Lefkowitz v. The Bank of New York as Preliminary Executor of Estate of Irene B. Marsh et al., 996 F.2d 600 (2d Cir. 1993)

Howell Bramson

Surrogate’s Court Litigation – Appellate Practice – Taxation – Spousal Consent – Challenge of Beneficiary Designation on Qualified Plan

Our lawyers often represent clients in dealing with beneficiary designations on pension and qualified plans. In one such case, Howell Bramson, Robert M. Redis and other lawyers at the firm successfully represented a surviving spouse’s estate and persuaded the lower court to invalidate a beneficiary designation on a qualified plan for the Decedent’s child (to the exclusion of the decedent’s spouse) on the grounds that the beneficiary designation violated the spousal consent rules under ERISA. The trial court’s determination was upheld, on appeal, by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal also deal with significant legal questions, such as the applicability of ERISA to controlled foreign corporations and whether these sufficiently implicated the Interstate Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.

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Matter of Marsh, 173 A.D.2d 336 (1st Dep’t 1991), app. dismissed, 78 N.Y.2d 990, mot. for lv. to appeal denied, 79 N.Y.2d 751

Surrogate’s Court Litigation – Appellate Practice – Fiduciary Removal – Business Issues

Our lawyers often represent beneficiaries that suffer financial injury through improper actions of executors and trustees. Here, Frank W. Streng represented a beneficiary at a trial to obtain the removal of a preliminary executor who had acted improperly in the administration of the estate. The removed fiduciary appealed, and Frank and other McCarthy Fingar lawyers, Robert M. Redis and Deborah Yurchuck McCarthy, successfully persuaded the appellate court to affirm the trial court’s decision to remove the fiduciary.

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Matter of Hickok, 140 Misc. 2d 650 (Surr. Ct., Orange 1989), affirmed, 158 A.D.2d 690 (2d Dep’t 1990), mot. for lv. to appeal denied, 76 N.Y.2d 712

Surrogate’s Court Litigation – Appellate Practice –Contested Accountings – Interpretation of Decedent’s Will

Often, there are issues on the interpretation of a Decedent’s Will that can have large effect on the Decedent’s testamentary plan. In this case, Frank W. Streng, and other lawyers at the firm represented children of a Decedent’s first marriage in litigation against the Decedent’s surviving spouse where the surviving spouse sought (unsuccessfully) to obtain an interpretation of her husband’s Will which would have effectively excluded the Decedent’s children as beneficiaries under the Will. The other side appealed, and the appelate court affirmed the lower court ruling.

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Southern Westchester Associates v. Assessor of City of Yonkers, 122 A.D.2d 212 (2d Dep’t 1986)

Tax Certiorari & Condemnation – Appellate Practice – Cooperative Apartment Conversion Valued By Imputing Rental Value

Tax Certiorari and Condemnation cases almost always involve the use of experts to establish value. Here, Stephen Davis successfully used an expert to establish rental value for apartments in a cooperative apartment buildling conversion as part of the capitalization of income process. At the taxpayer’s behest, the court applied a remedial statute designed to avoid use of sales prices for each unit, the effect of which would make the sum of the parts worth more than the whole, i.e., worth more than a neighboring similar apartment building. Instead, the rental value, rather than the so-called conversion value, was considered to be the best measure of value. Then, Steve convinced the Appellate Division to affirm the lower court ruling.

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Matter of McKinney, 117 Misc. 2d 173 (Surr. Ct., Westchester 1982), affirmed, 101 A.D.2d 477 (2d Dep’t 1984), mot. for lv. to appeal denied, 63 N.Y.2d 607

Surrogate’s Court Litigation – Appellate Practice – Taxation – Interpretation of Decedent’s Will – Allocation of Estate Taxes

Sometimes, the tax apportionment clause – an often overlooked clause in a will – has a huge impact on the actual distributions under a will. In this case, Frank W. Streng and others at the firm successfully represented a major health care institution in a contested accouting proceeding in which we challenged the executors’ interpretation of the decedent’s tax apportionment clause in her Will. The charitable beneficiary would have been deprived of hundreds of thousands of dollars of its proper share of a multi-million dollar estate had the executors’ interpretation been adopted. The lower court opinion was affirmed by the appellate court.

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Sear, Roebuck & Co. v. Assessor of City of White Plains, 66 A.D.2d 777 (2d Dep’t 1978)

Tax Certiorari & Condemnation – Appellate Practice – User Owned Building Valued By Rental Value, Not Cost

The valuation technique used by Tax Certiorari & Condemnation lawyers is the key to success or failure of their cases. Here, Stephen Davis successfully obtained a tax assessment reduction for property owned by the user department store permitted by capitalizing rental value. He did so through the use of expert testimony on rental values, rather than employing a cumbersome reconstruction cost methodology that would have likely resulted in a higher valuation for the client’s property. Steve then won on the appeal.

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Almar Realty Corp. v. Sockolof Bros., 35 A.D.2d 986 (2d Dep’t 1970), aff’d, 29 N.Y.2d 735 (1971)

Commercial Litigation – Appellate Practice – Landlord/Tenant – Tax Base Mutual Ignorance Fails To Support Reformation

Stephen Davis and Joel M. Aurnou prevailed in a reformation action by distinguishing mutual ignorance from mutual mistake of fact. The result was their client’s warehouse tenant paying a real estate tax escalation rental over a base of a vacant land assessment and not against a base assessment of the completed warehouse building.

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Ercolani v. Sam & Al Realty Co., 17 N.Y.2d 299 (1966)