Amalfitano v. Rosenberg, No. 06-2364 (2d Cir. 2008)
Annotate this Case
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on August 6, 2008.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on July 14, 2009.
Download PDF
06-2364-cv Amalfitano v. Rosenberg 1 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 2 FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT 3 August Term, 2007 4 (Argued: September 6, 2007 Opinion Filed: July 15, 2008) 5 Docket No. 06-2364-cv 6 ------------------------------------- 7 VIVIA AMALFITANO AND GERARD AMALFITANO, 8 Plaintiffs-Appellees, 9 - v - 10 ARMAND ROSENBERG, 11 Defendant-Appellant. 12 ------------------------------------- 13 Before: 14 WALKER, CALABRESI, and SACK, Circuit Judges. Appeal from a judgment of the United States District 15 Court for the Southern District of New York (Naomi Reice 16 Buchwald, Judge), after a bench trial, awarding the plaintiffs 17 $268,245.54 and costs against the defendant under the provisions 18 of New York Judiciary Law § 487 for the defendant's attempted 19 deceit of Supreme Court, New York County, and successful deceit 20 of the Appellate Division, First Department, in connection with 21 an action against the plaintiffs. 22 actionability of attempted deceit is undecided under New York 23 law: 24 Because the issue of the 1 2 Questions certified to the New York State Court of Appeals. 3 4 5 WILLIAM J. DAVIS, Scheichet & Davis, P.C., New York, NY, for DefendantAppellant. 6 7 RICHARD E. HAHN, Llorca & Hahn LLP, New York, NY, for Plaintiffs-Appellees. 8 9 SACK, Circuit Judge: Defendant-Appellant Armand Rosenberg appeals from the 10 judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern 11 District of New York (Naomi Reice Buchwald, Judge) finding him 12 liable pursuant to New York Judiciary Law § 487 for treble 13 damages arising from several of his actual and attempted acts of 14 deception on New York State courts in the course of litigation 15 before them. 16 (S.D.N.Y. 2006). 17 court's finding that the Appellate Division was deceived was not 18 supported by clear and convincing evidence; and (2) the district 19 court erred in concluding that section 487 imposes liability for 20 attempted deceit. 21 See Amalfitano v. Rosenberg, 428 F. Supp. 2d 196 On appeal, he contends that (1) the district For the reasons that follow, we certify to the New York 22 Court of Appeals two questions regarding whether section 487 23 permits recovery of damages based on an attempted, but 24 unsuccessful, deceit. 25 26 27 BACKGROUND Three brothers, Peter, James, and John Costalas, were at one time engaged in a family real estate and restaurant 2 1 business together. 2 undertook a series of personal business transactions that 3 ultimately resulted in the loss of four of five buildings owned 4 by the family, and eleven of their twelve restaurants. 5 diverted between eight and ten million dollars of the family 6 business to himself, forging the signatures of several members of 7 his family on business documents. 8 fund his "palatial" apartment overlooking Central Park and to 9 cover his losses from extensive and ultimately unsuccessful 10 11 Unbeknownst to James and John, Peter Peter He used this money both to options trading. Rosenberg, a member of the New York Bar, began 12 representing Peter in the early 1990s after these misadventures 13 first came to light. 14 foreclosure proceedings on the family's buildings. 15 also negotiated with James and John on Peter's behalf to dissuade 16 them from seeking to have criminal charges brought against Peter. The representation included several Rosenberg 17 The Gruntal Litigation 18 Although James and John did not in the end seek to have 19 criminal charges brought against Peter, they did file a civil 20 lawsuit against him, also naming as a defendant Gruntal & Co., 21 Inc. ("Gruntal"), the broker Peter used in his unsuccessful 22 options trading. 23 No. 92 Civ. 8677 (S.D.N.Y. filed Dec. 1, 1992) (the "Gruntal 24 litigation"). 25 litigation, but he was retained by Peter and communicated with See Complaint at 1, Costalas v. Gruntal & Co., Rosenberg never formally appeared in the Gruntal 3 1 James and John's counsel, Vito Vincenti, on several occasions 2 with regard to the Gruntal litigation. 3 The August 1993 Agreement 4 In August 1993, John and Peter signed an agreement (the 5 "August 1993 Agreement") in which Peter assigned his one-third 6 interest in the family business and partnerships to John in 7 exchange for $12,000. 8 interest in the partnership known as 27 Whitehall Street Group, 9 which owned the one building the family had not lost, located at The assets transferred included Peter's 10 27 Whitehall Street in Manhattan ("27 Whitehall Street"). 11 also assigned to John two-thirds of any recovery he might receive 12 in his cross-claims against Gruntal.1 13 Peter Rosenberg represented Peter in the negotiations that 14 led to the drafting of the August 1993 Agreement. He held 15 several telephone conversations with Vincenti in connection with 16 it, and he received several drafts of the agreement. 17 was also "instrumental" in negotiating a settlement of Peter's 18 cross-claim against Gruntal, which involved a payment of 19 $200,000. 20 Rosenberg retained one-third of the payment as his fee and 21 divided the remaining two-thirds into two equal checks.2 Rosenberg In accordance with the August 1993 Agreement, Vivia 1 The other one-third was assigned to Rosenberg as a contingency fee. 2 It is not clear from the record why two-thirds of the recovery was divided into two checks even though the August 1993 Agreement provided that all of the two-thirds recovery was to go to John. Perhaps John and James planned to share that recovery. 4 1 Amalfitano, James's daughter and one of the appellees in this 2 case, picked up one of those checks on her father's behalf. 3 is not clear from the record what happened to the other check for 4 one-third of the settlement. 5 6 It Presumably, it went to John. On April 11, 1994, Peter was dismissed as a party to the Gruntal litigation by stipulation. 7 The Costalas Litigation 8 In 1993, after the upheaval that resulted from the 9 discovery of Peter's wrongdoing, Vivia began to assume 10 responsibility for the family business. 11 business included just one restaurant and the building at 27 12 Whitehall Street. 13 two-million-dollar mortgage at the time. 14 purchased the building from the family in order to avoid 15 foreclosure. 16 corporation, MSA Twins, Ltd. Vivia personally guaranteed the 17 mortgage loan, and John and James were released from their 18 obligations on the mortgage. 19 At that point the The building was subject to a In 2000, Vivia The contract of sale was assigned to Vivia's On May 24, 2001, Peter, represented by Rosenberg, 20 initiated a lawsuit in New York state court against Vivia and her 21 husband, Gerard Amalfitano, alleging that they had defrauded the 22 family business and partnership in the sale of 27 Whitehall 23 Street. 24 110552/01 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. filed May 24, 2001) (the "Costalas See Complaint at 1, Costalas v. Amalfitano, No. 5 1 litigation").3 2 from the partnership, the complaint alleged that Peter was a 3 member of the partnership. 4 moved to dismiss the complaint in the Costalas litigation on the 5 ground that Peter lacked any interest in 27 Whitehall Street 6 because he had transferred his interest to John under the August 7 1993 Agreement. 8 9 Despite the August 1993 Agreement removing Peter On July 31, 2001, the Amalfitanos In response to the motion to dismiss, Rosenberg filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. In its support, he prepared 10 an affidavit, executed by Peter, that asserted that the August 11 1993 Agreement "was never intended and did not have any real 12 effect" because Peter's prior attorney, Oscar Goldberg, had 13 advised him to sign the agreement as a sham to avoid potential 14 creditors. 15 Supreme Court, New York County (Ira Gammerman, J.) 16 granted the Amalfitanos' motion to dismiss. Rosenberg, on behalf 17 of his client Peter, moved to vacate the dismissal. 18 Gammerman denied the motion on the grounds that (1) Peter was 19 prohibited by the parol evidence rule from arguing that the 20 August 1993 Agreement was a sham, and (2) Peter lacked standing 21 to bring the lawsuit.4 Justice 3 Ironically, the complaint also included a claim against Gerard pursuant to N.Y. Jud. Law § 487. 4 The first order of dismissal was entered by default when Rosenberg did not appear for oral argument. In support of a motion to vacate the default judgment, Rosenberg submitted an affidavit and medical records showing that he had been hospitalized the day after the scheduled argument and had not 6 1 Rosenberg, on Peter's behalf, appealed the denial of 2 the motion to vacate to the Appellate Division, First Department. 3 Included in the record on appeal was Peter's affidavit asserting 4 that the August 1993 Agreement was a sham. 5 several of the family partnership's tax returns, which had 6 erroneously continued to list Peter as a partner even after the 7 August 1993 Agreement was executed. 8 reversed the order of the trial court, concluding that there were 9 "[s]erious open questions" regarding "the real need for and 10 purpose of the purported assignment" and whether Peter was a 11 member of the partnership. 12 422, 424, 305 A.D.2d 202, 203 (1st Dep't 2003). 13 Also included were The First Department Costalas v. Amalfitano, 760 N.Y.S.2d Back in the trial court, the parties proceeded with 14 pre-trial discovery. Thereafter, Justice Gammerman granted the 15 Amalfitanos' motion to dismiss. 16 behalf to vacate the dismissal based on alleged ex parte 17 communications between the Amalfitanos' counsel and Justice 18 Gammerman. 19 unanimously affirmed the trial court's judgment. 20 Amalfitano, 808 N.Y.S.2d 24, 23 A.D.3d 303 (1st Dep't 2005). Rosenberg then moved on Peter's The motion was denied. The First Department See Costalas v. 21 The Instant Suit 22 On March 16, 2004, the Amalfitanos filed the instant 23 diversity action in the United States District Court for the received notice of a rescheduled argument date. The trial court found that Rosenberg had provided a reasonable excuse, but it nonetheless denied the motion to vacate the default judgment for failure to show that the claims had merit. 7 1 Southern District of New York. 2 Rosenberg's conduct in the Costalas litigation violated New York 3 Judiciary Law § 487,5 and caused them damages in the form of 4 attorney's fees and expenses from that litigation. 5 The case was tried to the bench over a period of four 6 days. 7 Vincenti, and Rosenberg. 8 9 The complaint alleged that The Amalfitanos called as witnesses themselves, Vito Rosenberg called no witnesses. In addition to finding the facts described above, the district court concluded that Rosenberg engaged in "a persistent 10 pattern of unethical behavior" during the Costalas litigation. 11 Amalfitano, 428 F. Supp. 2d at 203. 12 13 First, after the Amalfitanos served a notice of deposition on the former family accountant, Howard Komendant, 5 Judiciary Law § 487 reads in its entirety: § 487 Misconduct by attorneys An attorney or counselor who: 1. Is guilty of any deceit or collusion, or consents to any deceit or collusion, with intent to deceive the court or any party; or, 2. Wilfully delays his client's suit with a view to his own gain; or, wilfully receives any money or allowance for or on account of any money which he has not laid out, or becomes answerable for, Is guilty of a misdemeanor, and in addition to the punishment prescribed therefor by the penal law, he forfeits to the party injured treble damages, to be recovered in a civil action. N.Y. Jud. Law § 487. 8 1 Rosenberg sent Komendant a letter stating, in part, "You should 2 be advised, that in my opinion, if, in fact, you served in a 3 professional capacity, all communications, contacts and documents 4 were of a privileged nature." 5 this proposition and failed to respond to opposing counsel's 6 letter citing authority that there is no accountant-client 7 privilege in New York. 8 the Komendant deposition. 9 to the deposition, and the Amalfitanos were required to pay for 10 Rosenberg cited no authority for Rosenberg subsequently failed to attend Komendant nonetheless brought counsel the cost of his attendance. 11 Second, Rosenberg failed to correct Peter's deposition 12 testimony to the effect that John and James had never brought 13 suit against Gruntal, that Peter had never signed any documents 14 during the Gruntal litigation, and that Peter had only sold stock 15 options in the amount of "five, ten [options], here and there." 16 Third, Rosenberg refused to produce Peter's personal 17 tax returns, insisting that they were "totally irrelevant." He 18 eventually produced the returns, but only after being ordered to 19 do so by Justice Gammerman. 20 into evidence, showed that Peter had not asserted a partnership 21 interest in 27 Whitehall Street Group after the August 1993 22 Agreement. The returns, eventually admitted 23 Fourth, Rosenberg told the Amalfitanos that he 24 possessed audio recordings that would be very damaging to them -- 25 what he referred to as an "atomic bomb." 26 produce the recordings, while continuing to emphasize how 9 He then refused to 1 damaging they were. Once he was ordered by Justice Gammerman to 2 produce the recordings, they turned out to be unintelligible. 3 Fifth, Rosenberg sought unsuccessfully to introduce 4 into evidence an agreement dated October 1993 signed only by 5 Peter stating, in direct contradiction of the August 1993 6 Agreement, that Peter, James, and John were all equal partners in 7 27 Whitehall Street Group. 8 knowledge that the August 1993 Agreement was valid and had been 9 signed by his client. 10 Rosenberg did this despite his Finally, Rosenberg sought to admit a document that 11 purported to be Peter's 1998 personal tax return and that listed 12 an interest in 27 Whitehall Street Group. 13 however, did not bear a receipt stamp to indicate that it had 14 been filed with the IRS. 15 in discovery Peter's stamped 1998 return, which did not list any 16 interest in 27 Whitehall Street. 17 That document, Indeed, Rosenberg had already produced The district court found for the plaintiffs and 18 assessed damages in the amount of $89,415.18, comprising the 19 Amalfitanos' legal fees from the inception of the Costalas 20 litigation to the judgment. 21 treble damages, the court trebled the award to $268,245.54. 22 court also requested that the clerk of the court forward a copy 23 of the court's opinion to the Committee on Grievances of the 24 Southern District of New York and to the First Judicial 25 Department Departmental Disciplinary Committee. 26 Because section 487 provides for Rosenberg now appeals. 10 The DISCUSSION 1 2 I. Standard of Review 3 We review the district court's findings of fact after a 4 bench trial for clear error and its conclusions of law de novo. 5 Koam Produce, Inc. v. DiMare Homestead, Inc., 329 F.3d 123, 126 6 (2d Cir. 2003). 7 not allowed to second-guess either the trial court's credibility 8 assessments or its choice between permissible competing 9 inferences." "In reviewing findings for clear error, we are Ceraso v. Motiva Enters., LLC, 326 F.3d 303, 316 10 (2d Cir. 2003). This is so even if we might have weighed the 11 evidence differently, as "[w]here there are two permissible views 12 of the evidence, the factfinder's choice between them cannot be 13 clearly erroneous." 14 574 (1985). Anderson v. City of Bessemer, 470 U.S. 564, 15 II. Section 487 16 Section 487 of the New York Judiciary Law, set forth in 17 full in footnote 5, above, provides in relevant part that an 18 attorney who 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 [i]s guilty of any deceit or collusion, or consents to any deceit or collusion, with intent to deceive the court or any party . . . [i]s guilty of a misdemeanor, and in addition to the punishment prescribed therefor by the penal law, he forfeits to the party injured treble damages, to be recovered in a civil action. N.Y. Jud. Law § 487. 28 Section 487 thus permits a civil action to be 29 maintained by any party who is injured by an attorney's 11 1 intentional deceit or collusion in New York on a court or on any 2 party to litigation, and it provides for treble damages. 3 Fields v. Turner, 147 N.Y.S.2d 542, 543-44, 1 Misc. 2d 679, 4 680-81 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1955) (holding that the predecessor to 5 section 487 provides a remedy to any party injured by the deceit 6 of an attorney representing a party to an action, not only that 7 attorney's client). 8 physical appearance in court; the statute applies to any oral or 9 written statement related to a proceeding and communicated to a See The act of deceit need not occur during a 10 court or party with the intent to deceive. 11 2d at 681. 12 Id. at 544, 1 Misc. It would appear that some courts in New York have 13 imposed an additional prerequisite to recovery: that the 14 plaintiff in a section 487 action show "a chronic and extreme 15 pattern" of legal delinquency by the defendant. 16 Kossoff, 824 N.Y.S.2d 630, 631, 34 A.D.3d 306, 307 (1st Dep't 17 2006); Solow Management Corp. v. Seltzer, 795 N.Y.S.2d 448, 448, 18 18 A.D.3d 399, 399-400 (1st Dep't 2005); Havell v. Islam, 739 19 N.Y.S.2d 371, 372, 292 A.D.2d 210, 210 (1st Dep't 2002); 20 Schindler v. Issler & Schrage, P.C., 692 N.Y.S.2d 361, 362, 262 21 A.D.2d 226, 228 (1st Dep't 1999); Wiggin v. Gordon, 455 N.Y.S.2d 22 205, 209, 115 Misc. 2d 1071, 1077 (N.Y. Civ. Ct. 1982). 23 requirement appears nowhere in the text of the statute, however, 24 and other courts have found attorneys liable under the statute 12 See Galland v. That 1 for a single intentionally deceitful or collusive act.6 2 Sportswear Co., v. Flaum, 809 N.Y.S.2d 119, 122, 25 A.D.3d 534, 3 537 (2d Dep't 2006) (misrepresentation of conflict); NYAT. 4 Operating Corp. v. Jackson, Lewis, Schnitzler & Krupman, 741 5 N.Y.S.2d 385, 386, 191 Misc. 2d 80, 82 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2002) 6 (single instance of lying under oath). See Izko 7 III. Analysis 8 The district court found that Rosenberg acted with 9 intent to deceive the trial court and the Appellate Division in 10 the Costalas litigation with respect to all of the 11 representations he made suggesting that Peter was a partner in 27 12 Whitehall Street Group, and that these misrepresentations caused 13 injury to the Amalfitanos in the form of their legal fees from 14 that litigation. 15 The district court further found that Rosenberg's intentional 16 misrepresentations included the allegation in the verified 17 complaint that Peter was a partner in 27 Whitehall Street Group, 18 statements in a cross-motion for summary judgment and in the See Amalfitano, 428 F. Supp. 2d at 209, 211-12. 6 A few courts have gone further and held or suggested that a "chronic, extreme pattern of legal delinquency" is by itself sufficient for section 487 liability. See Izko Sportswear Co., v. Flaum, 809 N.Y.S.2d 119, 122, 25 A.D.3d 534, 537 (2d Dep't 2006) ("A violation of Judiciary Law § 487 may be established 'either by the defendant's alleged deceit or by an alleged chronic, extreme pattern of legal delinquency by the defendant.'") (emphasis in original) (quoting Knecht v. Tusa, 789 N.Y.S.2d 904, 904, 15 A.D.3d 626, 627 (2d Dep't 2005)); Parklex Assocs. ex rel. Holtkamp v. Parklex Assocs., 841 N.Y.S.2d 220 (table), 15 Misc. 3d 1125(A) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2007). It seems to us that a plain reading of the statute does not support this interpretation, but we need not reach that question in this case. 13 1 appeal to the Appellate Division, as well as the submission of 2 Peter's affidavit representing the August 1993 Agreement as a 3 sham. 4 participation in the negotiations about the August 1993 Agreement 5 and his distribution of the proceeds of the Gruntal litigation in 6 accordance with that agreement, Rosenberg knew both that Peter 7 was not a partner in 27 Whitehall Street Group and that the 8 August 1993 Agreement was valid. 9 The district court found that in light of Rosenberg's Id. at 208. The district court further found that the other 10 evidence, described above, of "a persistent pattern of unethical 11 behavior," id. at 203, constituted a "chronic, extreme pattern of 12 legal delinquency," Izko Sportswear, 809 N.Y.S.2d at 122, 25 13 A.D.3d at 532, to the extent (if any) such a finding was required 14 under New York law, see Amalfitano, 428 F. Supp. 2d at 207 n.36. 15 On appeal, Rosenberg does not appear to challenge the 16 finding that his deceit was intentional, and we assume that it 17 was. 18 A. Rosenberg's Successful Deceit 19 The district court concluded that Rosenberg's appeal on 20 Peter's behalf of Justice Gammerman's entry of a default 21 judgment, which included Peter's false affidavit and the 22 erroneous partnership tax returns, successfully deceived the 23 Appellate Division into reversing and remanding the first 24 dismissal by Justice Gammerman. 25 argues that the district court's conclusion was erroneous because On appeal to us, Rosenberg 14 1 his deceit was not material to the Appellate Division's decision 2 to reverse the entry of default judgment. 3 First, he contends that only the partnership would have 4 had standing to bring the suit in the Costalas litigation. He 5 argues that the Appellate Division should therefore have affirmed 6 the default judgment on the ground that even if Peter were a 7 partner in 27 Whitehall Street Group, he was not the partnership 8 and did not have standing. 9 misrepresentations were not material to the Appellate Division's Thus Rosenberg argues that his 10 decision because the Appellate Division should have found that 11 Peter lacked standing whether or not he was a partner. 12 This argument is without merit. The Appellate Division 13 concluded that under certain circumstances Peter might have had 14 standing to bring the claim on his own behalf as a partner. 15 Costalas, 760 N.Y.S.2d at 422, 305 A.D.2d at 203-04. 16 Appellate Division known that Peter was not a partner, it seems 17 likely -- and there is plainly a sufficient basis for the 18 district court to have found -- that the Appellate Division would 19 have affirmed the dismissal of his suit for lack of standing 20 rather than reversing. 21 validity of the August 1993 Agreement and Peter's status as a 22 partner were therefore material to the Appellate Division's 23 decision. 24 See But had the The representations made as to the Second, Rosenberg contends that the Appellate 25 Division's decision was the result of "genuine documentary 26 evidence in direct conflict" rather than Rosenberg's deceit. 15 By 1 this he means that the Appellate Division correctly determined 2 that there was an issue of fact as to whether Peter remained a 3 partner in 27 Whitehall Street Group because the Appellate 4 Division relied on "genuine documentary evidence" in the form of 5 the partnership tax returns -- which neither Rosenberg nor Peter 6 created -- that erroneously continued to list Peter as a member 7 of the partnership. 8 This argument is also meritless. If the partnership 9 tax returns had some independent legal significance -- e.g., if 10 they operated to make Peter a member of the partnership despite 11 the August 1993 Agreement to the contrary -- then we might 12 conclude that the Appellate Division's decision was based on a 13 genuine issue of fact as to Peter's membership in the 14 partnership. 15 potential evidence as to the identity of the members of the 16 partnership. 17 returns knowing them to be false representations of the 18 partnership membership, he did so seeking to deceive the 19 Appellate Division. 20 But the partnership tax returns were no more than When Rosenberg submitted these partnership tax We therefore find no error in the district court's 21 conclusion that Rosenberg is liable under section 487 for 22 intentionally and successfully deceiving the Appellate Division 23 into reversing the entry of default judgment in the Costalas 24 litigation. 25 B. Certification of the Question of Attempted Deceit 16 1 Rosenberg's second argument on appeal is that the 2 district court erred in finding that an unsuccessful attempt to 3 deceive a court would support liability under section 487. 4 points out that his attempts to deceive the trial court were 5 unsuccessful because Justice Gammerman consistently found in 6 favor of the Amalfitanos. 7 He Although, as the district court concluded, Rosenberg 8 did successfully deceive the Appellate Division, the question of 9 the actionability of his attempted deceit on the trial court is 10 not moot. 11 on the cost to the Amalfitanos of defending the Costalas 12 litigation from its inception to final judgment, which therefore 13 covered the period of time in which Rosenberg was attempting (but 14 failing) to deceive Justice Gammerman, but had not yet 15 successfully deceived the Appellate Division into reversing the 16 default judgment. 17 can affirm the judgment of the district court in its entirety 18 only if we conclude that Rosenberg's attempted deceit -- the 19 false allegations in the complaint in the Costalas litigation -- 20 supports a cause of action under section 487 and was the 21 proximate cause of the Amalfitanos' damages in defending the 22 litigation from its inception. 23 The district court's calculation of damages was based See Amalfitano, 428 F. Supp. 2d at 211-12. We It is not clear from the plain language of section 487 24 whether an attempted deceit is actionable under the statute, or 25 whether a court would be entitled to find that the costs of 26 defending a lawsuit premised on a misrepresentation are the 17 1 proximate result of such a misrepresentation. 2 concluded that section 487 would support liability for an 3 attempted deceit. 4 statute and the statutory text, and it predicted that New York's 5 highest court would find that section 487 supports a cause of 6 action for an attempted deceit. 7 court also imposed damages in the form of the cost of legal fees 8 from the inception of the Costalas litigation and therefore 9 implicitly found that those damages were the proximate result of 10 11 The district court It analyzed the historical context of the See id. at 209-11. The district Rosenberg's attempted deceit. We think that New York law is unclear as to whether the 12 incurring of costs responding to a complaint which includes a 13 deceitful misrepresentation is to be treated as proximately 14 caused by that misrepresentation. 15 also uncertain as to whether section 487 was intended to apply to 16 attempted deceits. 17 In our view, New York law is Of course, the district court did not have the 18 authority to certify the questions to the New York Court of 19 Appeals, and it was therefore obligated to make a prediction as 20 to what New York courts would hold under these circumstances. 21 See Indus. Risk Insurers v. Port Auth., 493 F.3d 283, 285 n.1 (2d 22 Cir. 2007). 23 We do have that authority. "Where unsettled and significant questions of state law 24 will control the outcome of a case, we may certify those 25 questions to the New York Court of Appeals." 26 Organ Donor Network, Inc., 438 F.3d 214, 229 (2d Cir. 2006) 18 Colavito v. N.Y. 1 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). 2 is discretionary on our part as the certifying court, and the New 3 York Court of Appeals, as the recipient of our certification, has 4 discretion whether or how to respond. 5 to certify a question we consider: (1) the absence of 6 authoritative state court decisions; (2) the importance of the 7 issue to the state; and (3) the capacity of certification to 8 resolve the litigation." 9 693, 698 (2d Cir. 2007). 10 11 12 Id. Certification "In deciding whether O'Mara v. Town of Wappinger, 485 F.3d We conclude that the questions that follow are appropriate for certification. First, no New York court has, to the best of our 13 knowledge, addressed the question of whether an attempted deceit 14 can form the basis for liability under section 487 or proximately 15 cause damages. 16 to deter attorney misconduct in connection with litigation is an 17 important issue for the New York courts. 18 would resolve this litigation. 19 district court's judgment in its entirety if the New York Court 20 of Appeals determines that section 487 permits the award of 21 treble damages for an attempted deceit of the New York courts. 22 But we would need to remand for the district court to recalculate 23 damages if the Court of Appeals reads the statute otherwise. 24 25 Second, it appears to us that the question of how Finally, certification We would almost surely affirm the We therefore certify the following questions to the New York Court of Appeals: 19 1 (1) Can a successful lawsuit for treble damages brought 2 under N.Y. Jud. Law § 487 be based on an attempted but 3 unsuccessful deceit upon a court by the defendant? 4 (2) In the course of such a lawsuit, may the costs of 5 defending litigation instituted by a complaint containing a 6 material misrepresentation of fact be treated as the proximate 7 result of the misrepresentation if the court upon which the 8 deceit was attempted at no time acted on the belief that the 9 misrepresentation was true? 10 We leave it to the New York Court of Appeals, as 11 always, to alter or expand on these questions if and as it sees 12 fit. See id. at 699. 13 IV. Conclusion 14 It is hereby ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court 15 transmit to the Clerk of the New York Court of Appeals a 16 Certificate in the form attached, together with a copy of this 17 opinion and a complete set of the briefs, appendices, and record 18 filed by the parties in this Court. 19 jurisdiction to decide the case once we have had the benefit of 20 the views of the New York Court of Appeals, or once that court 21 declines certification. 22 fees and costs that may be requested by the New York Court of 23 Appeals. This panel will retain We order the parties to bear equally any 20
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
