ONE COURT'S PERSPECTIVE ON ATTORNEY FEE APPLICATION

This decision, in part, reminds me of the old joke of the plumber and the lawyer: "A pipe bursts in a lawyer’s house, so he calls a plumber. The plumber arrives, unpacks his tools, does mysterious plumber-type things for a while, and hands the lawyer a bill for $600. The lawyer exclaims, “This is ridiculous! I don’t even make that much as a lawyer!” The plumber replies sympathetically, “Neither did I when I was a lawyer.”"

Cruz v. SEWARD PARK HOUS. CORP., 2018 NY Slip Op 31598 - NY: Supreme Court July 6, 2018:

"That a law firm is asking for the staggering sum of $464,164 to have prevailed upon a court to dismiss as untimely a relatively straightforward CPLR Article 78 Petition commenced by several middle-class tenants responsible for attorney's fees is shocking and disturbing, highway robbery without the six-gun. Society cannot devote such huge resources to such a simple court proceeding (which, after all, accomplished nothing) and survive, much less prosper. Such an outrageous figure sounds like a typographical error or an April Fool's joke; if it is not, it merits "fee shaming," public humiliation, and possible sanctions. For such egregious overreaching, a court could, and maybe should, award nothing. After all, these days, that same $464,164 (incidentally, significantly more than twice the $208,000 annual salary of a New York State Supreme Court Justice; 223% to be exact) could buy you a one-bedroom co-op apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, at First Avenue and 72nd Street, a stone's throw from the new Second Avenue Subway Line, with a 24-hour doorperson, live-in resident manager, concierge, laundry room, and on-site parking garage (a particularly nice amenity!). If you are bargain-hunting, $400,000 could buy you a one-bedroom co-op apartment in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, near the old "R" Subway Line, with a live-in super, washer-dryer, high ceilings, and almost 1,000 square feet. If you are tired of apartment living, but still want a short commute, $450,000 could buy you, free and clear (no mortgage, same as the apartments), your very own private house in suburban Elmont, Nassau County, just over the Queens border, with more than 1,200 square feet of indoor space, four bedrooms, three baths, a finished basement, updated kitchen, and a "great" backyard (emphasis in the original). The point being that we are not talking mere Monopoly money here!"