Client Loses, Attorney Wins: Jury Awards NY Lawyer $5K Per Hour

A lawyer who represented a tenant in a rent-stabilized apartment in New York City for almost three years initially got nothing for his work. Then, soon after attorney Steven DeCastro was fired by his client, Horace Turnbull, the holdout tenant accepted $1.7 million from his landlord to give up the one-bedroom unit, thus allowing a block redevelopment in midtown Manhattan to go forward.

DeCastro's payday finally arrived, however, when a state-court jury awarded him $567,000. His retainer agreement in the contingency-fee case called for a fee of about $573,000, reports the New York Law Journal in an article reprinted by New York Lawyer (reg. req.).

Attorney John Coleman, of Friedberg Cohen Coleman & Pinkas, represents Turnbull and says his client will appeal the fee award. It effectively pays DeCastro at a rate of $5,000 an hour, "which even for attorneys is excessive," Coleman says.