It's never pretty when litigation between family members ensues; passions and tensions run high, and it's very challenging to keep the parties grounded, and aligned towards rational business decisions that will enable them to move forward with their lives. In this case, we were brought in to defend a mother who was sued by her son, who claimed she had defrauded and breached her fiduciary duties to him, and as a result seeking significant monetary damages, including the turnover of over $1 million in assets.
In response to the complaint, we filed a motion to dismiss the complaint right out of the gate, pursuant to Civil Practice Law and Rule ("CPLR") 3211, pointing out that even assuming the plaintiff's allegations were true (which the Court is obligated to do on a motion to dismiss the complaint), his claims were both time-barred (i.e., the statute of limitations on those particular claims had already expired by the time the complaint was filed), and, in any event, were demonstrably false based on documents having to do with the administration of his deceased father's will and estate.
Following receipt of our motion - and before the Court had rendered its decision on the motion to dismiss - the plaintiff reached out to us, and we were able to resolve this claim for $10,000 - less than the amount it would have cost our client to continue litigating the action. This is what is also known in the legal industry as a settlement for the "cost of defense."
