In a prior column for Outside Counsel, 1 I addressed the issue of the Matrimonial rules set forth at 22 NYCRR 1400, et seq. While that article primarily focused upon the potential pitfalls in recovering counsel fees from one’s own client, it also touched upon the perils faced by counsel in the recovery of counsel fees from the adverse spouse when he or she has not substantially complied with the rules with his or her own client.
In what appeared at that time to be a case of first comment on that issue, the Appellate Division, Second Department, in Wagman v Wagman, 2 reversed the lower court’s award of counsel fees where the attorney who sought the award, on behalf of his client, failed to file the retainer agreement or to bill at least once every 60 days.
