Opinion
No. 2015–1562 K C.
03-24-2017
Wenig SALTIEL, Formerly Known as Wenig Saltiel & Johnson, Appellant, v. Khadija ELGHARFOUI, Driss Elgharfoui and Rachid Elgharfoui, Respondents.
Appeal, on the ground of inadequacy, from a judgment of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County (Ingrid Joseph, J.), entered September 8, 2014. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $1,147.
ORDERED that the judgment is modified by increasing the award in favor of plaintiff to the principal sum of $4,506; as so modified, the judgment is affirmed, without costs.
Plaintiff commenced this small claims action to recover the principal sum of $4,507, based on two accounts stated, arising from defendants' failure to pay legal fees for services rendered by plaintiff with respect to two lawsuits. After a nonjury trial, the Civil Court awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $1,147. Plaintiff appeals on the ground of inadequacy.
In a small claims action, our review is limited to a determination of whether "substantial justice has ... been done between the parties according to the rules and principles of substantive law" ( CCA 1807 ; see CCA 1804 ; Ross v. Friedman, 269 A.D.2d 584 [2000] ; Williams v. Roper, 269 A.D.2d 125, 126 [2000] ). Upon a review of the record, we conclude that substantial justice (see CCA 1804, 1807 ) requires that the award to plaintiff be increased to the principal sum of $4,506. Plaintiff satisfied all the elements of an account stated, and defendants failed to rebut those elements (see Scheichet & Davis v. Steinger, 183 A.D.2d 479 [1992] ). The evidence adduced at trial established that defendants had received a total of $8,329 worth of legal services on the two cases for which they retained plaintiff and that defendants were billed for those services. Moreover, plaintiff demonstrated that defendants received and retained the bills without objection, that defendants made payments totaling $3,823 towards the balance, and that defendants had assured plaintiff that additional payments would be forthcoming, but no such payments were received. Defendants have failed to introduce evidence of any objection to the accounts rendered by plaintiff or to challenge the validity of the accounts.
Accordingly, the judgment is modified by increasing the award in favor of plaintiff to the principal sum of $4,506.
WESTON, J.P., ALIOTTA and ELLIOT, JJ., concur.