Acting on its own initiative, the Appellate Division, 1st Department, has sanctioned a Manhattan litigator and his client for pursuing an "entirely frivolous" appeal.
In a dispute over the failed negotiations to purchase a Soho building, Matthew Hearle of Goldberg Weprin & Ustin and his client Yenom Corp. had already been sanctioned nearly $35,000 by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Karen S. Smith.
Thursday's appellate decision, Yenom Corp. v. 155 Wooster Street Inc., 108563/04, could add additional costs and attorney fees in excess of $70,000.
The underlying action stemmed from Yenom's unsuccessful efforts to buy a corporation whose sole asset was an eight-story, mixed-use building on the corner of Wooster and Houston streets.