The Court of Appeals addresses Judiciary Law 487 questions infrequently, and each of its decisions tends to be broadly transformative. Urias v Daniel P. Buttafuoco & Assoc., PLLC 2024 NY Slip Op 01497 Decided on March 19, 2024 Court of Appeals Halligan, J. is no exception. It harmonizes and simplifies one of the major embellishments that have been woven into the statute over the years, and permits plenary actions for any Judiciary Law 487 claim going forward.

“Judiciary Law § 487 provides that “[a]n attorney or counselor[ ] . . . guilty of any deceit or collusion, . . . with intent to deceive the court or any party[,] . . . forfeits to the party injured treble damages, to be recovered in a civil action.” This appeal presents the question of whether a Judiciary Law § 487 claim may be brought in a plenary civil action where a plaintiff alleges that attorney deceit led to an adverse judgment or order. Given the unique concerns addressed by this statute, we hold that such a plenary action lies. We nevertheless affirm the Appellate Division’s order on alternative grounds.”

“”We begin with the question of whether Judiciary Law § 487 permits a plenary action. We thus turn to the “plain language of the statute” as “the clearest indicator of legislative intent” (Matter of T-Mobile Northeast, LLC v DeBellis, 32 NY3d 594, 607 [2018]). Section 487 provides that:

“An attorney or counselor who:

Is guilty of any deceit or collusion, or consents to any deceit or collusion, with intent to deceive the court or any party; or,

Wilfully delays his client’s suit with a view to his own gain; or, wilfully receives any money or allowance for or on account of any money which he has not laid out, or becomes answerable for,

Is guilty of a misdemeanor, and in addition to the punishment prescribed therefor by the penal law, he forfeits to the party injured treble damages, to be recovered in a civil action.”

This provision is “the modern-day counterpart of a statute dating from the first decades after Magna Carta; its language virtually (and remarkably) unchanged from that of a law adopted by New York’s Legislature two years before the United States Constitution was ratified” (Amalfitano v Rosenberg, 12 NY3d 8, 14 [2009]). Recognizing that “[o]ur legal system depends on the integrity of attorneys who fulfill the role of officers of the court, furthering its truth-seeking function,” the statute creates a cause of action for attorney deceit that is distinct from common law fraud or legal malpractice (Bill Birds, Inc. v Stein Law Firm, P.C., 35 NY3d 173, 178 [2020]). Given the importance of safeguarding the integrity of the judicial system, section 487 allows for both criminal liability and a civil remedy in the form of treble damages (see id. at 179).

We recognize, of course, that common law has long shielded a final judgment from collateral attack in a subsequent action (see e.g. Smith v Lewis, 3 Johns. 157, 168 [NY Sup Ct 1808] [Kent, Ch. J., concurring]; Crouse v McVickar, 207 NY 213, 219 [1912]). Although subsequent actions have been permitted for fraud that is extrinsic to the underlying proceeding (see e.g. Mayor of City of New York v Brady, 115 NY 599, 617 [1889]; United States v Throckmorton, 98 US 61, 68 [1878]), or part of a “larger fraudulent scheme” (Newin Corp. v Hartford Acc. & Indem. Co., 37 NY2d 211, 217 [1975]), the interest in finality of judgments generally constrains a court’s authority to revisit a final judgment in a collateral action (see Crouse, 207 NY at 219). Such a challenge may instead be brought under CPLR 5015, which authorizes “[t]he court which rendered a judgment or order” to “relieve a party from it upon such terms as may be just . . . upon the ground of[,]” among others, “fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party” (CPLR 5015 [a] [3]).”

“We appreciate that it might be more efficient to require a plaintiff who either directly or effectively challenges a judgment to return to the court that issued it and seek vacatur under CPLR 5015, and we note that transfer of a plenary action to the court that handled the underlying proceedings may be desirable where consistent with the CPLR’s venue provisions. Nor do we take lightly the interest in preserving the finality of judgments. But the legislature has singled out the specific type of claim here—an allegation of attorney deceit on the court or a party—and determined that recovery of treble damages should be available in a civil action. We conclude that section 487 must be read to allow a plenary action for deceit, even where success on that claim might undermine a separate final judgment.”