On October 4, 2025, Justice Masley of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Comcast Cable Communications Mgt., LLC v. Entropic Communications, LLC, 2025 NY Slip Op. 33776(U), holding that a plaintiff could seek legal fees as damages because they arose in an earlier action, explaining:
Entropic also argues that the only damages sought by Comcast are attorneys’ fees, and in the absence of a statutory or contract provision allowing their recovery, they are not cognizable. . . .
[T]he issue is not cost shifting; it is whether litigation expenses incurred in another action are recoverable damages.
The general rule is that the legal expenses necessarily incurred in carrying on a lawsuit may not be recovered as general or special damages. There is a well-recognized exception, however, where the damages are the proximate and natural consequence of defendants’ tortious act which requires plaintiff to defend or to bring an action against a third party. In such a case, reasonable attorney’s fees necessarily incurred are considered recoverable.
This narrow exception is often referred to as the tort of wrongful involvement in litigation’ exception, and applies only where the attorneys’ fees and costs were incurred in a litigation prior to that in which the fees are sought as damages. Here, Comcast alleges that the attorney’s fees in defending itself in the California Actions and prosecuting the SDNY are the proximate cause of Entropic’s tortious interference. Thus, this falls within the exception. Accordingly, Entropic’s motion to dismiss is denied.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).