On March 16, 2026, Justice d’Auguste of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in McLaughlin & Stern, LLP v. Rocketstar, Inc., 2026 NY Slip Op. 30988(U), holding that when a defendant directed opposing counsel to communicate with defendant’s counsel, opposing counsel did not err in sending notice of client’s rights to its counsel, explaining:
The only assertion that warrants an additional discussion is defendants’ contention that MS failed to properly serve defendants with a Notice of Client’s Rights to Fee Arbitration due to delivery of the notice to defendants’ attorney, Michael Ledley, Esq., rather than directly to defendants. On January 31, 2025, Donald Pearce sent defendants an email attaching a letter demanding payment for the outstanding debt. On February 6, 2025, Craddock sent a responsive email stating: “Please direct all communications to Michael Ledley, counsel for Rocketstar. He has been cc’d on this e-mail.” Thereafter, Pearce directly emailed Ledley, who confirmed that he was representing defendants. NYSCEF Doc. No. 46. In conformance with defendants’ directive to communicate with their counsel and Pearce’s ethical obligations under 22 NYCRR 1200.33(a), Pearce sent a Notice of Client’s Right to Arbitrate and Client Request for Fee Arbitration to Ledley via email and certified first class mail return receipt requested. Notably, Pearce communicated this to defendants’ current counsel, Marc Elliot, Esq. Given the foregoing, MS complied with 22 NYCRR 137.6 by giving notice in the manner requested by defendants and consistent with the ethical obligations of plaintiff’s counsel. None of the cases relied upon by defendants support a different result.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).