On June 5, 2026, the Fourth Department issued a decision in Broadway Warehouse Co. v. Buffalo Barn Bd., LLC, 2026 NY Slip Op. 03528, holding that a prevailing party was not entitled to fees on fees, explaining:
While plaintiff was properly granted an award of attorney’s fees for legal work undertaken to obtain the judgment in the prior action for unpaid rent owed by defendant, we reject plaintiff’s contention that it is entitled to attorney’s fees for legal work undertaken to collect the attorney’s fees to which it was entitled under the lease. That is to say, plaintiff is not entitled to “fees on fees.” An award of “fees on fees” is allowed only if pursuant to a specific contractual provision or statute. In the absence of unmistakably clear intent regarding the recovery of fees on fees, a right to recover those fees should not be implied. Here, the standard form attorney’s fees provision in the parties’ lease does not authorize plaintiff to collect attorney’s fees expended to collect attorney’s fees due under the lease upon a breach by the tenant.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).