Gluck v. NorthStar Contracting Group, Inc.
- Sarah Cave
- 1:21-cv-02038
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Gluck v. NorthStar Contracting Group, Judge Cave approved a $5.5 million settlement and fees, while denying partial summary judgment as moot.
Yvette Gluck and the estate of Tamar Rhode would receive the settlement under the parties’ agreement; Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss LLP would receive the approved attorneys’ fees and costs; Anthony M. Sandelli and Northstar Contracting Group, Inc. would resolve the action through the approved settlement.
What happened
In Gluck v. NorthStar Contracting Group, Yvette Gluck sued Anthony M. Sandelli and Northstar Contracting Group, Inc., individually and as administrator of her sister Tamar Rhode’s estate. The case arose from a February 6, 2021 accident in which a dump truck driven by Sandelli struck and killed Rhode in Times Square.
The parties proposed settling the wrongful-death action for $5.5 million. The settlement provided for Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss LLP to receive $1,833,333.33 in attorneys’ fees and $15,384.05 in costs. The court reviewed the proposed settlement, the investigation and discovery, and the circumstances of the negotiations.
Judge Cave granted the motion, approving the settlement and the attorneys’ fees and costs as fair, reasonable, and adequate. She directed the parties to file a stipulation dismissing the action with prejudice by May 23, 2022, and denied Gluck’s motion for partial summary judgment against Sandelli as moot.
The detailed version
- Gluck v. NorthStar Contracting Group, Inc. · No. 1:21-cv-02038
- Sarah Cave
- May 16, 2022
Background
Yvette Gluck brought this wrongful-death action individually and as administrator of the estate of her deceased sister, Tamar Rhode. The claims arose from a February 6, 2021 accident in which a dump truck driven by Anthony M. Sandelli, an employee of Northstar Contracting Group, Inc., struck and killed Rhode in Times Square.
Gluck retained Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss LLP to investigate and bring the action. She also retained a Maryland law firm to assist with opening and administering Rhode’s estate and distributing its assets. The Register of Wills for Montgomery County, Maryland, issued Gluck Letters of Administration on February 22, 2021.
Settlement approval
The defendants, through their insurance carriers, offered $5,500,000 to settle the action in full, and Gluck intended to accept. Under the Southern District of New York’s local rules and New York law, the court had to review the wrongful-death settlement and approve the attorneys’ fees and other expenses.
The court found the proposed settlement fair, reasonable, and adequate. It noted that the settlement followed significant investigation and discovery, including review by experts of the accident and Rhode’s injuries. The court also found no basis to rebut the presumption that the settlement resulted from arm’s-length negotiations by competent counsel. Although the parties did not file the settlement agreement, the court found that the submitted information about the settlement amount, fees, costs, and other material terms was sufficient for its review.
Attorneys’ fees and costs
The settlement provided for a contingency fee of one-third of the gross settlement amount. The court approved $1,833,333.33 in attorneys’ fees, finding that the amount complied with New York law, which treats a percentage not exceeding 33 percent of the recovery in a wrongful-death action as a reasonable fee. The court also approved reimbursement of $15,384.05 in litigation expenses, including service, mailing, court reporting, medical-record copying, and expert-service costs.
Rulings
Judge Sarah L. Cave granted the motion and approved the proposed settlement and award of attorneys’ fees and costs as fair and adequate. The court directed the parties to file a stipulation dismissing the action with prejudice by May 23, 2022. The court also denied Gluck’s motion for partial summary judgment against Sandelli as moot because the parties had settled the action in full. The Clerk was directed to close the docket entries for the partial-summary-judgment motion and the settlement-approval motion.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.