| Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard, P.A. vBrown |
| 2013 NY Slip Op 06088 [109 AD3d 764] |
| September 26, 2013 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard, P.A.,Appellant, v Chris Brown, Respondent et al.,Defendants. |
—[*1] Venturini & Associates, New York (Valerie L. Hooker of counsel), forrespondent.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Marcy S. Friedman, J.), entered July 19,2012, which granted the motion of individual defendants Chris Brown, Julio Marquezand Javier Saade to dismiss the complaint as against them, unanimously affirmed,without costs.
In this action to recover legal fees for services rendered to the corporate defendant,the motion court properly dismissed the fraudulent inducement cause of action assertedagainst the individual defendants. Plaintiff law firm claims that the individual defendantsinduced it to provide legal services by falsely promising to pay for past services renderedas well as future services to be provided in connection with an action that was pending infederal court. This alleged promise is not collateral to the contract for legal servicesentered into between plaintiff and the corporate defendant. Rather, the promise concernsthe corporate defendant's performance of the contract itself. Accordingly, the fraud claimagainst the individual defendants is duplicative of the breach of contract claim assertedagainst the corporation (seeFairway Prime Estate Mgt., LLC v First Am. Intl. Bank, 99 AD3d 554, 557 [1stDept 2012]). Plaintiff does not [*2]contend that theindividual defendants were parties to the legal services contract.
We have considered plaintiff's remaining arguments and find them unavailing.Concur—Sweeny, J.P., DeGrasse, Manzanet-Daniels and Clark, JJ.