Matter of Battin v. Pryor

Matter of Battin v Pryor (2025 NY Slip Op 05034) Matter of Battin v Pryor 2025 NY Slip Op 05034 Decided on September 23, 2025 Appellate Division, First Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports. Decided and Entered: September 23, 2025 Before: Moulton, J.P., Mendez, O'Neill Levy, Michael, Chan, JJ. Index No. 401139/13|Appeal No. 4716|Case No. 2024-07051| [*1]In the Matter of Robert Doar, etc., Petitioner, For the Appointment of a Guardian for C.B, an Incapacitated Person, Dalton Battin, Nonparty-Appellant, v Gregory K. Pryor, Nonparty-Respondent. Dalton Battin, New Rochelle, for appellant, pro se. Smith Buss & Jacobs LLP, New York (Jacqueline Aiello of counsel), for respondent. Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Ta-Tanisha James, J.), entered October 9, 2024, which, insofar appealed from, denied appellant's request for attorneys' fees and costs, unanimously affirmed, without costs. Supreme Court providently exercised its discretion by declining to award counsel fees and costs to appellant, as respondent did not engage in "frivolous conduct" within the meaning of 22 NYCRR 130-1.1(a). The record does not establish that respondent advanced a position that was "completely without merit in law" or undertaken for the purposes of delay, harassment, or malicious injury, nor does it establish that respondent asserted material factual statements that were false (id. at 130-1.1[c]; see Matter of Kover, 134 AD3d 64, 74 [1st Dept 2015]). In view of the foregoing, we need not consider appellant's remaining arguments. THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT. ENTERED: September 23, 2025