IN RE: D. M. (2025)

Order, Family Court, New York County (Jonathan H. Shim, J.), entered on or about July 1, 2025, which granted petitioner's motion for an award of counsel fees, and ordered that respondent remit payment of $23,906.45 to petitioner as recoupment for legal fees already paid by petitioner and remit payment of $65,602.98 to petitioner's counsel, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

“An appellate court's resolution of an issue on a prior appeal constitutes the law of the case and is binding on the Supreme Court, as well as on the appellate court ․ [and] operates to foreclose re-examination of the question absent a showing of subsequent evidence or change of law” (Board of Mgrs. of the 25 Charles St. Condominium v. Seligson, 106 A.D.3d 130, 135, 961 N.Y.S.2d 152 [1st Dept. 2013]).  Here, on the father's previous appeal, this Court considered whether, under the parties' circumstances, Family Court had authority pursuant to Family Court Act § 842(f) to award appellate counsel fees to petitioner and determined, among other things, that “Family Court's decision to consider [petitioner's] appellate counsel fees as encompassed by Family Court Act § 842(f) was not in error” (see Matter of D.M. v. B.L.J., 239 A.D.3d 516, 516, 234 N.Y.S.3d 79 [1st Dept. 2025]).  This determination is binding here (see Board of Mgrs. of the 25 Charles St. Condominium, 106 A.D.3d at 135, 961 N.Y.S.2d 152), and respondent “sets forth no convincing reason why this Court should depart from stare decisis” (Natixis Real Estate Capital Trust 2007–HE2 v. Natixis Real Estate Holdings, LLC, 149 A.D.3d 127, 135, 50 N.Y.S.3d 13 [1st Dept. 2017]).  Furthermore, the award of counsel fees was a provident exercise of the court's discretion (see Matter of Christy v. Christy, 182 A.D.3d 596, 596, 120 N.Y.S.3d 805 [2d Dept. 2020]).

Motion pursuant to CPLR 5519(c) for a discretionary stay of the appealed order, denied.