Ellen Gelobter, plaintiff-appellant-respondent, v Aryeh Fox, etc., et al., defendants, Alisa Schiff, etc., et al., respondents, Michael Gross, etc., respondent- appellant;  G. Alexander Novak, nonparty-appellant- respondent. v. << (2011)

Argued—November 7, 2011

DECISION & ORDER

In an action, inter alia, to recover damages for legal malpractice, the plaintiff and the nonparty, G. Alexander Novak, appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Marber, J.), dated January 6, 2011, which, upon stated portions of an order of the same court entered May 6, 2010, awarded costs in the form of attorney fees in the sums of $15,000 to the defendant Michael Gross, $7,500 to L'Abbate, Balkin, Colavita & Contini, and $2,500 to the defendant Jared W. Beschel, payable by the nonparty G. Alexander Novak, and directed G. Alexander Novak to pay the sum of $500 to the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection as a sanction, and the defendant Michael Gross cross-appeals from so much of the same order as awarded him the sum of only $15,000.

ORDERED that the appeal and the cross appeal are dismissed, with one bill of costs to the payable by the respondent-appellant and the respondents appearing separately and filing separate briefs.

The appeal by the plaintiff must be dismissed, as she is not aggrieved by the order (see CPLR 5511).   The appeal by the nonparty G. Alexander Novak and the cross appeal must be dismissed as academic in light of our determination in Gelobter v. Fox (_AD3d_, Appellate Division Docket No. 2010–05745 [decided herewith] ), in which the order before us on this appeal and cross appeal is being vacated.

We decline Gross's request for the imposition of sanctions against the plaintiff and her attorneys pursuant to 22 NYCRR 130–1.1 in connection with this appeal and cross appeal.

SKELOS, J.P., BALKIN, ENG and SGROI, JJ., concur.

ENTER:

Aprilanne Agostino

Clerk of the Court