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NY3: NY law requires written assignment for defense counsel to collect bail proceeds under fee agreement

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Without written proof of an assignment to the law firm, defense counsel could not collect the funds posted as bail at the conclusion of the case. Without the assignment, statute required return of the funds to the person who posted it. Shields v Carbone, 2010 NY Slip Op 8661, 2010 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8761 (3d Dept. November 24, 2010): Supreme Court erred in ordering plaintiff to release bail proceeds directly to O & A [the law firm]. By statute, when bail is exonerated, it "shall ... be refunded to the person who originally deposited such money," less statutory fees (General Municipal Law § 99-m [1]; see Balter v County of Wyoming, 70 AD2d 1051, 417 N.Y.S.2d 555 [1979]). While a person who posts bail can assign the right to receive the bail proceeds, O & A did not provide proof of a perfected transaction between Carbone and O & A through which Carbone intended to vest in O & A a present right to his bail proceeds (cf...continue to full post

Full post as published by Law Of Criminal Defense on November 28, 2010 (boomark / email).