Appeal from a judgment of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County (Johnny Lee Baynes, J.), entered July 6, 2011. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $1,191.

ORDERED that the judgment is reversed, without costs, and the matter is remitted to the Civil Court for a new trial.

Plaintiff law firm commenced this small claims action against defendant, a former client, to recover the sum of $1,191, representing "nonpayment for legal services rendered on 12-09-2009." At a nonjury trial, plaintiff claimed that it had been awarded that sum after a fee dispute arbitration hearing had been held pursuant to Rules of the Chief Administrator (22 NYCRR) part 137, which governs the fee dispute resolution program. Defendant claimed that she had been unaware of the arbitration proceeding and the award. Following a nonjury trial, the Civil Court, without explanation, ruled in favor of plaintiff. A judgment in the principal sum of $1,191 was entered, from which defendant appeals.

At oral argument of the appeal, plaintiff conceded that defendant had not consented to the arbitration and thus, in effect, that the arbitration and subsequent award were nullities. Although, at trial, documentary evidence, including the arbitration award, was submitted to the Civil Court, [*2]we cannot determine from the record whether the judgment was based solely upon the arbitration award or if it was based upon the underlying merits of the cause of action seeking to recover legal fees. As we are unable to conclude from the record whether substantial justice has been done between the parties according to the rules and principles of substantive law (see CCA 1807), a new trial is required.

Accordingly, the judgment is reversed and the matter is remitted to the Civil Court for a new trial.

Pesce, P.J., Weston and Rios, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: November 29, 2013