Appeal from a judgment of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County (Genine D. Edwards, J.), entered November 30, 2011. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, dismissed plaintiff's action and awarded defendant Alexander Dranov the principal sum of $1,843 on his counterclaim.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed, without costs.

Plaintiff commenced this small claims action to recover for defendants' alleged breach of contract in their representation of him in a Supreme Court matter. Defendant Alexander Dranov, individually, counterclaimed to recover the unpaid portion of the legal fees which had been incurred during the representation of plaintiff in that underlying matter. After a nonjury trial, the Civil Court dismissed plaintiff's action and awarded defendant Alexander Dranov the principal sum of $1,843 on his counterclaim.

The standard of review on an appeal from a small claims judgment is whether "substantial justice has not been done between the parties according to the rules and principles of substantive law" (CCA 1807). Resolution of issues of credibility is for the trier of fact, as it has [*2]the opportunity to observe and evaluate the testimony and demeanor of the witnesses (see McGuirk v Mugs Pub, 250 AD2d 824 [1998]; Richard's Home Ctr. & Lbr. v Kraft, 199 AD2d 254 [1993]), and the decision of a fact-finding court should not be disturbed upon appeal unless it is obvious that its determination could not be reached under any fair interpretation of the evidence (see Claridge Gardens v Menotti, 160 AD2d 544 [1990]). The deference normally accorded to the credibility determinations of a trial court "applies with greater force" to judgments rendered in the Small Claims Part of the court, given the limited scope of review (see Williams v Roper, 269 AD2d 125, 126 [2000]).

Although plaintiff claimed that defendants had done no work for him in the Supreme Court matter, the Civil Court apparently concluded that the defense version of the facts, i.e., that Mr. Dranov had performed legal work, had made court appearances in the Supreme Court matter, and was owed certain amounts therefor, was more credible than plaintiff's version, and we find no reason to disturb the Civil Court's factual determination in this regard. Accordingly, the judgment dismissing plaintiff's action and awarding defendant Alexander Dranov the principal sum of $1,843 on his counterclaim to recover the unpaid portion of legal fees incurred during the representation of plaintiff is affirmed.

Pesce, P.J., Aliotta and Solomon, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: November 29, 2013