Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman LLP, Respondent-Appellant, v Tahari, Ltd., Appellant-Respondent. (And a Third-Party Action.) Index 604183/04, 590613/05, 35 A.D.3d 317

Summary

The appellate court found that the tenant had standing to commence a trespass action against the holdover subtenant based on its right to immediate possession of the subject office space, as determined in a prior ejectment action against the subtenant. Since the parties' rights to possession had already been determined, it was not necessary that the tenant be in actual possession. The building owner was not a necessary party whose rights could be inequitably affected by a judgment in the main action. The causation element of tortious interference was sufficiently pleaded. The motion court's finding that the owner's commencement of a holdover proceeding precluded a finding of causation was incorrect where the trespass had already been committed and the proceeding was merely an effort at mitigating or remedying the owner's breach of its agreement to lease the space to tenant. All of the subtenant's affirmative defenses should have been dismissed, inter alia, as conclusory, not legal ...