Alex Banzhaf obtained summary judgment on multiple claims in a litigation pending in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia. The case involved a complex property transaction in which our client bought a property from a seller, but also acquired a small portion of the neighboring property to create one larger parcel with by-right zoning to develop. The neighboring property belongs to a well-known church in Philadelphia. Part of the deal involved $4 million held in escrow, and the church and the seller disputed which party was entitled those escrowed funds.
The church filed a lawsuit against the seller for the $4 million, but also alleged that our client breached an easement agreement; breached the escrow agreement; and was responsible for all of the church’s legal fees incurred in prosecuting the case for the $4 million in escrow (even though our client had no claim to those funds). The Court agreed with Tuttle Yick’s arguments and granted partial summary judgment to our client dismissing the church’s claim for legal fees for the entire case, as well as its claims under the easement and escrow agreements.