GROZEA v. LAGOUTOVA

Under the terms of the underlying divorce judgment, plaintiff was entitled to take possession of a Mercedes Benz automobile titled in defendant wife's name. When the transfer of title did not occur, plaintiff filed a pro se motion seeking, among other things, monetary sanctions against defendant's guardian and attorney to cover the garage fees and costs of renting a substitute car.

The Rules of the Chief Administrator of the Courts grant the court discretion to impose financial sanctions and/or costs on a party or the party's attorney for engaging in frivolous conduct ( 22 NYCRR 130-1.1 [a], [c] [2]). Unless there is a clear abuse of discretion, we will defer to a trial court regarding a determination on imposing such sanctions ( see Pickens v Castro, 55 AD3d 443). On this record we find no such clear abuse of discretion.