PARAMOUNT COMM. v. HORSEHEAD INDUSTRIES

We are in accord with McGuire v. Russell Miller, Inc. ( 1 F.3d 1306, 1313 [2d Cir]) insofar as it holds that when a contract provides for an award of attorneys' fees, there is no right to a jury trial on the issue of the reasonable value of such fees. The amount of, if not the right to, attorneys' fees raises post-judgment issues collateral to the merits in the nature of an accounting that are essentially equitable in nature (see, id., at 1315-1316; cf., Kaplan v. Long Is. Univ., 116 A.D.2d 508, 509). The foregoing is not to be understood to hold that there is no right to a jury trial on the issue of the reasonable value of an attorney's fees in an action by an attorney against a former client to recover fees (see, id., at 1313; Livingston v. Blumenthal, 248 App. Div. 138).

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.