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Kelley Jasons Secures Unanimous Appellate Affirmance of Dismissal in New York Indemnification Action

September 2026
 

Kelley Jasons McGowan Spinelli Hanna & Reber LLP recently secured a unanimous appellate victory on behalf of its client, before the New York Appellate Division, First Department.

The appeal arose from a September 2024 decision of the New York County Supreme Court granting Kelley Jasons’ motion to dismiss common-law indemnification claims asserted against our client. The underlying action concerned the alleged failure to timely record a mortgage, which resulted in the loss of the mortgage’s first-priority position. A guarantor of the title abstract company responsible for recording the mortgage subsequently commenced a third-party action seeking common-law indemnification from our client, alleging that our client had been retained by the title abstract company to record the mortgage.

Kelley Jasons argued that the indemnification claim failed as a matter of law because the guarantor could not establish the relationship necessary to support a common-law indemnification claim against our client.

On August 27, 2026, the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously affirmed the dismissal. The Court explained that while a contractual relationship between an indemnitee and proposed indemnitor is not necessarily required, a common-law indemnification claim must nevertheless arise from either liability imposed by operation of law or an existing relationship between the indemnitor and indemnitee giving rise to a separate duty. Applying that framework, the First Department held that the allegations failed to establish the type of direct relationship between the guarantor and our client which would be necessary to sustain a common-law indemnification claim. Accordingly, the Court unanimously affirmed dismissal of the third-party complaint against our client.

The appeal was briefed and argued by Kelley Jasons Partner, Lee Schneider.

The decision is reported as Fid. Natl. Tit. Ins. Co. v. Sky Abstract Corp., 2026 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5348 (1st Dep’t 2026).