Thompson v. Chemical Bank

In this proceeding pursuant to section 217-a of the Judiciary Law, we are faced with the question of whether a bank, through its salaried in-house counsel, may recover a judgment for attorney’s fees as provided for in its consumer loan agreements in the event that the bank is forced to institute suit to collect an unpaid loan from a defaulting debtor.

The parties agree that section 108 of the Banking Law provides the answer. The pertinent provisions of section 108 are subdivisions 4 (par [c], cl [iii]) and 5 (par [e], cl [iii]). They *723are almost identical and provide as follows: "The maximum…