Appellate Practice Attorney serving New York, NY
Yes, depending on the circumstances. Legal fees are only recoverable if there is a contractual or statutory provision providing for them, and, even on default, there would have to be a hearing (i.e. plaintiff would have to submit evidence and the defendant, even if he/she/it had defaulted in responding to the complaint, would be allowed to cross-examine and probably to introduce evidence as well) to determine the reasonable amount of fees. Although I've never heard of it, theoretically I see no reason why punitive damages can't be recovered on default, but might be assessed after compensatory damages had already been awarded. Again, regardless of default, there would have to be a hearing before punitive damages would be awarded.
Answered on Oct 03rd, 2014 at 9:47 AM