In early April 2020, the First Department affirmed the dismissal of a complaint by a Russian lawyer who had received an L.L.M. from Fordham University alleging “civil conspiracy” against Fordham and several American attorneys, reasoning that New York does not recognize a stand-alone claim of civil conspiracy.

The First Department explained that “New York does not recognize an independent cause of action for civil conspiracy, which may only be asserted to connect actions of separate defendants to an underlying tort.”  Put another way, if a complaint alleges some other cognizable cause of action, the plaintiff may assert a claim of civil conspiracy in order to connect multiple defendants to the same tort, but civil conspiracy cannot stand on its own as an independent cause of action.

While the opinion was short and contained little detail about the underlying complaint, it noted that plaintiff alleged “bare, conclusory allegations” that the defendants conspired to: defraud plaintiff, breach a retainer agreement with a non-party to the appeal, breach a fiduciary duty, and intentionally inflict emotional distress upon him.

The First Department’s holding reaffirms longstanding Court of Appeals precedent on this issue.  Alexander & Alexander of New York, Inc. v. Fritzen, 68 N.Y.2d 968 (1986).

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Photo of Julia M. Ansanelli Julia M. Ansanelli

Julia Ansanelli is an associate in the Litigation Department and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense & Investigations, Securities Litigation, and Asset Management Litigation Practice Groups.  She has worked extensively defending clients facing criminal and regulatory investigations by the Securities and…

Julia Ansanelli is an associate in the Litigation Department and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense & Investigations, Securities Litigation, and Asset Management Litigation Practice Groups.  She has worked extensively defending clients facing criminal and regulatory investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Federal Trade Commission.  She is also a member of the litigation team that represents the Financial Oversight and Management Board in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy proceedings.  Julia has experience with various stages of complex commercial litigation, both in federal and state courts.

Julia maintains an active pro bono practice, with an emphasis on immigration law, and in particular, special immigrant juvenile status.  In recognition of her pro bono efforts, Julia received a Proskauer Golden Gavel award in 2018 in connection with an amicus brief she helped prepare in support of a class of thousands of immigrant youth that had been denied special immigrant juvenile status in New York based on a then-new USCIS policy.  The class of immigrant youth were ultimately successful when the Southern District of New York judge agreed that the USCIS policy violated federal immigration law.

During law school, she served as Case Note Editor of the Touro Law Review, in which she published two case notes of her own, and Vice President of Touro’s Latin American Law School Association. Julia also interned for the Honorable Magistrate Kathleen Tomlinson in the Eastern District of New York.

Julia is a frequent contributor to Proskauer’s Minding Your Business and Capital Commitment blogs.  She has also been recognized as a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” from 2020-2023.