In a Decision – R.T. v. Z.S., (an "Unreported Decision") >> the Court Held:
The Appellate Division reversed the Trial Court decision to provide counsel fees to a successful Defendant (person charged with committing Domestic Violence)
On appeal, the court reversed the trial court's order, finding that the trial court awarded defendant counsel fees as a frivolous litigation sanction even though defendant's counsel did not comply with the "safe-harbor" provisions under court rules and filed the motion for counsel fees well out of time. In addition, the court noted that the trial court's award of counsel fees to a prevailing PDVA defendant failed to acknowledge case law warning about the potential chilling effect on domestic violence victims by enabling a defendant in a PDVA action to seek counsel fees.