Where the claim is asserted as to money, the funds must be specifically identifiable and be subject to an obligation to be returned or to be otherwise treated in a specified manner. Here, the defendant-lawyer had put the funds into his IOLA account, which is an unsegregated interest-bearing bank account for an attorney's deposit of qualified funds, pursuant to Judiciary Law § 497. As the account is unsegregated, plaintiff's funds, upon their transfer therein, became commingled with monies that were already in it, rendering them no longer specifically identifiable. Even if the funds were specifically identifiable, the claim is insufficiently pled, as plaintiff did not make a demand for the return of the funds. Dismissed.
SH575 Holdings LLC v. Reliable Abstract Co., L.L.C., NY Slip Op 03427 (1st Dep't June 1, 2021)
