Attachment is a powerful litigation tool that can have the drastic effect of tying up a defendant's assets at the start of a litigation, well before a judgment is entered. Most commonly, the purpose of an attachment is to provide security to the plaintiff. If the plaintiff wins the case, the attached assets may be applied to pay down a money judgment.

Under New York law, attachment is a creature of statute. Its application, and limitations, derive from Article 62 of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR). The first hurdle to obtaining an attachment is found in §6201. This section states that an order of attachment may be granted in any action, other than matrimonial, where the plaintiff seeks a money judgment and at least one of five statutory grounds exists. Of the five grounds listed in §6201, two of the most commonly asserted are (1) the defendant is a nondomiciliary residing without the state, or is a foreign corporation not qualified to do business in the state, and (2) the defendant, with intent to defraud his creditors or frustrate the enforcement of a judgment that might be rendered in plaintiff's favor, has assigned, disposed of, encumbered or secreted property, or removed it from the state or is about to do any of these acts.

Additionally, in order to maintain an attachment, §6212 requires a showing that (a) it is probable that plaintiff will succeed on the merits of a cause of action, and (b) the amount demanded is in excess of all known counterclaims. Moreover, under §6223, a plaintiff has the burden of showing a "need" for the attachment. In other words, the party seeking the attachment "must demonstrate an identifiable risk that the defendant will not be able to satisfy the judgment." VisionChina Media v. S'holder Representative Servs., 109 A.D.3d 49, 60 (1st Dep't 2013). If the attachment is found to be unnecessary to the security of the plaintiff, the attachment will be vacated. CPLR 6223(a).