In Sweeney, Cohn, Stahl & Vaccaro v. Kane (6 AD3d 72 [2d Dept 2004]) Amy Kane and her husband George Kane incorporated the defendant Gin Properties, Inc., as a subchapter S corporation in Florida in June 1994. The Kanes entered into a contract to buy a house located at 73 Gin Lane in Southampton, New York. After title closed, Gin Properties, Inc. became the owner of 73 Gin Lane, the principal residence of the Kanes. Thereafter, the plaintiff law firm, on behalf of Mrs. Kane, negotiated a settlement between Mrs. Kane and her prior law firm in October 1994 in connection with an action in Surrogate's Court, wherein she agreed to pay $ 13,000 in full discharge of her fee obligation to the prior law firm. When Amy Kane failed to pay the $ 13,000 attorney's fee in accordance with the stipulation, her prior law firm obtained a judgment dated March 8, 1995, for that amount. Shortly thereafter, the plaintiff law firm sued Amy Kane for the balance due on its retainer, and obtained a judgment on February 28, 1996 against Amy Kane for $ 5,049.93. During the course of their efforts, both law firms discovered Gin Properties, Inc. The plaintiffs commenced the action on the theory that Gin Properties, Inc. was the alter ego of the Kane defendants and that its property should be sold to pay the plaintiffs' judgments. The Court found that the Kanes "utterly dominated Gin Properties, Inc., and they formed it to protect assets from claims of creditors such as the plaintiffs, thereby, in effect, defrauding them." They paid the real property taxes and mortgage principal and interest for 73 Gin Lane, in which they reside, took income tax deductions on their own tax returns for the interest and taxes. They were in complete control of the real property, improved it with their own funds, including the addition of a home entertainment theater and putting green. Although expenses for these purposes and for the Kanes' family, such as college expenses, were paid by corporate checks, these were fed by loans made by the Kanes to Gin Properties, Inc. Such domination makes Gin Properties, Inc. (named for the road on which their Suffolk County home is located), an alter ego of the Kane defendants. Therefore, its property is subject to the claims of their creditors. Piercing the corporate veil is an equitable concept that allows a creditor to disregard a corporation and hold its controlling shareholders personally liable for the corporate debt. Reverse-piercing flows in the opposite direction and makes the corporation liable for the debt of the shareholders. The Court further found that since "George Kane . . . was a driving force behind the scheme to avoid Amy Kane's creditors, and he benefitted as much as she did from using the corporate form for personal purposes, gaining income tax and habitat advantages, the conclusion is ineluctable that the Kanes were acting in concert."