DR. SIDNEY SCHREIBER, ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF PEARL SIMON, DECEASED, APPELLANT.
v.
ALFRED PALMER, APPELLEE
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Court reversed and reduced attorney's fees award from $18,000 to $9,375 for estate administration services, finding the fee excessive under Florida Statutes § 733.617 where the estate was simple with readily identifiable assets and sole survivor.
An attorney's fee of $18,000 for administering a simple $77,500 cash estate is excessive and must be reduced to $9,375 based on a reasonable estimate of 75 hours at $125 per hour.
[1] An attorney's fee for estate administration must be reasonable under Florida Statutes § 733.617, and fees based on inflated hours for simple, straightforward estate work…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“There was nothing complex about the case, as admitted, which an attorney, even one inexperienced in the subject matter, could not have concluded in one-half the 150 hours appellee claims were required.”
Court's analysis of whether the claimed hours were reasonable for the straightforward estate administration
The estate of Pearl Simon consisted entirely of $77,500 in cash; the deceased's sole survivor's name, address, and bank books were found among persona…
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PER CURIAM.
This case was previously before us to review an award of attorney’s fees to appel-lee for services rendered as curator, personal representative and attorney to the estate of the deceased, In re Estate of Morris Simon, 402 So. 2d 26 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981), wherein we reversed the $25,000 fee as being excessive and remanded for further consistent proceedings. On remand, a successor judge without reviewing the record, awarded a fee of $18,000.
It is unnecessary to again set out the facts. On our consideration of the record, and an application of Section 733.617, Florida Statutes (1979) (the attorney fees statute), a fee of $18,000 is still excessive. The assets of the estate consist entirely of cash totalling $77,500; the name and address of the deceased’s sole survivor was among his personal effects along with two bank books accounting for all of the assets. When a letter was finally sent to the survivor-widow, a response was received from her attorney, which led to discovery of all the information needed to close the estate. There was nothing complex about the case, as admitted, which an attorney, even one inexperienced in the subject matter, could not have concluded in one-half the 150 hours appellee claims were required.
A very generous fee is determined by allowing for 75 hours of labor, including that of the nonlawyer assistant, compensated for at $125 per hour — -the hourly rate that appellee charges for routine legal work.
We reverse and remand with instructions to reduce the fee award to $9,375 and to forthwith return to the estate the excessive amounts which have already been paid.
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Miller v. First Am. Bank & Tr., 607 So. 2d 483 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)…multiple evils of exaggeration, duplication, and invention. Mercy Hosp., Inc. v. Johnson, 431 So. 2d 687 (Fla. 3d DCA), pet. for review denied, 441 So. 2d 632 (Fla.1983); In re Estate of Simon, 402 So. 2d 26 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981), appeal after remand, 427 So. 2d 235 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983); see also Browne v. Costales, 579 So. 2d 161 (Fla. 3d DCA) (abuse of “unit billing”), rev. denied, 593 So. 2d 1051 (Fla.1991). Nor are we precluded from reaching this result by the fact that, under Applegate, we must presume that…1 / 3
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Dalia v. Alvarez, 605 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)…s of the foregoing we conclude that there was nothing complex about the case that an experienced attorney could not have handled in one-half the time claimed. See R.H. Coody & Assocs., Inc. v. Shelton, 352 So. 2d 852 (Fla.1977); Schreiber v. Palmer, 427 So. 2d 235 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983); Guthrie v. Guthrie, 357 So. 2d 247 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978). Accordingly, we reverse and remand with instructions to award appellate fees in an amount not to exceed $5,000. .We observe that this case was previously before the court…
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Zelman v. Metro. Dade Cnty., 645 So. 2d 57 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)…lves understood, we decline to require still another hearing on the issue in the court below. Rather, as we are authorized, particularly in the present unusual situation, cf. Dalia v. Alvarez, 605 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992); Schreiber v. Palmer, 427 So. 2d 235 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983); Dade County v. Oolite Rock Co., 348 So. 2d 902 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977), cert. denied, 358 So. 2d 133 (Fla.1978), we hereby ourselves determine that Zelman shall be awarded $100.00 per hour for out-of-court services and $125.00 per hou…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- In re The Est. OF Morris Simon v. Palmer, 402 So. 2d 26 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)