WALTER EDWARD WHITNEY, APPELLANT,
v.
DRUE LESLYE WHITNEY, APPELLEE
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Walter Whitney appeals an award of $14,200 in attorney's fees to his ex-wife in a child support modification proceeding. The Third District Court of Appeal reversed and remanded, finding the trial court abused its discretion by awarding excessive hours for a straightforward, single-issue case that an experienced attorney could have handled in half the time claimed.
The trial court abused its discretion in determining the amount of attorney's fees. The court must consider the reasonableness of both the hourly rate and the number of hours expended, accounting for the nature and complexity of the services. An experienced attorney could have handled this routine, single-issue modification case in approximately half the time claimed.
[1] A trial court abuses its discretion in awarding attorney's fees when it fails to consider the reasonableness of the number of hours counsel engaged in performing services…
[2] When reviewing an award of attorney's fees, an appellate court should consider the complexity of issues, the nature of responsibility undertaken, services required, and t…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“In deciding upon amounts to be awarded as attorney's fees, a trial court must consider not only the reasonableness of the fees charged but the appropriateness of the number of hours counsel engaged in performing his services as well. The court should review the nature of the services rendered and the necessity for their performance, along with the reasonableness of the charges.”
Establishes the standard for reviewing attorney's fee awards, requiring consideration of both hourly rate reasonableness and number of hours worked
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWalter and Drue Whitney divorced in 1989 with a marital settlement agreement providing for $2,000 monthly child support. In 1991, Walter sought a down…
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PER CURIAM.
Walter Edward Whitney appeals from an order awarding his former wife attorney’s fees in a post dissolution modification proceeding. For the following reasons, we reverse and remand.
The parties were divorced in 1989 following a six-year marriage; they have two minor children. The Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage incorporated a marital settlement agreement that provided for child support of $2,000 per month. In September, 1991, the former husband sought a downward modification of his child support obligations on the basis of a substantial change in circumstances. Although the husband had been a partner in the accounting firm of Peat, Marwick when the dissolution was entered, he lost that job and took a position with another employer at a substantially lower salary. The trial court denied the husband’s petition; this court reversed. Whitney v. Whitney, 624 So. 2d 275 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993). The wife sought fees in the trial court and was awarded $14,200 for 71 hours of work at $200 per hour. The trial court abused its discretion in determining the amount of fees to which the wife was entitled.
“In deciding upon amounts to be awarded as attorney’s fees, a trial court must consider not only the reasonableness of the fees charged but the appropriateness of the number of hours counsel engaged in performing his services as well. The court should review the nature of the services rendered and the necessity for their performance, along with the reasonableness of the charges.”
Mercy Hospital, Inc. v. Johnson, 431 So. 2d 687, 688 (Fla. 3d DCA), rev. denied, 441 So. 2d 632 (Fla.1983). See also Valparaiso Bank & Trust Co. v. Sims, 343 So. 2d 967, 972 (Fla. 1st DCA) (when reviewing award of fees, appellate court should consider complexity of issues, nature of responsibility undertaken, services required, and skill and diligence necessary), cert. denied, 353 So. 2d 678 (Fla.1977).
In this single-issue ease, the claim for hours reasonably expended is excessive, and is subject to reduction. See, e.g., Dalia v. Alvarez, 605 So. 2d 1282, 1283 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992). The wife was represented by an experienced competent attorney in routine modification proceedings which involved no novel or complex questions of law or fact. The husband’s petition generated one two-hour deposition, routine document discovery, and one final* hearing. On the basis of the record, “we conclude that there was nothing complex about the case that an experienced attorney could not have handled in one-half the time claimed.” Dalia, 605 So. 2d at 1284.1
We reverse and remand with directions to award fees in an amount not to exceed $7,000.
. Although the hours which the trial court found reasonable were within the range of the experts’ testimony presented at the hearing before the General Master, "[t]he existence of such evidence does not require that we abandon our own expertise, much less our common sense." Miller v. First American Bank & Trust, 607 So. 2d 483 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992).
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State Farm Fla. Ins. Co. v. Alvarez, 175 So. 3d 352 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015)…382 So. 2d 1197, 1203 (Fla.1980) (“The trial court’s discretionary power is subject, only to the test of reasonableness, but that test requires a determination of whether there [*357] is logic and justification for the result.”); Whitney v. Whitney, 638 So. 2d 517, 518 n. 1 (“Although the hours which the trial court found reasonable were within the range of the experts’ testimony presented at the hearing ... ‘[t]he existence of such evidence does not require that we abandon our own expertise, much less our co…1 / 4
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Carlson v. Carlson, 639 So. 2d 1094 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)…, 579 So. 2d 161 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991). Reversed and remanded on cross-appeal for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. GLICKSTEIN and WARNER, JJ., concur. . See Tomaino v. Tomaino, 629 So. 2d 874 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993); Whitney v. Whitney, 638 So. 2d 517 (Fla. 3d 1994); Dralus v. Dralus, 627 So. 2d 505 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993).…
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Romero v. Romero, 971 So. 2d 863 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007)…use a great deal of the efforts expended in response by the former wife’s attorney were wholly unnecessary for which even a vexatious opponent should not have to pay. See Becker v. Becker, 778 So. 2d 438, 439 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001); Whitney v. Whitney, 638 So. 2d 517, 517-18 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994); Ziontz v. Ocean Trail Unit Owners Ass’n, 663 So. 2d 1334, 1335-37 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993); Miller v. First Am. Bank & Trust, 607 So. 2d 483 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992); Dalia v. Alvarez, 605 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992); Mettler v.…
Authorities Cited
- Miller v. First Am. Bank & Tr., 607 So. 2d 483 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
- The Valparaiso Bank & Tr. Co. C. T. A. of the Est. of Coleman L. Kelly v. Sims, 343 So. 2d 967 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977)
- Mercy Hosp., Inc. v. Wyatt Johnson, 431 So. 2d 687 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)
- Dalia v. Alvarez, 605 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
- Whitney v. Drue Leslye Whitney, 624 So. 2d 275 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993)