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Gruskin v. Gruskin6/3/2003
finding that plaintiff's unreasonable conduct caused defendant to incur greater expense. The trial court is also in the best position to make this determination. Accordingly, we find that, in light if plaintiff's conduct during the course of the proceedings, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding defendant attorney fees.
We would also note that although this Court previously upheld the trial court's $5,543 sanction of plaintiff for her failure to comply with discovery, the record is replete with instances showing that plaintiff's unreasonable conduct continued after this Court's resolution of the issues on the first appeal. We further note that plaintiff's unreasonable and uncooperative conduct throughout the course of these proceedings was not just limited to her refusal to permit discovery. For example, following the first appeal, plaintiff failed to pay court ordered expenses, such as payments on the home equity loan, refused to cooperate with defendant regarding parenting time with the minor children, and failed to deliver property to defendant pursuant to court orders and the judgment of divorce , each of which caused defendant to file additional motions for orders to compel and show cause plaintiff. Interestingly, defendant testified that many of the motions filed as a result of plaintiff's refusal to cooperate were withdrawn after the issues were resolved by the parties just prior to the hearings on the motions, further evidencing the trial court's conclusion that plaintiff's position unnecessarily caused defendant to incur attorney fees throughout this case. The record further indicates that as of the October 24, 2000, defendant had accumulated over $99,000 in attorney fess and costs. By November 5, 2001, defendant's pre-judgment attorney fees exceeded $180,000. While we recognize that the trial court also previously sanctioned plaintiff by not allowing her to introduce certain evidence at trial, plaintiff's continued dilatory conduct on discovery or other matters prolonged the proceedings more than two years, causing defendant to incur greater expense. Thus, as previously noted, we are unable to conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding defendant attorney fees.
Affirmed.
Christopher M. Murray
Janet T. Neff
Michael J. Talbot
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