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Campbell v. Bozeman Investors of Duluth8/24/1998
hat the attorney fees on an hourly basis for Hartelius and Morgan would be $110.
33 Campbell contends that there was no evidence presented at the hearing to demonstrate the value of the services Hartelius and Morgan performed, thus the evidence was insufficient to award them any fee. Moreover, she contends that the fee should be based on the reasonable value to her of their services. She argues that, because Hartelius and Morgan did not turn her file over to her after she discharged them, their services did not benefit her in the settlement of her case and that her case was settled mainly on the basis of a report from a doctor with whom Hartelius and Morgan had no involvement.
34 "The amount fixed as attorney fees is largely discretionary with the District Court, and we will not disturb its judgment in the absence of an abuse of that discretion." Talmage v. Gruss (1983), 202 Mont. 410, 412, 658 P.2d 419, 420 (citing Carkeek v. Ayer (1980), 188 Mont. 345, 347, 613 P.2d 1013, 1015). Additionally, we stated in Talmage that the question in determining whether the trial court abused its discretion, is not whether we agree with the trial court, but rather,
did the trial court in the exercise of its discretion act arbitrarily without the employment of conscientious judgment or exceed the bounds of reason, in view of all the circumstances, ignoring recognized principles resulting in substantial injustice.
Talmage, 202 Mont. at 412, 658 P.2d at 420 (quoting Porter v. Porter (1970), 155 Mont. 451, 457, 473 P.2d 538, 541). Moreover, in First Security Bank of Bozeman v. Tholkes (1976), 169 Mont. 422, 429-30, 547 P.2d 1328, 1332, we set forth several guidelines for a trial court to consider in determining the amount to be awarded as reasonable attorney fees:
the amount and character of the services rendered, the labor, time and trouble involved, the character and importance of the litigation in which the services were rendered, the amount of money or the value of property to be affected, the professional skill and experience called for, the character and standing in their profession of the attorneys. . . . The result secured by the services of the attorneys may be considered as an important element in determining their value.
35 We hold that, in the case before us, the District Court did not act arbitrarily, exceed the bounds of reason or ignore recognized principles in determining the amount of attorney fees to be awarded to Hartelius and Morgan. In its Findings of Fact Nos. 27 and 28, the District Court set forth ten specific instances in the record evidencing work performed by Hartelius and Morgan on Campbell's behalf prior to their discharge. The court then applied those facts to the guidelines set forth in Tholkes in determining the amount to be awarded as reasonable attorney fees. Furthermore, contrary to Campbell's contention, the court did not award attorney fees based solely on Hartelius' estimate of the number of hours he worked on the case or for the hours he estimated his paralegal worked on the case. Rather, the court determined that a reasonable fee for Hartelius was $6600. Based on the hourly fee of $110 stipulated to by the parties, the court determined that it was reasonable for Hartelius to have put in 60 hours on Campbell's case.
36 Accordingly, we hold that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney fees to Hartelius in the amount of $6600 and to Morgan in the amount of $2200.
37 Having reached this decision, we are, nonetheless, compelled to address one further troubling aspect of this issue — the failure of Hartelius and Morgan, after their discharge b
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