 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
In re Estate of Campbell11/29/2005
JUDGMENT: Reversed and Remanded
JUDGES: Hon. Gene Donofrio, Hon. Joseph J. Vukovich, Hon. Mary DeGenaro
{ } Appellants, Attorney W. Chad Kelligher and the law firm of Goldberg, Persky, & White, appeal from a Mahoning County Probate Court judgment determining their respective attorney fees for work done on the Estate of Clinton Campbell and a wrongful death action.
{ } Kelligher is the attorney of record and successor administrator for the Estate of Clinton Campbell. Campbell had no assets at the time of his death. However, he was a plaintiff in litigation regarding his asbestos related injuries. Goldberg-Persky, a Pittsburgh law firm, was the counsel for the asbestos litigation. It received a settlement of $53,954.83 on Campbell's behalf. Kelligher commenced probate proceedings so that the wrongful death settlements could be collected and distributed.
{ } Next, Kelligher filed a motion for approval of attorney fees. Goldberg-Persky also filed a motion for attorney fees and litigation expenses. The probate magistrate approved the requested fees. However, the court significantly reduced the fees for both and completely denied Goldberg-Persky's litigation expenses. Both appellants appealed to this court from that judgment. In re Estate of Campbell, 7th Dist. Nos. 02-CA-186, 02-CA-187, 2003-Ohio-7040. We found that the probate court abused its discretion in reducing both appellants' fees without holding a hearing or providing any reasons for doing so. Therefore, we remanded the case back to the probate court. We further instructed the court to indicate on the record its reasons for why it found the requested fees unreasonable.
{ } After our remand, Kelligher filed a new motion for fee approval modifying his previous request to reflect the work he had performed through December 31, 2003. The magistrate then held a hearing on the issue of attorney fees. Both appellants presented evidence in support of their fees. Kelligher presented the testimony of another probate attorney as an expert on the reasonableness of his services and fees. The magistrate found that the expert's testimony was unpersuasive as it related to the reasonableness of the number of hours Kelligher spent on the case and his hourly rate. He went on to explain that there was no novelty to this case nor any difficult questions involved in it. The magistrate found that Kelligher's six hours of calls to the fiduciary and eight hours of calls to Goldberg-Persky were excessive. He also found that Kelligher's 17.6 hours for services related to the normal estate administration was excessive. Finally, he found that 35.7 hours for work related to the appeal of the probate court's previous judgment was not for the estate's benefit, but for Kelligher's own benefit. Therefore, the magistrate eliminated the hours spent on appellate work, reduced the hours spent on the telephone, reduced the time expended to a "more reasonable" time, and reduced Kelligher's hourly rate to $80 for out-of-court time and $100 for in-court time. Thus, the magistrate recommended Kelligher receive a total of $5,367.20 in fees.
{ } As to Goldberg-Persky, the magistrate stated that Attorney Kelligher's fees should be deducted from Goldberg-Persky's fees. He reasoned that the attorneys from Goldberg-Persky are not licensed to practice in Ohio. Thus, Kelligher was the only Ohio-licensed attorney representing the estate. Furthermore, the magistrate noted that Goldberg-Persky had not objected to local attorney fees being deducted from its litigation fees.
{ } The magistrate concluded that Goldberg-Persky's requested fees of $17,979.17 were reasonable and authorized, minus the $5,367.20 for Kell
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ohio Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|