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In re Estate of Campbell11/29/2005
8,122.22 - $4,105.50). As noted above, the probate court found he was entitled to only $5,367.20.
{ } At the fee hearing, Kelligher testified and also presented an expert witness. No other evidence was presented.
{ } Kelligher stated that he has acted as successor administrator and counsel for the estate since 1998. (Tr. 10). He stated that he submitted a chronological log of his services with his fee applications. (Tr. 10). Kelligher testified that he was requesting $115 per hour for his services, which he believed to be a reasonable fee for similar services in Mahoning and Trumbull Counties. (Tr. 13).
{ } Kelligher's expert, John DeRhodes, is an attorney in Kent, Ohio who primarily handles probate and business matters. Kelligher sent DeRhodes copies of his fee request and services rendered for his review. DeRhodes testified that he was familiar with the estate from reviewing the filings. He opined that given the history of the case and the circumstances involved, Kelligher's services rendered and requested fees were reasonable. (Tr. 19-20, 28). DeRhodes further opined that the hourly rate was reasonable for Mahoning and Trumbull Counties and was even somewhat low. (Tr. 20). DeRhodes opined that $115 was a reasonable hourly rate for services rendered in a dual capacity as counsel of record and successor administrator. (Tr. 21, 28). DeRhodes stated that he also considered the facts that the decedent's only heirs were a sister and some nieces and nephews and that there is an expectation of more settlement monies coming into this estate on the wrongful death claim. (Tr. 22). In light of those circumstances, DeRhodes again opined that Kelligher's requested fees were reasonable. (Tr. 22).
{ } Kelligher also submitted an exhibit that he asked DeRhodes to look at. He submitted the Ohio State Bar Association's 2001 Desk Top Reference on the Economics of Law Practice in Ohio. (Exhibit B). The book contained a reference of hourly rates of attorneys in Ohio for services rendered in wills, estates, and probate. The median hourly rate for the lowest percentile was $128. (Tr. 25). The median hourly rate specifically for Youngstown, Ohio was $124. (Tr. 26).
{ } The magistrate also briefly questioned DeRhodes. His questions related to whether DeRhodes closely examined Kelligher's listing of services provided and the time it took him to complete certain tasks. (Tr. 29-30). DeRhodes stated that he closely examined everything and matched the work done against the hours allotted to it. (Tr. 29-30).
{ } In light of this testimony, trial court abused its discretion in reducing Kelligher's fees so significantly. The court's decision is not supported by the evidence. The court reduced Kelligher's total number of hours spent to 64.34. However, it offered no support for most of this reduction.
{ } The court adopted the magistrate's decision. In support of his decision, the magistrate stated that he found six hours of calls to the fiduciary and eight hours of calls to Goldberg-Persky to be excessive. He also found 17.6 hours for services related to the normal estate administration to be excessive. And he found that the 35.7 hours of work related to the previous appeal should be deducted as unbeneficial to the estate. Thus, he "eliminated the appellate hours, reduced the hours spent on the telephone to a more reasonable time, reduced the time submitted on this normal estate and wrongful death filings to a [sic.] hourly rate more in compliance with hours reasonable for such activities." The magistrate then concluded that 64.34 hours were reasonable.
{ } These calculations are not supported by the evidence or the magistrate's reasoning. Subt
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