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Manor Country Club v. Flaa5/18/2005
added)). In Johnson, a case arising from an interlocutory appeal by plaintiffs who had brought a Title VII action alleging racial discrimination in their employment, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit promulgated a number of factors, later adopted by the Supreme Court in Hensley, to apply in exercising the court's discretion when awarding attorney's fees against a party in a civil rights action:
"(1) The time and labor required. . . . (2) The novelty and difficulty of the questions. . . . (3) The skill requisite to perform the legal service properly. . . . (4) The preclusion of other employment by the attorney due to acceptance of the case. . . . (5) The customary fee. . . . (6) Whether the fee is fixed or contingent. . . . (7) Time limitations imposed by the client or the circumstances. . . . (8) The amount involved and the results obtained [This is a cost-benefit standard.]. . . . (9) The experience, reputation, and ability of the attorneys. . . . (10) The `undesirability' of the case. . . . (11) The nature and length of the professional relationship with the client. . . . (12) Awards in similar cases."
Johnson, 488 F.2d at 717-19 (alteration added). Clearly, the factors in Johnson are, in large part, comparable to the factors of Montgomery County Code ยง 27-7 (k)(1). Johnson also stated that " he reasonableness of the award is to be judged by the abuse of discretion standard of review." Id. at 717.
This Court in Admiral Mortgage, Inc. v. Cooper, 357 Md. 533, 745 A.2d 1026 (2000) (stating in dicta that an employee from whom the employer had withheld commissions was entitled to collect attorney's fees, and since there were no criteria contained in the fee-shifting statute for the court to determine the amount of fees, the lodestar method served as the proper basis for the judge's calculation of the attorney's fees award) noted the logic of having the judge, rather than a jury, determine the attorney's fees and provided some other criteria for analysis under the lodestar approach, stating:
"In the Federal system, attorneys' fees awarded under fee- shifting statutes are calculated in accordance with the `lodestar' approach-the product of reasonable hours times a reasonable rate. Burlington v. Dague, 505 U.S. 557, 112 S.Ct. 2638, 120 L.Ed.2d 449 (1992). The determination of those two items, however, involves a number of factors that are both subjective and judgmental. In Maryland, they would include consideration of the factors set forth in Rule 1.5 of the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct, among which are `the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved' and `the skill requisite to perform the legal service properly.' Those factors are more judgmental than fact-based and are more apt to be within the expertise of a judge rather than of lay jurors."
Admiral Mortgage, Inc., 357 Md. at 552-53, 745 A.2d at 1036 (footnote omitted).
B. Standard of Review
As a threshold matter, the parties also disagree on the approach we are to take in reviewing the intermediate appellate court's conclusion that the Panel "did not properly apply the lodestar approach." Flaa, 158 Md.App. at 495, 857 A.2d at 611. Citing her belief that the Panel's failure to employ the lodestar approach is an error of law, Mrs. Flaa urges that we undertake a de novo review of the Panel's attorney's fees determination. She references our opinion in Caucus Distributors, Inc. v. Maryland Securities Com'r, 320 Md. 313, 577 A.2d 783 (1990), wherein we stated that an agency's fact-finding and inferences are entitled to deference, but " hen, however, the agency's decision is predicated solely on an error of law, no deference is appropriate and the reviewing co
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