Grubbs v. Knoll4/15/2005
ntiffs accepted $20,000 in settlement of $22,695 due from the Grubbs ... plus interest and ... some other small amount of money.
Of course, one-third of legal fee is allocated to the Grubbs Cody parties because of the circumstances that I've previously enunciated. And of course, we know that no legal fee is recoverable from those parties.
... Thus, under the hypothetical of $480,000 with the plaintiffs receiving more or less $303,000 or not two-thirds of $480,000 the one-third of legal services that would be attributable in that hypothetical to the defendants Chapman would be assessed against Chapman without reduction.
Now if, for example, the $303,000 exceeds two-thirds of that which is found to be a ... reasonable legal fee, then of course, the legal fee assessed against the Chapman defendant would be reduced. For example, if the fair and reasonable legal fee and costs were $390,000, that would amount to a share of $130,000 against each group of defendants. Since the plaintiffs voluntarily settled for an amount which ... totals $303,000 toward legal fees, then the Chapman defendants would be liable for the difference between ... $390,000 and $303,000 or ... $87,000.
The judge made no comment upon the proportionality of the award against Chapman given the limited liability ascribed to him by the jury. Ultimately, following a second hearing, the judge awarded $523,179 in counsel fees, out of which Chapman was directed to pay $174,393.
At the outset, we note that the trial judge mistakenly included the attorney fees and costs incurred in the fee application as part of the total attorney fees and expenses awarded. Because the other parties to the litigation had settled with the Knolls, the subsequent fee/expenses application was necessitated solely by the Chapman defendants. Therefore, the entire cost of fees and expenses in connection with the application should be borne by them. This result would be in accord with Saffer v. Willoughby, 143 N.J. 256 (1996), which makes attorney fees part and parcel of the consequential compensatory damages. Thus, Chapman would be legally responsible for payment of the $80,244.14 of attorney fees and costs incurred in the fee application proceedings.
With regard to attorney fees and expenses incurred on the trial, certain guiding principles are to be followed which we reiterate. " negligent attorney is responsible for the reasonable legal expenses and attorney fees incurred by a former client in prosecuting the legal malpractice action." Saffer v. Willoughby, supra, 143 N.J. at 272. In fixing counsel fees, a trial judge must ensure that the award does not cover effort expended on independent claims that happen to be joined with claims for which counsel is entitled to attorney fees. Ricci v. Corporate Express of the East, Inc., 344 N.J. Super. 39, 48 (App. Div. 2001), certif. denied, 171 N.J. 42 (2002); Chattin v. Cape May Greene, Inc., 243 N.J. Super. 590, 614 (App. Div. 1990), aff'd, 124 N.J. 520 (1991); 49 Prospect Street v. Sheva Gardens, 227 N.J. Super. 449, 470 (App. Div. 1988).
Our Supreme Court has declined to construe New Jersey's various fee-shifting statutes to require proportionality between the damages recovered by a plaintiff and the fees awarded. Szczepanski v. Newcomb Med. Ctr., Inc., 141 N.J. 346, 366 (1995). Nonetheless, the amount a plaintiff recovers in damages is relevant to the determination of whether the fees sought are reasonable. Chattin, supra, 243 N.J. Super. at 616 (quoting Riverside v. Rivera, 477 U.S. 561, 574, 106 S.Ct. 2686, 2694, 91 L.Ed. 2d 466, 479 (1986)).
In such cases, the trial court's responsibility to carefully review the lodestar fee reque
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 New Jersey Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|