Title: Progress Quarries, Inc. v. Lewis

State: oregon

Issuer: Oregon Supreme Court

Document:

575 P.2d 158 (1978)
281 Or. 441
PROGRESS QUARRIES, INC., an Oregon Corporation, Respondent,
v.
Gary M. LEWIS and Margaret Lewis, Appellants.

Supreme Court of Oregon, Department 2.
Argued and Submitted January 11, 1978.
Decided February 28, 1978.
*159 Fred A. Anderson, of Anderson, Dittman & Anderson, Tigard, argued the cause and filed the briefs for appellants.
Thomas J. Moore, of Brink, Moore, Brink & Peterson, Hillsboro, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were Rives, Bonyhadi & Drummond, Portland.
Before DENECKE, C.J., TONGUE and LINDE, JJ., and RICHARDSON, J. Pro Tem.
TONGUE, Justice.
This is an action by the assignee of a guaranty agreement to enforce the terms of that agreement against the original guarantors. The case was tried before the court, without a jury. Defendants appeal from a judgment in favor of plaintiff in the sum of $6,438.92, plus $10,895 in attorney fees. We affirm.[1]
Because defendants, by their appeal in this case, challenge the findings of fact and conclusions of law by the trial judge, we begin with the well-established rule that in an action at law we must affirm the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the trial court and the judgment based upon them if they are supported by any evidence. See Cronn v. Fisher, 245 Or. 407, 415, 422 P.2d 276 (1966). Those findings and conclusions are as follows:
Defendants' principal contention is that the "[t]rial court erred by disregarding rules of law binding upon the parties and upon the court in holding that the special Guaranty in favor of the Bank was not extinguished through payment of all obligations to Bank by Lewis Construction Company."
*161 These "rules of law" are contended by defendants to be as follows:
Defendants also contend, among other things, after reference to various portions of the transcript of testimony and other evidence, that:
and that:
It is true, as contended by defendants that there was evidence which would have supported such findings of fact by the trial court. We find, however, upon examination of the record in this case, that the evidence on the controlling question of the intent of the parties was conflicting and that the findings of fact of the trial court to the contrary are supported by substantial evidence. Among that evidence is the following.
Mr. Conway, president of plaintiff Progress Quarries, Inc., testified that:
*162 He also testified that when he entered into the transaction of October 4, 1972:
He also testified that on a subsequent occasion Mr. Lewis "reminded me at that time * * * that I had his personal guarantee * * *" and that in subsequent conversations he never denied liability under the guaranty agreement.
Mr. Jensen, who represented the bank at the meeting on October 4, 1972, testified that:
The guaranty agreement, by its terms, was a guaranty and promise to pay to the bank, "its successors and assigns" all indebtedness of the Lewis Construction Company to the Bank. At the meeting of October 4, 1972, that guaranty agreement was assigned in writing "without recourse to Progress Quarries Inc." Each of the promissory notes secured by it was also endorsed "without recourse pay to the order of Progress Quarries Inc." Both the guaranty and the note were delivered to plaintiffs.
It is true, however, that at or about the same time notations were made on each of these notes showing no balance payable on them. Mr. Cook, who also represented the bank at that meeting, testified that these notations were "pure error" by the note teller; that he would not assign a note if nothing was owing on it; that the normal practice when a note is paid in full is to stamp it as "paid" and return it to the borrower and that this was not done in this case. Other bank employees testified to the same effect.
The following testimony on deposition by defendant Gary M. Lewis was also received in evidence:
It would serve no useful purpose to summarize the facts in further detail. Based upon our examination of the record, however, we hold that the findings of fact, conclusions of law and judgment by the *163 trial court were supported by substantial evidence.
The "rules of law" which, according to defendants, were "disregarded" by the trial court rest upon the assumption that, as a matter of law, the pre-existing promissory notes from Lewis to the bank were all "extinguished" and that, as a matter of law, this also extinguished the guaranty agreement and discharged the defendants as guarantors under the agreement.[2] We hold, on the contrary, that there was substantial evidence to support the findings of fact and conclusions of law by the trial court to the effect that neither these notes nor the guaranty agreement were extinguished, but that they were assigned to plaintiff so as to place it in the same position as the bank had been as the previous holder of the notes and guaranty agreement.[3]
Defendants also assign as error the award by the trial court to plaintiff of attorney fees in the sum of $10,895. Defendants contend that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing so large an amount as attorney fees to collect a debt of $6,438.92.
An award of attorney fees is not a matter of discretion, subject to reversal only for abuse. Instead, the question of what is a reasonable attorney fee to be awarded in a particular case is an issue of fact to be determined as any other issue of fact. Thus, an award of attorney fees by a trial court must be affirmed by this court if supported by substantial competent evidence. Waggoner v. Oregon Auto Ins. Co., 270 Or. 93, 100, 526 P.2d 578 (1974).
Upon examination of the record we find, among other things, that numerous motions were filed by both parties; that the case finally went to trial on plaintiff's sixth amended complaint; that each of the two defendants, by their answers, asked for an award of $7,500 in attorney fees; that the trial of the case took three days; that, according to the records of plaintiff's attorneys, they devoted a total of 232.5 hours to this case, and that, according to the testimony of another attorney, as an expert witness, an award of approximately $48 per hour, or a total of $10,895, as billed to plaintiff by its attorneys, is a reasonable attorney fee under the facts and circumstances of this case. Although the award by the trial court was large, in relation to the amount involved in this litigation, and although another attorney testified that $3,000 would be a reasonable attorney fee, we cannot say that the award of attorney fees by the trial court was not supported by substantial evidence.
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
[1]  Plaintiff cross-appealed from the striking from plaintiff's complaint of allegations of loans made after assignment of the guaranty agreement. We also affirm that ruling by the trial court.
[2]  We have examined the various cases cited by defendants in support of these "rules of law" and find that none of them are controlling so as to require a holding in favor of defendants "as a matter of law," as contended by them.
[3]  Defendants also assign as error the refusal of the trial court "to hear defendants' objections to trial court findings, timely filed, in refusing to consider defendants' requests for other and different findings timely filed, and in summarily entering judgment as requested by plaintiff." It appears from the record, however, that the trial court did consider and reject defendants' objections and proposed findings. It also appears that the trial judge "summarily" entered judgment as requested by plaintiff, but did so because that judgment "conformed" to his previous memorandum opinion.

As for the assignment of error on cross-appeal by plaintiff that the trial court erred in striking from plaintiff's complaint allegations of loans made after the assignment, we agree with defendants that the guaranty agreement was limited to loans made by the bank and did not extend to such subsequent loans and that the case of Meader v. Orbit Inn Corporation, 276 Or. 921, 556 P.2d 1365 (1976), cited by plaintiff, is not controlling on this point.