The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-07-19
THOSE BIG FEES.
Lawyers Fatten Upon the
Blythe Estate.
-
MONEY WAS NOT EARNED.
Value of the Testimony of Ex-
pert Witnesses.
JUDGE COFFEY ON THE SUBJECT.
The Size of an Estate Should Not
Govern-The Only Question,
=. "Was 1t Earned az
JUDGE COFFEY ON THE SUBJECT.


::rhe way the $4,000 fee awarded By Judge
Levy to Naphtaly. Fredenrich & Acker-
man. attorneys for the late Public Admin
.isirator, James c. Pennie, was frequently
e. referred TO yesterday.
The fact that S205,O00 has been paid
from the estate TO counsel for Admins
-:trator' go far in this famous estate alone
would seem to warrant the use Of the
term.
: What are the duties of the counsel for
=. the Administrator?
How does it come that Judge Levy Is
called upon to fix the compensation IN such
cases?
These are questions which occurred to
: Rearly every reader of THE CALL yester-
day following the long breath OF astonlsh-
*%ment with which they read of the magni-
p: ficent rewards which attend upon the prac-
:: lice of LAWN some cases.
:: Now judge C0ffey of the Probate Court
has sat through nearly all of the infinite
: 5ZIuGings of this case and knows, there
: fore, more about it than any other one in
%d1yidual, and to him The CALL applied
for answers to these questions. He did
mot feel called upon to discuss the action
:. Of the Judge of another court in any way
=
these questions and several others in inter-
;. estng fashion.
-. THE duties of tho counsel for the Ad-
=: ministrators are of tie simplest charac-
ter" be said. Because this is a large es-
tale it does not follow that there is an i'm
mense amount of work connected with it.
The contest for possession of the estate is
entirely distiuctin Itself. The parties 10 the
their own bills. The estate itself is we'll
defined, and the duties of the Admins
TRAITOR is to collect certain rents every
month and to look after repairs. He has
Il collector and a bJOkkeeper the latter of
whom does his work for about 500 a
month. i requires no more labor than il
would 20 keep the accounts Of an estate
=. worth fraction Of this The duties of the
- Administrator counsel are to advise him
in questions of law arising in his deal
Jugs with tenents and others, and they
:. have entaled the conduct OF few minor
suits, believe.
-. These old gentlemen who have figured
= as Misunderstanding Mr.. Roach and
later James c. Penaie-Were both in
. their declining years when elected. Had
they lived until the estate was settled,
their compensation would have been
fixed. with all other matters, in the Pro-
: bate Court, but their death gave occasion
for the Introduction of a question of
equity. That carries it into another de-
partment of the Superior, Court. which in
no way can be so familiar with the circum-
Stances as is the probate department.
. Expert witnesses are called in to pas
. upon the correctness of the claim. They
are brother lawyers and naturally are con-
=. strained to look with lenience upon a
claim-such, especially, as has a prece-
dent. The precedent Is that of in the
:. same estate. where S125. 900 was granted
: for four years service. The rate fixed by
: the expert witnesses is $4,000 year
Il hold that neither the size of the estate
nor the length of time in which the coun-
:. sci have served as such has anything to do
with the matter, the question simply being
the amount of work done.
- 'If we are 10 understand that this rate
-. is 10 prevail it behooves those interested in
estates to look after them" said the Judge.
Ny views as to the value of expert testi-
mOny in these cases are well known, as I
have stated several times ID previous claims
arising in this estate"
:. How the precedent was established for
Getting these lawyers claims out of the
Probate and into the Equity COURTS matter
of record and to those who have followed
the details of the Blythe matter in the
courts is we'll known. After the death of
-: Public Administrator Roach John A,
Roach presented his bill and it was re-
*ferred. Judge COffey set aside the award
-:whereupon it. the bill in equity, was
filed under which, with the aid of the ex-
pert witness, many times as much as the
.: referees award was secured
- Following is the language of Judge |
. Coffey in deciding the cases referred to {: |
The adjustment OF attorneys accounts |
:. and applications for compensation is one
OF the most delicate and difficult incidents |
:of the Office Of Judge, particularly in the
probate department. where so many such |
applications are made. Whether !
the estate is large or small. how
ever, the principles Of law are
the same and should be applied vigor-
.ousIv by the court. In fixing fees there
are no established rules. Every case in
It's character and circumstances must
furnish its own rule II In arriving
AT such a rule experience has taught and
COURTS have declared-this particular pro-
bate department repeatedly-that so-called
expert testimony is unreliable, and the
Judge should trust to his own knowledge,
experience and judgment in establishing
the value of services. Estates,
large or small, complex or simple. should
be administered with efficiency and
economy. and the impression too widely
prevalent Of the eXtraVagaDt expenses OF
administering estates should not be coun-
tenanced by the court nor in any wise
encouraged by its conduct. Some OF the
applications are extraordinary in their
amount, ana even when largely reduced
by the court seem excessive"
Following is his opinion on expert wit
nesses, as given in another claim against
the estate: at has been intimated that if
the practice Of this department were not
opposed to 1t, attorneys might be called in
to prove up the reasonableness of the ap-
pointed attorneys application. No doubt
Nothing could better exempifv the in.
utility Of such testimony than the ease
with which professional gentlemen can
be found to support such claims. This de-
.partment Of the Superior Court has stead
lily set its face against such testimony for
at least two reasons: First. that it affords
10 real assistance TO the courts judgment
in the premises. ard, while honestly given.
is nearly always addressed to the court in
a spirit of compiaisance to CRAFTY the
counsel who present it; and, secondly. be-
~, lntrv H.