Opinion ID: 1109157
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether the trial court erred in admitting evidence of payments made prior to the issuance of the chancery court order.

Text: ¶ 83. Uniform Chancery Court Rule 6.12 requires that every petition by an attorney seeking fees for services rendered must establish that the services have been rendered, and the fees must be approved by the Chancellor. In civil cases, we have recognized that an attorney can be paid from estate funds without prior court approval; however, the attorney does so subject to the peril of having the fee later disapproved by the Chancellor. In Matter of Last Will and Testament of McCaffrey v. Fortenberry, 592 So.2d 52, 63 (Miss. 1991). The penalty of such disapproval in a civil case is repayment rather than criminal sanctions. Id. ¶ 84. This is not a civil case. While all of the fees paid to Ike Farris were approved by Chancellor Taylor's orders, Farris received several checks for services he supposedly rendered to the Diamond estate before Chancellor Taylor entered an order approving the fees. The system Farris established to collect his fees, i.e., using Greg Alston and Charlie Morgan as a go-between for Chancellor Taylor's approval, demonstrated a small but important connection in the larger conspiracy to defraud the Diamond estate. The evidence was relevant, admissible and within the trial court's discretion. This issue fails.