Opinion ID: 1114554
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: did the court err in the amount of attorney fees awarded?

Text: The award of attorney fees in divorce cases is left to the discretion of the chancellor, assuming he follows the appropriate standards. Adams v. Adams, 591 So.2d 431, 435 (Miss. 1991). Attorney fees are not generally awarded unless the party requesting such fees has established the inability to pay. Dunn v. Dunn, 609 So.2d 1277, 1287 (Miss. 1992). The fee should be fair and should only compensate for services actually rendered after it has been determined that the legal work charged for was reasonably required and necessary. Dunn, 609 So.2d at 1286. When considering an award of attorney fees, a sum sufficient to secure a competent attorney is the criterion by which we are directed. The fee depends on ... relative financial ability of the parties, the skill and standing of the attorney employed, the nature of the case and novelty and difficulty of the questions at issue, as well as the degree of responsibility involved in the management of the cause, the time and labor required, the usual and customary charge in the community, and the preclusion of other employment by the attorney due to the acceptance of the case. Smith v. Smith, 545 So.2d 725, 729 (Miss. 1989), quoting McKee v. McKee, 418 So.2d 764, 767 (Miss. 1982). Attorney fees have been refused where little or no evidence has been presented to substantiate the amount requested. Cooley v. Cooley, 574 So.2d 694, 698 (Miss. 1991). Unless the chancellor abused his discretion or is manifestly wrong, his decision regarding attorney fees will not be disturbed on appeal. Armstrong, 618 So.2d at 1282; Dunn, 609 So.2d at 1287; Trunzler v. Trunzler, 431 So.2d 1115, 1116 (Miss. 1983). Teresa testified that she was unable to pay her $3,422.50 attorney fee in October of 1991 and there is no evidence to the contrary anywhere in the record. Following the October 1991 hearing, when Teresa rested, various continuances, additional hearings, and depositions, all at Edward's request, increased Teresa's attorney fees and expenses to a total of $8,393.75. Teresa can not pay this amount either. The services listed on Teresa's attorney's itemization were actually rendered, as testified to by Teresa, and the work was reasonably required and necessary, as testified to by Teresa's attorney. Evidence of most McKee factors is available in the record: Edward's ability and Teresa's inability to pay, counsel's skill or standing, domestic case without novel issues, counsel had great degree of responsibility as lead counsel, 79.70 hours and an itemization of the work performed for every tenth of an hour, and the usual and customary charge in the community, which was contested  $95.00 per hour according to counsel for Teresa, $70.00 to $75.00 an hour according to an attorney called to testify on this issue for Edward. The only McKee factor on which no evidence was presented is the preclusion of other employment as a result of this case. To substantiate the amount requested, Teresa's attorney testified and offered into evidence an itemization of her expenses and charges. The chancellor found that the case could have been concluded in much less than 79.70 hours, that $8,393.75 is grossly excessive, and that Teresa's and Edward's attorneys were equally at fault in causing a portion of the excessive time. Teresa was awarded only $2,500.00 attorney fees. In Boykin v. Boykin, 565 So.2d 1109 (Miss. 1990), appellee's requested attorney fees were $5,400.00  $100.00 an hour for fifty-four (54) hours of services provided over a period of eight months. The chancellor awarded $4,000.00 and this Court affirmed because evidence of the McKee factors had been presented. Boykin, 565 So.2d at 1115-16. In Holleman, attorney fees of $18,675.00 were awarded by the chancellor for 168.21 hours and expenses. This Court reversed and remanded for a hearing in which the necessary evidence could be presented because the McKee factors had not been satisfied. Holleman, 527 So.2d at 95-96. And in Griffin v. Griffin, 579 So.2d 1266 (Miss. 1991), the chancellor's award of $4,450.00 was reversed and remanded because the fee had been allowed in an ex parte hearing without notice and due process to the other party and it was not clear whether the fees included services performed in conjunction with a motion for contempt in addition to the sum due for the divorce. Griffin, 579 So.2d at 1268. As all McKee factors save one have been satisfied in this case, it is patent that Teresa can not pay her attorney fees, the amount of the fee awarded is meager in comparison to the amount requested, and since the chancellor found both parties' attorneys contributed to the amount of excessive time, we find an abuse of the chancellor's discretion. This issue is reversed and remanded. On remand, Teresa's attorney should be allowed the opportunity to present evidence of employment preclusion as a result of the Creekmore divorce case, the chancellor should specify the excessive hours and services caused by Teresa or her counsel, and an appropriate award of attorney fees should be made. Regarding the contested customary charge in the community, the chancellor is in a better position than is this Court to know what is customary in his community. The chancellor was concerned about an episode of alleged improper conduct on the part of Teresa's counsel and stated on the record that he would consider such conduct when determining the issue of attorney fees. If indeed Teresa's counsel behaved in an inappropriate manner, Teresa played no role in such behavior and should not suffer the consequences. However, if the alleged improper conduct unnecessarily increased the amount of attorney fees, the amount awarded should be decreased by the amount of any unnecessary fees. Any other consideration of counsel's improper conduct in the determination of attorney fees, that is, to sanction the client (by awarding nominal attorney fees) for her attorney's improper behavior, is an inappropriate response. The $12,000.00 award of periodic alimony is actually a lump sum award and, contrary to the chancellor's provision, Edward's death does not relieve him or his estate from that obligation. In combination with the other $12,000.00 award, a total of $24,000.00 lump sum alimony was awarded. This combined amount does not allow Teresa to maintain anything near her accustomed standard of living and does not reflect a consideration of her lack of available resources nor of Edward's ability to pay. On the facts and circumstances of this case, an award of $24,000.00 lump sum alimony is so grossly inadequate as to reveal an abuse of discretion on the part of the chancellor and is reversed and remanded for a lump sum award which achieves some sense of proportion in accordance with the caselaw of this state. The award of $2,500.00 attorney fees is reversed and remanded in order that Teresa be given an opportunity to present evidence of the one McKee factor not yet satisfied. If improper conduct on the part of Teresa's counsel unnecessarily increased the amount of attorney fees due, the amount awarded on remand should be decreased only by the amount attributable to Teresa's attorney's misbehavior. Aside from such a reduction, her attorney's improper conduct should not be considered in determining the amount of attorney fees to be awarded to Teresa Creekmore. REVERSED AND REMANDED TO THE CHANCERY COURT OF CALHOUN COUNTY. HAWKINS, C.J., PRATHER, P.J., and PITTMAN, BANKS, McRAE and SMITH, JJ., concur. DAN M. LEE, P.J., dissents with separate written opinion joined by JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., J.