Opinion ID: 895396
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Garcia's Role

Text: Relying on City of Houston v. Woods, 138 S.W.3d 574, 582 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2004, no pet.), Garcia contends the fee award is proper because the trial court's appointment order states he was appointed to serve as Attorney Ad Litem in this litigation as independent counsel for the benefit of Plaintiff Jesus Gonzalez in connection with effectuating Plaintiffs' settlement with Defendant Ford Motor Company. Working from that premise, he maintains that he was properly compensated both for his services in fulfilling his role as independent counsel to the ward, and his role as an officer and advisor to the trial court. He cites Woods for the proposition that an attorney ad litem is to perform the same services as any attorney, giving legal advice, doing research and conducting litigation for an incapacitated party, and that all the activities on his invoice were proper because they were directed toward determining both whether (1) the proposed settlement was generally appropriate for Gonzalez and (2) the division and structure of the settlement was appropriate given the conflict of interest between Gonzalez and Ramona. We disagree that Garcia was entitled to be compensated for tasks that were not compensable as a guardian ad litem under Rule 173, even though some of those tasks might have been compensable had he truly been appointed as attorney ad litem. [2] First, Woods, a case involving fees for representation of minors, does not support his position. Garcia references only part of a passage in Woods in which the court of appeals distinguished the role of a guardian ad litem from that of an attorney ad litem. The full passage gives context to the statement on which he relies: Guardian ad litems and attorney ad litems serve different roles in the representation of minors. A guardian ad litem is not an attorney for the child, but an officer appointed by the court to assist in properly protecting the child's interests. An attorney ad litem, on the other hand, performs the same services as any other attorneygiving advice, doing research, and conducting litigation. Id. at 582 (citations omitted). The court also noted that the source of fees for attorneys ad litem is different from that for guardians ad litem: A guardian ad litem is entitled to a reasonable fee for his services to be taxed as costs.... However, there is no provision to tax attorney fees as costs to the opposing party. Indeed, attorney fees may not be recovered unless provided for by statute or by contract between the parties. More specifically, no statute provides for the recovery of attorney fees in a negligence action. Instead, attorneys in personal injury cases are compensated out of the funds recovered by the plaintiff on a contingency basis. Id. at 582-83 (citations omitted). Although attorneys representing personal injury plaintiffs in negligence suits are not always compensated on a contingency fee basis as the Woods court suggested, the court was correct that while a guardian ad litem's fee may be taxed as court costs pursuant to the rules of procedure, see, e.g., TEX.R. CIV. P. 173.6(c), there is no provision for shifting a plaintiff's attorney's fee to the defendant absent a statute or contract allowing for shifting them. See 1/2 Price Checks Cashed v. United Auto. Ins. Co., 344 S.W.3d 378, 382 (Tex.2011) (Texas adheres to the American Rule for the award of attorney's fees, under which attorney's fees are recoverable in a suit only if permitted by statute or by contract.). [3] Here, Garcia does not base his claim for attorney's fees on either a statute or contract. And in Woods, the court of appeals held that the trial court abused its discretion by assessing attorney ad litem fees as costs to be paid by the defendant where the attorney represented minor plaintiffs in a negligence suit for personal injuriesthe opposite of what Garcia contends for here. 138 S.W.3d at 583. Second, a guardian ad litem's duties under the circumstances covered by Rule 173 are those of an officer of the court assisting in properly protecting the incapacitated person's interests when a conflict of interest has arisen between the incapacitated person and the guardian or next friend. The duty of such a guardian ad litem is not the duty of a plaintiff's attorney generally representing the incapacitated person in regard to the cause of action. See Land Rover U.K., Ltd. v. Hinojosa, 210 S.W.3d 604, 607 (Tex.2006) (per curiam) ([A] guardian ad litem ... should not duplicate the work performed by the plaintiff's attorney.); see also Am. Gen. Fire & Cas. Co. v. Vandewater, 907 S.W.2d 491, 493 n. 2 (Tex. 1995) (per curiam). The context of the appointment and duties assigned to the ad litem determine the nature of the appointment and the duties of the ad litem. The burden to ensure that a guardian ad litem's services do not exceed the scope of the role assigned by the trial court is on the ad litem. See Goodyear Dunlop Tires N. Am., Ltd. v. Gamez, 151 S.W.3d 574, 582 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 2004, no pet.). An improper designation of the ad litem by the trial court is not controlling as to the nature of the appointment. See Brownsville-Valley Reg. Med. Ctr., Inc. v. Gamez, 894 S.W.2d 753, 755 n. 4 (Tex.1995) (The trial court's improper designation of the ad litem `is not of controlling import.') (citation omitted). Garcia does not claim that he was appointed because Ramona, acting as Gonzalez's guardian, and the attorney she hired, failed to properly represent Gonzalez's interests and Gonzalez needed a separate attorney to prosecute his personal injury claim. See Vandewater, 907 S.W.2d at 493 n. 2 (In the event that the next friend takes actions sufficiently adverse to a [ward's] interests, the next friend and her attorney may be replaced.). To the contrary, Garcia's appointment was requested only after Ramona and her attorney reached a settlement with Ford that was to be divided between the Gonzalezes, and the necessity of the division created a conflict. A division was tentatively agreed upon before Ramona's lawyer filed the unopposed motion for appointment of an ad litem to assist [Jesus Gonzalez] with the issues relating to effectuating the settlement of his claims against Ford Motor Company. The motion used the term attorney ad litem in one sentence, but as the caption and body of the motion made clear, the trial court was being asked to appoint an ad litem only to protect Jesus's interest in relation to division of the settlement. The trial court order stated that Garcia was appointed to serve as Attorney Ad Litem in this litigation as independent counsel for the benefit of Plaintiff Jesus Gonzalez in connection with effectuating Plaintiffs' settlement with Defendant Ford Motor Company.  (emphasis added). The judgment awarding fees to Garcia stated that he was appointed as guardian ad litem. And Garcia's testimony at the evidentiary hearing on his compensation request confirmed his understanding that the appointment was as a guardian ad litem, not attorney ad litem: Q. Mr. Garcia, you are the same Judge Richard Garcia that was appointed by this Honorable Court as guardian ad litem for an incapacitated person in the proceeding that we're here on today? That would be Jesus Gonzalez? A. That's correct. The evidence is conclusive that Garcia was not appointed to act as an attorney ad litem to generally represent Gonzalez in prosecuting his personal injury claim. Rather, he was appointed as a guardian ad litem with the limited role of assisting the trial court in protecting Gonzalez's interest because of the conflict of interest that arose between the Gonzalezes. The appointment substantively falls within the provisions of Rule 173 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Garcia's contention that his compensation request should be reviewed differently from the manner provided for by Rule 173 lacks merit.