Opinion ID: 2382615
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: The attorney fees and expenses

Text: ¶ 44 As to the attorney fees and expenses, the affidavits disclose the following expenditures: $13,362.50 for representation of the birth mother, $20,000.00 for representation of prospective adoptive parents by the first law firm, $3,536.70 for prospective adoptive parents' attorney in their home state, and $65,189.51 for representation of the prospective adoptive parents by the second law firm and an additional $13,058.85 for the second law firm subsequent to the filing of the affidavit. Regarding the more than $100,000.00 in attorney fees, the district court announced from the bench: I find the attorney fees that are cited by [first law firm], the attorney fees that are cited by [second law firm] are reasonable and I do base that primarily on the fact that it's consistent with the contracts that were entered in this case by the petitioners, and my opinion that there is no evidence to suggest that those contracts were entered into blindly or entered inappropriately or with any intent to take advantage of the petitioners or that they aren't justified by the amount of work effort that took place in the various stages of this case. The demurrer of [second law firm] is sustained. ¶ 45 The district court presumed that the attorney fee agreements in this case were reasonable and that all the charges were consistent with the contracts. There is only one contract in the record on appeal, the second law firm's contract. The second law firm's billing statements reveal numerous charges for attorney fees and expenses that are contrary to the contract, not included in the contract, or facially unreasonable. Charging fifteen cents per copy for thousands of copies is inconsistent with the ten-cent copy charge specified in the contract. [16] Charging $275.00 an hour to prepare a document justifying the private investigator's fee is outside the contract. Charging a nearly $800.00 expense for the private investigator to deliver a proposed journal entry to the birth mother's attorney and to the Cherokee Nation's attorney is facially unreasonable. Stacking a $200.00 an hour fee for a second attorney to attend a hearing, apparently as an observer, when the contract does not specify a $200.00 hourly rate, is outside the contract. Double charging $825.00 for the hours worked in December of 2007 is facially unreasonable. ¶ 46 It is obvious that the district court did not examine the second law firm's billing statements for reasonableness. Even if the hourly rates were reasonable and the legal issues were complex, the more than seventy thousand dollars in fees and expenses for the second law firm has obvious excess. On remand, the district court must cull through the charges for legal services and reject 1) any unreasonable number of hours for the legal service performed, 2) any duplicate billings, 3) any stacking of hours for two or three attorneys to perform the same legal service, 4) the fifteen-cent copy charge, 5) the private investigator's delivery charge, and 6) any other charges the district court deems inconsistent with § 7505-3.2. As to the fifteen-minute minimum charge for a phone call and the hourly rate for travel time, the district court must determine reasonable amounts of time and reasonable rates for the type of service performed. ¶ 47 As to the first law firm's flat fee of $20,000.00, it appears to be an unreasonable charge for the routine legal services performed. The contract is not in the record, and there is no proof to show the reasonableness of the more than $36,000.00 of expenditures set out in the first law firm's affidavit. On remand, the first law firm must provide the contract and proof of the legality and reasonableness of every item charged the prospective adoptive parents so the district court can determine the reasonableness of the charges. ¶ 48 As to the birth mother's attorney, she charged some $13,000.00 for her services and expenses. The record indicates the attorney consulted with the birth mother, made two routine appearances in court for the birth mother to relinquish her parental rights and to consent to the adoption, appeared at the good cause hearing, and reported her fees to the public defender. The record on appeal indicates that this attorney was involved in the routine adoption proceedings but did not brief or argue the more complex legal issues. On remand, the birth mother's attorney must provide the district court with sufficient evidence for a determination of the reasonableness of the attorney fees. ¶ 49 In approving the attorney fee expenditures by the prospective adoptive parents, the district court began with a statement that you would be inclined automatically to say that [the $100,000.00] is outrageous, that is certainly unreasonable. The district court then said that this case is not like any other and it has generated a lot of attorney fees. Apparently, the district court viewed this adoption as a highly complex case. We do not agree. The record before us demonstrates that this case was closer to a routine adoption than a complex legal contest. On remand, the district court must focus upon whether the attorney fees were necessary and reasonable rather than the fees that were generated. In summary, the district court must determine, as to all attorneys whose fees and expenses were paid by the prospective adoptive parents, the necessary legal services, a reasonable number of hours needed to perform the legal services, and a fair hourly rate, or rates if different levels of skill are involved, for the legal services based on the customary charge in this state for the services and any other Burk criteria the court deems relevant. If the amount charged in accordance with the contract is greater than the reasonable amount, the court may approve only the reasonable fee and expenses and must order reimbursement of any excess amount in accordance with § 7505-3.2(A)(1).