Opinion ID: 777001
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Coffel's Request for Attorneys' Fees

Text: 46 While we review fact findings in determining the reasonableness of an attorney fee award for clear error, the ultimate award of fees is reviewed for abuse of discretion, as are determinations regarding hours and rates. Mid-Continent Casualty Co. v. Chevron Pipe Line Co., 205 F.3d 222, 232 (5th Cir.2000) (internal quotations omitted) (quoting Cobb v. Miller, 818 F.2d 1227, 1231 (5th Cir.1987)). 47 Texas law authorizes the award of reasonable attorney's fees from an individual or corporation, in addition to the amount of a valid claim and costs, if the claim is for ... an oral or written contract. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM.CODE ANN. § 38.001(8) (Vernon 1997). The award of reasonable attorneys' fees is mandatory under § 38.001 if the plaintiff prevails in his or her breach of contract claim and recovers damages. Kona Tech. Corp. v. S. Pac. Transp. Co., 225 F.3d 595, 603, 613 (5th Cir.2000) (citations omitted). The trial court has the discretion to determine the appropriate amount of attorneys' fees following a successful claim under § 38.001. Id. at 613 (citations omitted). 48 Coffel argues that Magistrate Judge Austin abused his discretion in determining that the requested fees were not reasonable and in reducing the fees requested by over seventy-five percent. Coffel sought an award of $151,043.75 for fees incurred at the trial level, plus an additional $12,500 for services in the event of appeal. The district court ultimately awarded Coffel $26,837.50 in fees on the breach of contract claim along with $6,250 in the event of appeal. In reducing the requested fee award, the district court noted that the requested fees were based on a jury's award of nearly $500,000 in damages on both fraud and a contract theory and that following judgment as a matter of law on the fraud claim, Coffel ultimately recovered only $8,000 on the breach of contract claim. The court properly noted that, while not the determinative factor, one factor in assessing the reasonableness of attorneys' fees is the amount recovered. E.g., Wayland v. City of Arlington, 711 S.W.2d 232, 233 (Tex.1986) (per curiam); Panizo v. YMCA, 938 S.W.2d 163, 169 (Tex.App.1996). Magistrate Judge Albright also observed that Coffel sought $40,000 on his breach of contract claim and ultimately recovered only $8,000. 49 Coffel argues that because the proof of fraud and breach of contract were inextricably intertwined, the court erred in segregating the attorneys' fees incurred so as to identify those fees that were reasonably expended on the breach of contract claim. We note that the district court did give Coffel credit for twenty percent of the entries inextricably related to the contract claim. The court also reduced some of the entries where it determined the time spent was excessive before applying the twenty-percent factor. 50 We do not find that the district court's determination of the amount of the attorneys' fees award was an abuse of discretion, in light of its findings, but we conclude that our reversal of the district court's judgment as a matter of law on the fraud verdict warrants remand to the district court for reconsideration of Coffel's request for attorneys' fees. On remand, the fee request will be based on the award of over $500,000 in damages on both a fraud and contract theory. Further, the court may want to reconsider its segregation of attorneys' fees to identify those fees reasonably expended in pursuit of the breach of contract claim in light of Texas case law permitting an award of attorneys fees for a fraud claim when it is so interrelated to the successful contract claim that the prosecution of the claims requires proof of the same facts. See Stewart Title Guaranty Co. v. Aiello, 941 S.W.2d 68, 73 (Tex.1997); Bates v. Tex. State Technical Coll., 983 S.W.2d 821, 831 (Tex.App.1998); Schindler v. Austwell Farmers Coop., 829 S.W.2d 283, 288 (Tex.App.1992); Gill Sav. Ass'n v. Chair King, Inc., 783 S.W.2d 674, 680 (Tex.App.1989). In addition to awarding appropriate attorneys' fees incurred at the trial level, the court should enter an award for services rendered on this successful appeal.