Opinion ID: 2114422
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Amount Awarded

Text: However, the Department argues that even if the Gosper County Attorney was authorized to receive fees, the Department was not given an opportunity to appear and oppose the amount of fees awarded. When an attorney fee is authorized, the amount of the fee is addressed to the discretion of the trial court, whose ruling will not be disturbed on appeal in the absence of an abuse of discretion. However, to determine proper and reasonable fees, it is necessary to consider the nature of the litigation, the time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions raised, the skill required to properly conduct the case, the responsibility assumed, the care and diligence exhibited, the result of the suit, the character and standing of the attorney, and the customary charges of the bar for similar services. Schirber v. State, 254 Neb. 1002, 581 N.W.2d 873 (1998). Such an inquiry necessarily contemplates that some evidentiary showing will be made. In Schirber, we addressed whether an award of attorney fees made under Neb. Rev.Stat. § 23- 1204.01 (Reissue 1997) was appropriate. The attorney in Schirber filed an application with the trial court for the recovery of attorney fees, which application detailed the time and expenses upon which the fee request was based. An evidentiary hearing was held and the trial court granted in part the request for attorney fees. On appeal, this court stated that an application for attorney fees and expenses must be granted where the record demonstrates that the amount requested was reasonable, and there is no evidence or indication otherwise that the amount is unreasonable. We noted that the amount requested in the application was reasonable and that no evidence was offered or existed disproving the reasonableness of the attorney's application and, thus, that the application should have been granted. It is implicit in this holding that the party opposing an application for attorney fees must be given an opportunity to present evidence against the application. The record in the instant case does not contain any evidence or otherwise indicate that the Gosper County Attorney made any formal application for attorney fees or that the Attorney General was notified of any such request. Based on this record, we can only conclude that the Attorney General was not given an opportunity to oppose the application. Because the Attorney General was not given an opportunity to oppose the fee award, we conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding the Gosper County Attorney $250 in attorney fees.