Opinion ID: 2314363
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Attorney Fees for the Trespass Count

Text: We review a determination of attorney fees for an abuse of discretion. McCain Foods, Inc. v. Gervais, 657 A.2d 782, 784 (Me.1995). Title 14 M.R.S.A. § 7552 (Supp.1986) repealed by P.L.1995 ch. 450, § 2, [1] states in pertinent part: Whoever cuts down, destroys, injures or carries away any ornamental or fruit tree, Christmas tree, evergreen boughs, agricultural product, timber, wood, underwood, stones, gravel ore, goods or property of any kind from land not his own, without license of the owner, or injures or throws down any fences, bars or gates or leaves such gates open or breaks glass in any building is liable in damages to the owner in a civil action. If such an act or such acts are committed willfully or knowingly, the defendant is liable to the owner in treble damages, for attorney's fees and for court costs. In the present case, the court found that Helen Webber had willfully and knowingly trespassed on the Colquhouns' property causing damage in the amount of $6,087.11. Because the trespass was willful, the court appropriately trebled the actual damages requiring Webber to pay damages in the amount of $18,261.33. The court also awarded attorney fees in the amount of $44,913.68 on the trespass count. As the court pointed out, these fees were set out in painstaking detail in the attorneys' affidavits submitted to the court and were not out of line when considered in light of the protracted and complex nature of the litigation. Moreover, the fees were not challenged by Webber at the trial. Thus, the court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney fees in an amount equal to the cost of the litigation. See Winslow v. Merrifield, 538 A.2d 283, 284 (Me.1988) (stating that in the section 7552 circumstance of deliberate trespass the award of attorney fees and costs is mandated in order to relieve the successful plaintiff of the cost of litigation). We, therefore, affirm the award of damages and remand for determination of additional attorney fees arising from defense of this appeal. Id. (In the circumstance of an unsuccessful appeal by a violator of section 7552, an award of attorney fees is mandatory.).