Opinion ID: 4544938
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Father’s Request for a Remand and Hearing

Text: Having concluded that the chancery court did not err by awarding Mother attorney’s fees, we also reverse the Court of Appeals’ decision to remand this matter for a hearing on attorney’s fees. In this Court, Father has not challenged the award of attorney’s fees as excessive, as he did in a cursory fashion before the Court of Appeals. He has, however, asked this Court to remand to the chancery court for a hearing on attorney’s fees, at which Father contends that he should be given an opportunity to present proof. As the factual summary in this opinion illustrates, Father’s pleading generated much litigation in the chancery court. The chancery court required Mother’s attorney to submit an affidavit and an itemization documenting the work she had done, and Mother’s attorney provided scrupulous details on both documents. Mother’s attorney also submitted a memorandum discussing the factors this Court has identified as relevant 18 In light of our conclusion that this statute authorized awarding Mother attorney’s fees, we need not address whether the other two statutes on which the chancery court relied also authorized awarding Mother attorney’s fees. See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 36-5-103 and 20-12-119(c)(1). - 25 - to a court’s determination of reasonable attorney’s fees and explaining their application to this case. Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 8, RPC 1.5(a); Wright ex rel. Wright v. Wright, 337 S.W.3d 166, 169-70 (Tenn. 2011). Father submitted a written response in opposition to Mother’s request as well as affidavits from three attorneys, with two stating that the hours Mother’s attorney claimed to have worked were excessive and the third attorney stating that no statute authorized the chancery court to award attorney’s fees. The chancery court held a hearing, at which counsel for both Mother and Father were questioned and given an opportunity to present proof. Father did not ask to present additional proof. Ultimately, the chancery court awarded Mother attorney’s fees in an amount almost ten thousand dollars less than she had requested. Thus, the record on appeal establishes clearly that the chancery court has already held a hearing on the amount of attorney’s fees and that Father was afforded an opportunity to present proof on the issue, and in fact, did present proof on the issue. Father has failed to establish any basis for remanding to the chancery court for another hearing on the question of attorney’s fees incurred in the trial court, and we decline to do so.