Opinion ID: 877126
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Daniels' Attorney Fees

Text: In his motion to determine necessary expenses of litigation, Helehan asked for a total of $3,350.00 as attorney fees for M.K. Daniels. The District Court ordered $3,450.00. The State appeals on the ground that the award for Daniels is excessive. Attorney Rex Henningsen testified that a reasonable attorney's fee for a day of trial in the Silver Bow County area is $350.00, and that $50.00 to $60.00 is a reasonable hourly rate. Attorney Daniels showed that he had thirty hours of work in the Helehan case in addition to the four days of trial. Using the highest of the Henningsen figures, reasonable attorney fees for Daniels would be $1,800.00 for his hourly work and $1,400.00 for his four days of trial, or total fees of $3,200.00. The court's award is $3,450.00. In the final analysis, the duty of fixing attorney fees in condemnation cases for the prevailing party falls upon the District Court. The purpose of the evidentiary hearing on attorney fees, required since Crncevich v. Georgetown Recreation Corporation (1975), 168 Mont. 113, 119, 120, 541 P.2d 56, 59, is to aid the court in its determination in exercising its discretion to fix reasonable attorney fees. The court, as a jury, is not bound absolutely to the testimony of expert witnesses. It can reduce or increase the figures submitted to it by experts as reasonable attorney fees and as long as its findings are not clearly erroneous, the determination made in its discretion will not be disturbed. Rule 59(a), M.R. Civ.P. Here, Daniels' fee must be reduced in any event to the $3,350.00 claimed by Helehan. Should we, on the basis that the permissible award is $150.00 higher than the expert's testimony, return the matter for further determination in the District Court? If for no other reason than the doctrine of de minimis, the matter of Daniels' fees should end here.