Court Opinion

ID: 9730023
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 14:57:30.913697+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:03.251323
License: Public Domain

SULLIVAN, Judge,
concurring.
I concur. I would go further, however, than does the majority opinion in part VIII. I would order Mr. Quirk to repay the County within 30 days the $1,500 fee collected by him for this appeal together with interest thereon at the rate of 8% from the date he collected the fee. If he should fail to do so, I would order him to show cause why he should not be held in contempt.
Although the matter of establishing fees for appellate representation falls within the purview of the trial court, the standard procedure throughout the state of Indiana does not afford the trial court an opportunity to review the quality of that appellate representation. Following the trial court’s ruling on a Motion to Correct Errors, that court is divested of jurisdiction. The briefs of the parties are not served upon the trial judge. The allowance of and payment of fees is therefore routine. In most instances the trial court does and should be able to rely upon counsel’s integrity and professional responsibility to expeditiously and competently represent the client and to request only such fee as constitutes adequate compensation for the work done. Until such time as the procedures are changed, it is within the prerogative of this court, I believe, to make an order for repayment of a fee.