Court Opinion

ID: 9936250
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 18:57:40.37238+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:30:36.575825
License: Public Domain

It is true that the award of an attorney fee is within the discretion of the trial court, and I want to make clear that I do not think that the court abused its discretion in not awarding the wife the entire attorney's fee of more than $16,000. However, I write to explain why I believe that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding an attorney fee of only $2,750.
The record shows that the wife was forced to litigate more issues than usually arise in a divorce case. As Judge Robertson points out, the wife had to seek a restraining order, she had to file motions for contempt, she had to request support pendente lite, and she had to defend harassment charges brought by the husband — charges on which she prevailed. The court had a detailed billing statement from the attorney regarding how much it cost the wife to deal with these "extra" issues.
After reviewing the billing statement, I agree with the majority's conclusion that the trial court's total award of $2,750, which included sanctions against the husband, is too low.