Court Opinion

ID: 9776049
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:17:19.717526+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:33.362862
License: Public Domain

P. A. Hollingsworth, Justice, dissenting. The Court decides today to reduce attorney’s fees in this case by almost $23,000 but does not discuss how the trial court abused its discretion. The trial court found that $80.00 an hour was a reasonable charge but obviously gave the attorneys involved a premium following the principles which we have previously stated control these cases. The trial court’s award should be sustained. There was an extensive hearing on this issue and I can see no abuse of the trial court’s discretion. The Court today merely substitutes their judgment for that of the trial judge. We should not reverse matters within the sound discretion of the trial judge because of our different persuasion about an issue. The decision today discourages attorneys from accepting difficult and unusual cases. The purpose of the Act is to discourage insurance companies from acting arbitrarily in recognizing claims. The provision for the award is a punitive measure against the undesirable acts of the insurance industry but is also an incentive to encourage attorneys to represent litigants in the position of the appellee. We should not punish the attorneys for accepting difficult cases as this decision does today. I would sustain the award.