Dad to Pay Mom $123K Attorney’s Fee After Losing Appeal

Tennessee case summary on attorney’s fees.

Kim Renae Nelson v. Loring E. Justice

In 2019, the father in this Roane County, Tennessee, paternity case unsuccessfully appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, which held that the lower court had properly awarded the mother certain costs.  The Court of Appeals went further and awarded the mother her attorney’s fees for defending the appeal.  It remanded the case to the trial court to determine the amount of those fees.

On remand, the case was heard by Senior Judge William B. Acree, who set the amount of those fees at over $150,000.  In so doing, the trial court had reviewed billing records, heard the testimony of the attorneys, and had concluded that it was a complex case with unusual and cumbersome issues.

In particular, the trial court had found that the case prevented the attorney from taking other cases, and included other extraordinary circumstances, such as the father naming the attorney as an alleged co-conspirator in a separate action.

After additional motions in the trial court, the father then filed a second appeal, arguing that the award was excessive.

There was an issue as to the timeliness of the appeal, and the appeals court concluded that it was timely and that the court had jurisdiction over the case.  The father then argued that he was entitled to supplement the record with additional evidence, but this request was denied.

The father argued that there was insufficient basis for the award, and that some of the billing records were allegedly self-contradictory.  But the appeals court noted that there had been ample opportunity to cross examine, and that these alleged discrepancies lacked merit.  The appeals court carefully reviewed the lower court’s findings and held that they were supported by the evidence.

The trial court had considered the various factors that attorneys may take into account when setting their fee, and had concluded that these factors supported the amount claimed.  In particular, the number of hours and the inability to take on other cases were seen as controlling.  For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the findings.

The father did have a small victory in the reduction of the bill by about $450.  There were expenses claimed in this amount, but the appeals court held that the amount of documentation was lacking.  The appeals court also reversed the award of fees for services performed after the appeal, as it held that these were not covered by the prior order.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals reduced the award to about $123,000, but otherwise affirmed.

No. E2020–01172-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 24,  2022).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see The Tennessee Divorce Process: How Divorces Work Start to Finish.