IN RE THE ESTATE OF LEE WYLEY HARRELL, SR., DECEASED. JOHN F. SPROULL, APPELLANT,
v.
ESTATE OF LEE WYLEY HARRELL, SR., DECEASED, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The trial court is not bound by expert testimony regarding the reasonableness of attorney hours and may determine a reasonable fee based on all evidence presented.
An attorney appealed the amount of fees awarded by the trial court, arguing the court should have accepted his estimated 450 hours based on expert tes…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Expert Testimony Weight cases and more on FLexlaw
JOHNSON, CLARENCE T., Jr., Associate Judge.
Appellant, attorney for the co-personal representatives, appeals the amount of attorney fees awarded to him by the trial court.
Appellant had no fee agreement with his clients and kept no time records. He filed an affidavit reflecting the services he had performed and estimated they amounted to over 450 hours. This total included “innumerable hours” going through personal papers and effects, “numerous hours” devising the appropriate division of decedent’s coin and money collection, and “in excess of 150 hours” discussing various aspects of the es tate proceedings with one of the co-personal representatives, at appellant’s home.
The trial court, after hearing testimony of appellant, the two co-personal representatives, and two attorneys called as experts, agreed with appellant that $85.00 per hour was reasonable, but found “that 250 hours would have been a reasonable time to have devoted to the work of this estate.”
Appellant argues that since the attorneys called as experts supported his estimated hours, the trial court was required to accept that testimony as conclusive and find the 450 hours reasonable. Such is not the law. While the opinion of an expert witness testifying on attorney’s fees is persuasive, it is not binding on the court in the determination of a reasonable fee.1 Such testimony is to be weighed with the other evidence in the case bearing upon the value of the services.2
No error having been demonstrated, the order appealed from is
AFFIRMED.
COBB and COWART, JJ., concur. . See, e.g., Ruwitch v. First National Bank of Miami, 327 So. 2d 833 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976); Manatee County v. Harbor Ventures, Inc., 305 So. 2d 299 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975).
. Romy v. Dade County, 114 So. 2d 8, 9 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Brown Bros. v. Chronus (9th Cir. Ct. App. Div. 2016)…less than that recommended by expert witness, even when witness was only one to testify). In addition, expert witness “testimony is to be weighed with the other evidence in the case bearing upon the value of the services.” In re Estate of Harrell, 426 So. 2d 63, 64 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983) (affirming trial court’s award of attorney’s fees finding that reasonable number of hours was 200 less than that testified to by expert witnesses). In Southpointe Homeowners Association, Inc. v. Segarra, 763 So. 2d 1186, 11…
Authorities Cited
- Romy v. Dade Cnty., 114 So. 2d 8 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959)
- Manatee Cnty. v. Harbor Ventures, Inc., 305 So. 2d 299 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)
- Ruwitch v. First Nat'l Bank OF Miami, 327 So. 2d 833 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976)