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Tag Archives: Attorney Fees

Arrogant Legal Writing Gives Texas A Horrible, Terrible Very Bad Day.

26 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Appellate Law, Appellate Writing, Bad Legal Writing, Brief Writing, Legal Analysis, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, U.S. District Courts, Voting Rights Act

≈ Comments Off on Arrogant Legal Writing Gives Texas A Horrible, Terrible Very Bad Day.

Tags

Attorney Fees, Bad Legal Writing, Judge Rosemary M. Collyer, Kevin Underhill, Legal Writing, Lowering the Bar Blog, Prevailing Party, Shelby County, State of Texas, Voting District, Voting Rights Act

Bad Attitude Costs Texas in Fee Dispute, by Kevin Underhill, Lowering the Bar Blog

http://www.loweringthebar.net/2014/06/bad-attitude-costs-texas.html

 Hey, I get it—sometimes when you win and you think the other side’s position was bogus, it’s hard not to get all smug and self-righteous.

But you really should try.

Not trying very hard—well, not trying at all—cost the State of Texas a lot of money on June 18, when a judge awarded other parties in a voting-rights case $1,096,770 in legal fees and costs, even though Texas had a decent argument that it was the prevailing party and so it should get paid. (McClatchy DC; thanks, Mark.)

In the U.S., normally each side has to pay its own fees, but some statutes say the ‘prevailing party’ is entitled to recover fees from the loser. But exactly who ‘prevails’ in a lawsuit is not always clear, and that was the case in this lawsuit, which involved Texas’s plans to redraw its voting districts. (Skip down three paragraphs or so if that could not sound more boring.)

Under the Voting Rights Act—Still here? Nerd. Under the Voting Rights Act, Texas was one of the states that had to get federal ‘preclearance’ for redistricting because of the history of discrimination there. Texas decided to sue for a declaration that its plans were okay, and the feds opposed. Other parties (Democrats, basically) intervened because they also wanted to oppose. Texas mostly lost in the district court, and it appealed. In the meantime, though, it came up with new plans that were more likely to comply with the court’s order.

One day before the new plans became law, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Shelby County that all this VRA preclearance stuff was unconstitutional—or had become unconstitutional at some point over the last 50 years, anyway, discrimination now being a thing of the past, you see. Told you so, said Texas, and moved to dismiss the still-pending case involving its first set of plans.

Okay, so who ‘prevailed’ in that mess? The Democratic groups said they did, because Texas lost the first ruling and changed its plans, just like they wanted it to, and they filed motions seeking over $1 million in fees. Texas did not agree.

It did not agree so much, in fact, that it didn’t even bother to file responses. Or, rather, it did file something but it couldn’t bring itself to call the document a ‘response.’ It filed this three-page thing it called an ‘Advisory,’ saying that not only did Shelby County mean Texas won, it meant Texas had essentially always been right because the law was unconstitutional all along (an ‘affront’ and a ‘nullity’), and the case never should have been brought. That’s wrong for a couple of reasons, I think, but Texas was so sure of itself that it didn’t bother to say much of anything else.

As the judge’s decision made clear, this was a Bad Idea. . . .

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What Makes Attorney Fee’s “Unconscionable”?

19 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Advertising, Law Office Management, Management, Marketing

≈ Comments Off on What Makes Attorney Fee’s “Unconscionable”?

Tags

Attorney Fees, Ball In Your Court Blog, Collection, Contingency Fees, Cost Projection, Craig Ball

Unconscionable, by Craig Ball, Ball In Your Court Blog

http://ballinyourcourt.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/unconscionable/

 Before I limited my law practice to work for courts and counsel, I was a trial lawyer working for contingent fees.  For 20+ years, I never charged for an hour of my time.  I funded the cases, did the work and was paid only if I recovered damages for my clients.  I charged 40% plus expenses; so, for the most part my clients and I shared roughly equally in the outcome.  At the time, I thought my fees proper, and they were certainly ‘industry standard.’  Everyone charged about the same, not from collusion but from plagiarism: lawyers didn’t draft fee agreements; we copied them.

But as I look back, I see that I could have charged less—even much less—and still have made a good living.  The only limits on what I could charge were the marketplace, where I saw no competition on price, and ethical precepts dictating a lawyer may not charge an illegal or unconscionable fee. . . .

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Expert Witness Lesson – Don’t Do This.

24 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Child Abuse, Expert Witnesses, Family Law, Judges

≈ Comments Off on Expert Witness Lesson – Don’t Do This.

Tags

Attorney Fees, Dr. V. Kavirajan, Dylan Farrow, Expert Witnesses, Family Law, New York Times, Rita Handrich, The Jury Room Blog, Woody Allen

What Expert Witnesses Should Not Do (Dylan, Woody & the Judge), posted by Rita Handrich, The Jury Room Blog

http://keenetrial.com/blog/2014/02/24/what-expert-witnesses-should-not-do-dylan-woody-the-judge/

The sad and painful tale of Dylan Farrow has emerged again following her letter to the NYT after Woody Allen received the Golden Globes Lifetime Achievement Award. Woody Allen responded to Ms. Farrow’s open letter and she responded to his response. The internet has been on fire with reactions, pro-Farrow, pro-Allen, and everything in between. You can find them with a simple internet search and we won’t link to them here.

This post isn’t really about the letter, the responses, or the internet reaction to them. Instead, it’s about the original judge in the dispute and a cautionary tale for the attorneys who hire expert witnesses everywhere. I first saw the judge’s written opinion when it was sent around on a mailing list. It reads like a ‘don’t do this’ text for the would-be forensic expert witness. There are so many legitimate reasons this case would not have succeeded at trial–regardless of Mr. Allen’s actual culpability. . . .

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When Do You File An Appeal?

22 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Appellate Law

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Appeals, Attorney Fees, Final Appealable Order, Louisiana Civil Appeals Blog, Raymond Ward

Finality Of Judgment When Attorney’s Fees Not Yet Determined, by Raymond Ward, Louisiana Civil Appeals

http://tinyurl.com/pjcrk32

Mr. Ward raises an interesting point. An appeal cannot be filed until the court issues a final, appealable order. In many jurisdictions, the trial court’s journal entry or judgment on the merits of the all the causes of action in a case is indeed a final, appealable order, even when the court has not yet ruled on an attorney fee and cost award.

Sometimes attorneys wait to file an appeal until the attorney fee award is decided, which may be past the tolling of the 30-day deadline to file the appeal on the merits. Mr. Ward explains how to resolve this issue. -CCE

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