Family Law/Reasonableness Of Fees: Trial Judge Awarding Only $15,000 In Fees And Costs Based On Requested $77,067.50 In Fees And $17,459.77 In Costs Was No Abuse Of Discretion

Deferential Standard Of Review Not Hurdled In This One.

    In Zauner v. Defterios, Case No. B271922 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Mar. 21, 2017) (unpublished), appellant sought needs-based fees in a child custody modification proceeding. She requested $77,067.50 in fees and $17,459.77 in costs, but was only awarded $10,000 in fees and $5,000 in costs.

    Her appeal of the award did not succeed.

    The trial judge found that appellant was seeking duplicative recovery of fees already paid and for billed services which were inconsistent with requested amounts. Although she argued that failure to award 100% of the requested needs-based fees was an abuse of discretion, the appellate court swatted away that argument by noting that reasonableness is still a consideration in this area of fee recovery. (Alan S. v. Superior Court, 172 Cal.App.4^th 238, 255 (2009).) Affirmed based on the failure to show an abuse of discretion.