First District, Division 1 Sees No Abuse of Discretion in Fee Awards During an Endless Probate Proceeding.
The next case illustrates how a litigant may bring too many appeals such that the appellate court grows weary of the endless disputes, even though the court does its job to review a fees award through neutral eyes yet again.
We knew this one would not end well for appellant based on the first sentence of the factual/procedural background section: “This is the eighth appeal in this seemingly endless probate proceeding.” (Slip Opn., p. 2.) The case is Daley v. O’Keeffe, Case No. A123021 (1st Dist., Div. 1 Oct. 13, 2009) (unpublished).
The attorney representing the probate estate asked for a combined fee award of $135,230.27 (inclusive of a separate $10,000 advanced retainer for future work) from the estate for work incurred primarily with respect to eight different appeals/petitions as well as the pending appeals. The trial court, after hearing, granted the fee requests in their entirety. Appellant (a close relative of the deceased), unhappy once more, appealed again.
The appellate court affirmed. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting the sizable requests, because they did benefit the estate by bringing it closer to closure. “Given how long this probate proceeding has dragged on, we agree with the trial court that closure is a valid goal.”
Appellant also challenged the $10,000 retainer, but this argument did not go very far. “. . . in the absence of any citation of authority to the contrary, we conclude the court’s discretionary power to authorize compensation includes authorizing the payment of a retainer.” (Slip Opn., at p. 6.)