Finley v. Finley

422 N.E.2d 289, 1981 Ind. App. LEXIS 1487
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 25, 1981
Docket3-780A202
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 422 N.E.2d 289 (Finley v. Finley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Finley v. Finley, 422 N.E.2d 289, 1981 Ind. App. LEXIS 1487 (Ind. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

CHIPMAN, Judge.

Charles O. and Shirley Finley’s marriage was dissolved on December 31, 1979. The divorce decree made the following distribution of marital property using the stated valuations:

VALUATIONS

PROPERTY TO WIFE TO HUSBAND

Real Estate

Home Place $480,000 - 0 -

Carpenter Farm - 0 - 160,000

Schultz Farm - 0 - 160,000

*291 PROPERTY VALUATIONS TO WIFE TO HUSBAND

Securities Common shares of various stocks - 0 - $1,270,097

William Blair Accounts institutional Liquid Asset Fund Deposit $967,786 - 0 - - 0 - 46,616

Bank Accounts Harris Trust & Savings Gary National Bank - 0 - - 0 - $ 14,543 5,940

Certificates of Deposit Illinois State Bank of Chicago - 0 - Harris Trust & Savings Bank - 0 - $ 293,488 398,739

Life Insurance on Husband .$325,265 (cash surrender value) $ 35,023

Loan Due from Charles 0. Finley & Co., Inc, (Illinois) - 0 - $ 661,073

Furniture!. 1 Jewelry Wife's Husband's $ 65,000 - 0 - - 0 - $ 4,000

Finley & Friday, Inc. Common stock - 0 - $ 250,000

Charles 0. Finley & Co., Inc. (Indiana) 310 shares 290 shares - 0 - $ 53,167 $ 56,883

Charles 0. Finley & Co., Inc. (Illinois)(no value assigned) 290 shares 310 shares

VALUED TOTAL $1,891,218 $3,356,402

On appeal Charles 0. Finley (Husband) raises the following issues:

I. Did the trial court abuse its discretion in awarding the wife’s attorneys $350,000 in legal fees and $13,000 for costs and requiring the Husband to pay the entire amount?

II. Should the trial court have distributed marital liabilities in the same proportion as the assets?

III. Did the trial court err in the valuation of:

A.The real estate?
B. The shares of Finley & Friday, Inc.?
C. The loan due from Charles 0. Finley & Co., Inc. (Illinois)?

IV. Can the trial court treat the Husband’s post-separation income as a marital asset?

V. Was the trial court’s disposition of property reasonable under IC 31-1 — 11.5-11 in light of:

A. The disposition of the marital liabilities and
*292 B. Husband’s contribution to the marital assets?

I. ATTORNEY’S FEES

The trial court ordered Husband to pay Wife’s attorneys’ fees in the amount of $350,000 and costs of $13,000. 2 Husband asserts this amount is unreasonable as it is more than Wife’s attorneys’ fees based on a strict hourly rate. 3 In addition this amount is three times the customary hourly rate in the community based on Wife’s attorneys’ estimated time expended up to the entry of judgment.

The award of reasonable attorneys’ fees under IC 31-1-11.5-16 is left to the broad discretion of the trial court, e. g., Waitt v. Waitt, (1977) 172 Ind.App. 357, 360 N.E.2d 268. In determining what sum, if any, is reasonable the trial court is not limited to considering only an hourly rate.

“Although an hourly rate is a factor to be considered in assessing attorney fees, it is not the sole factor. Traditionally, the size of the marital estate, the length of time necessary to obtain the desired result, and the possibility of appeal are other aspects to be weighed. Burkhart v. Burkhart, (1976) Ind.App., 349 N.E.2d 707.”

Johnson v. Johnson, (1979) Ind.App., 389 N.E.2d 719, 722. In addition, in determining reasonable fees in other types of cases we have allowed consideration of quality of services, Matter of Estate of Kingseed, (1980) Ind.App., 413 N.E.2d 917 (Petition to Transfer pending), and difficulty of issues First Valley Bank v. First Savings and Loan Association of Central Indiana, (1980) Ind.App., 412 N.E.2d 1237.

Here evidence was presented which indicates that factors other than merely number of hours expended should be considered in determining the amount of reasonable fees. At trial several attorneys expressed their opinions on the value of the attorneys’ services in response to a hypothetical question which delineated tasks performed by Wife’s attorneys. Without burdening this opinion with the entire extensive hypothetical, it suffices to say that it set forth the following information: Up to the entry of the final decree this case involved litigation over a period of five years including one interlocutory appeal. 367 N.E.2d 1126. The value of the estate involved is far above the norm. During discovery Husband was less than cooperative with Wife’s attorneys. Some discovery involved long distance travel and extensive auditing. The issues, in addition to normal divorce questions, included questions involving corporate and individual taxation, as well as corporate valuation and dissolution. In response to the hypothetical the experts’ estimates of reasonable fees ranged from $335,-000 to $417,880.

The trial court here clearly considered factors in addition to the time involved. The dissolution decree contains the following finding:

“The Court has considered the provisions of DR2-106 in the light of the testimony and evidence and in light of that which the Court itself knows of these proceedings. It is clear to this Court that this case could not have been so ably tried for either of the parties except, as it was, by experienced, knowledgeable lawyers of much more than average ability to establish the facts, discover the assets, to develop the evidence the intricacy of the relationship of the many facts of this litigation from the viewpoint of both of *293 the parties over more than five years including an appeal to the Court of Appeals as was done by the lawyers in this case is appropriate evidence of exceptional ability and experience. This knowledge and experience cannot be had in the bargain basement. To say that this work is to be compensated by a meager hourly rate flies in the face of economic and professional reality. It is to say that a General Motors clerk should be paid at the rate of the General Motors president — or that the president should be paid at the rate of the clerk. Or that open heart surgery should be paid for at the rate of a pedicure.

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Bluebook (online)
422 N.E.2d 289, 1981 Ind. App. LEXIS 1487, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/finley-v-finley-indctapp-1981.