In re Adoption of B.A.B.

508 A.2d 556, 352 Pa. Super. 444, 1986 Pa. Super. LEXIS 10532
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 24, 1986
DocketNo. 00797
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 508 A.2d 556 (In re Adoption of B.A.B.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Adoption of B.A.B., 508 A.2d 556, 352 Pa. Super. 444, 1986 Pa. Super. LEXIS 10532 (Pa. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

CIRILLO, President Judge:

This is an appeal from an order dismissing the exceptions of Attorney A,1 appellant herein. The sole issue presented is whether the hearing court abused its discretion in ordering the reduction of a fee charged by Attorney A for services rendered in connection with an uncontested private adoptive placement.

The facts disclosed by the record may be summarized as follows. Appellees, Mr. and Mrs. B, were interested in adopting a child. Appellees learned through relatives that the unborn child of Miss C might be available for a private adoptive placement. Appellees then contacted Attorney A and requested that he represent them in the potential adoption proceedings. Mr. and Mrs. B inquired as to the cost of Attorney A’s services and were told that he would [447]*447accept the case at an hourly rate of $60.00. Billing was to be done on the basis of a time record kept by Attorney A. The parties agreed that Attorney A’s fee would be based upon actual time and labor expended and not upon the success or failure of the adoption. The Bs requested that Attorney A conduct the adoption proceedings so as to preserve their anonymity.

Attorney A performed a variety of services during the twenty months between his initial consultation with Mr. and Mrs. B and the final hearing on the B’s petition for adoption. Attorney A drafted and filed various legal documents relating to the adoptive proceeding, consulted with and advised his clients, attended hearings, and corresponded with other attorneys and the courts. Attorney A also met with Miss C and her family, made financial arrangements for the Bs to pay Miss C’s medical expenses, obtained Miss C’s and the natural father’s consents, provided Miss C with a birth certificate and photographs of the child, obtained medical records, and was present at the hospital during the physical transfer of the child to the Bs. Attorney A was required to travel to a county at the other end of the state to testify as an intermediary at the final hearing.

Attorney A provided Mr. and Mrs. B with itemized bills on a periodic basis, which the Bs paid without objection. The total amount requested by Attorney A as compensation for his services was $3,160.00, not including $228.00 in transportation costs incurred as a result of traveling to the final hearing.

An examination of the record, including a transcript of testimony taken at the final hearing, reveals that neither the court nor Mr. and Mrs. B doubted that Attorney A had actually performed all of the services indicated on the bills and time sheets submitted to the hearing court.2 Further, local counsel for Mr. and Mrs. B testified that Attorney A’s services were satisfactory in all respects. The Bs do not argue differently on appeal and they do not challenge the existence or validity of their agreement with Attorney A.

[448]*448At the final hearing, the court, acting sua sponte, raised a question as to the amount of appellant’s fee. Attorney A testified at length concerning the services rendered and made available detailed bills and time sheets for the court’s inspection. The court ordered that Attorney A reduce his fee to $1200.00 and remit the balance to Mr. and Mrs. B, but allowed an additional $228.00 for travel expenses. In its opinion, the court, sitting en banc, based its decision in part upon its understanding that the receipt of compensation for services rendered as an intermediary constitutes “dealing in humanity,” and thus a misdemeanor pursuant to 18 Pa.C.S. § 4305. The court further noted that, in its view, Attorney A’s fees for legal services also constituted a violation of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4305 to the extent that they were "... beyond what is reasonable____” The court took notice of the fact that $600.00 was the maximum fee charged by attorneys in that county for services in connection with an adoption. Finally, the court indicated that, in its view, charging for nonlegal services rendered as an intermediary or overcharging for legal services in an adoption case is a violation of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits the treatment of a person as a slave. Attorney A’s exceptions to the order reducing his fee were dismissed. This appeal followed. Attorney A argues that the hearing court abused its discretion in reducing his fee. We agree.

In passing upon the court’s reduction of Attorney A’s fee, we are mindful that an abuse of discretion is more than just an error in judgment. A trial court will not be found to have abused its discretion unless the record discloses that the judgment exercised was manifestly unreasonable or the result of partiality, prejudice, bias, or ill-will. Commonwealth v. Lane, 492 Pa. 544, 424 A.2d 1325 (1981). Further, [449]*449it is well settled that supervision of compensation is peculiarly within the discretion of the Orphans’ Court. In re Reed Estate, 462 Pa. 336, 341 A.2d 108 (1975); Wallis Estate, 421 Pa. 104, 218 A.2d 732 (1966). Nevertheless, where the ultimate conclusion of law with respect to compensation is without record support, an appellate court cannot allow the decision to stand. In re Reed Estate, supra; Crawford’s Estate, 307 Pa. 102, 160 A. 585 (1931).

The court is statutorily authorized to exercise discretionary authority with regard to the payment of fees in adoption cases. Section 2533 of the Adoption Act of October 15, 1980, P.L. 934, was amended in 1982 to include subsection (c), which provides:

(c) Appropriate relief. — The court may provide appropriate relief where it finds that the moneys or consideration reported or reportable pursuant to subsection (b)(8) are excessive.

Subsection (b)(8) requires that an itemized accounting of moneys and consideration paid to an intermediary or any other person by reason of the adoptive placement be included in the report of the intermediary mandated by § 2533. “Intermediary” is defined in the Adoption Act as:

Any person or persons or agency acting between the parent or parents and the proposed adoptive parent or parents in arranging an adoption placement.

23 Pa.C.S. § 2102.

In the instant case, the court relied primarily upon the following provision of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code in holding that Attorney A’s receipt of compensation was partially unlawful and that the amount received was thereby subject to reduction:

Dealing in infant children
A person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree if he deals in humanity, by trading, bartering, buying, selling, or dealing in infant children.

18 Pa.C.S. § 4305.

The obvious intent of § 4305 is to prohibit the evil of “baby selling” or trafficking in humanity. After careful [450]*450review of the record, we are unable to find factual support for the court’s assertion that this evil is present or threatened in the case sub judice.

As stated above, Mr. and Mrs. B learned of the potential availability of the unborn child through persons other than Attorney A. Attorney A did not procure the child.

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Related

In Re Adoption of M.M.H.
981 A.2d 261 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2009)
In re Adoption of B.A.B.
534 A.2d 1050 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
508 A.2d 556, 352 Pa. Super. 444, 1986 Pa. Super. LEXIS 10532, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-adoption-of-bab-pasuperct-1986.