In re Marriage of Waltrip

576 N.E.2d 399, 216 Ill. App. 3d 776, 159 Ill. Dec. 730, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1207
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 15, 1991
DocketNo. 2—90—0996
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 576 N.E.2d 399 (In re Marriage of Waltrip) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Marriage of Waltrip, 576 N.E.2d 399, 216 Ill. App. 3d 776, 159 Ill. Dec. 730, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1207 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE INGLIS

delivered the opinion of the court:

Respondent, Wayne Waltrip, appeals from a judgment entered by the circuit court of Du Page County awarding attorney Harold G. Field $26,284.30 in fees incurred in representing respondent in the dissolution of his marriage. On appeal, respondent contends that: (1) the trial court abused its discretion in awarding fees for matters ancillary to the dissolution proceedings; (2) the trial court abused its discretion in awarding fees in the amount of $26,284.30; and (3) attorney Field is not entitled to retain interest on a judgment for attorney fees when that judgment was paid but was subsequently overturned and remanded on appeal. We affirm the judgment of the circuit court as modified.

Attorney Harold G. Field represented respondent in the dissolution of his marriage to Rose Waltrip (not a party to this appeal). Field’s representation commenced in January 1984 and ended early in 1987 when Field was granted leave to withdraw as respondent’s counsel. Field filed a petition seeking attorney fees from respondent. At the hearing on the petition, respondent appeared without counsel and indicated that he was not ready to proceed. Respondent requested a continuance, which the trial court denied. Testimony was presented as to the reasonableness of Field’s fees, and the trial court subsequently entered judgment in favor of Field in the amount of $26,284.30. A lien was impressed in favor of Field on a joint account of respondent and Rose Waltrip; the funds in the account resulted from a real estate sale and were held by the escrow department of the Ticor Title Company.

Field then filed a petition to enforce the judgment for fees which the trial court granted, ordering Ticor Title Company to pay Field the sum of $26,284.30 plus statutory interest (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 110, par. 2 — 1303) from the funds held by Ticor in escrow. The parties apparently agree, although we do not find it in the record, that $29,284.30 was paid to Field by Ticor: $26,284.30 representing the attorney fees awarded and $3,555.45 representing the amount of statutory interest.

The cause was appealed to this court, where respondent contested the award of attorney fees based on the fact that he was not represented by counsel at the hearing and that the award of fees was not reasonable. We reversed that part of the trial court’s judgment involving attorney fees, finding that it was an abuse of discretion to deny respondent’s request for a continuance to retain counsel. The matter of attorney fees was remanded to the trial court for a new hearing. Because of our resolution of the issue, we did not address the question of whether the trial court abused its discretion in awarding Field $26,284.30 in attorney fees.

At the rehearing on the petition for fees, Field requested a judgment in the amount of $26,284.30 based on his earlier filed fees petition. The parties stipulated that Field’s hourly rates were fair and reasonable in the community. At that time, Field charged $100 an hour for office time and $125 an hour for court time.

Field testified that the total amount of assets involved in the dissolution proceeding was approximately $1 million and consisted primarily of real estate. The only issue in the dissolution proceeding was the division of the marital estate. Field testified that numerous documents were obtained from Mrs. Waltrip during discovery. Field explained that Mrs. Waltrip was scheduled to have her deposition taken several times and was requested to bring certain documentation with her when she was deposed. Each time Mrs. Waltrip complied and brought the requested documents, rendering the depositions unnecessary.

Respondent was similarly requested by Mrs. Waltrip’s attorney, Howard Broecker, to produce documentation. However, respondent did not comply. Respondent was eventually held in contempt, and sanctions were imposed.

Field testified that he retained an expert to reconcile respond-' ent’s bank accounts, which took several weeks and required Field’s assistance. Field testified that he did not retain an expert to value the parties’ real estate. Field explained that, toward the end of the case, respondent gave him the name of a very close friend whom he wanted to appraise the real estate when necessary.

Field stated that in representing respondent he made over 20 court appearances and attended at least five pretrial conferences. Many conferences were had between the parties and their attorneys. Field testified that at one point the parties came very close to reaching a settlement; however, respondent then found a diary in which his wife made daily or weekly entries. Respondent wanted to wait and see what the diary would reveal. Field testified that respondent then told him that he did not want to try the case and that he wanted to wait.

In his petition for fees, Field did not break down the amount of time spent on the case. Rather, the dates were listed with a description of the services performed on each date. At the end of the petition it was concluded that 213.77 hours of office time were spent and 47 hours of court time. At the rehearing, Field introduced into evidence the original time sheets from the case. Field explained that the time sheets were used in calculating the figures in his petition. Field explained that when he started the case in 1984, he entered on the time sheets the total dollars generated for each task. Late in 1985, however, Field changed his method of keeping track of his time by entering the amount of time spent for each task rather than dollars generated.

Field admitted that, in the three years that he represented respondent, he performed work for respondent which was not strictly limited to the action for dissolution of marriage. Field explained that this work involved some nonmarital property owned by respondent and was included in the petition for fees. Field estimated that the amount of money charged for that work was between $1,000 and $2,000; however, he stated that he was unsure as to the exact amount because some of the conferences that they had in-eluded discussions about both marital and nonmarital property, and he did not make separate notations on them.

Mrs. Waltrip’s attorney, Howard Broecker, testified that Mrs. Waltrip was very helpful in his representation of her. Broecker explained that Mrs. Waltrip had voluminous documentation and information which she made available to Broecker and which was incorporated into the pleadings. Broecker opined that Mrs. Waltrip’s efforts significantly reduced the amount of time he was required to spend on the file.

Broecker testified that, in 1987, he filed a petition seeking to recover the fees incurred in representing Mrs. Waltrip from January 1, 1983, to December 3, 1986. The total amount requested was $20,771.45, which Mrs. Waltrip paid.

After the hearing concluded, the court entered judgment in favor of Field for attorney fees in the sum of $26,284.30. The trial court found that the earlier order directing payment to Field by Ti-cor Title Company had “been effected and therefore the Judgment herein is fully satisfied and is hereby released.” Respondent timely appeals.

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Bluebook (online)
576 N.E.2d 399, 216 Ill. App. 3d 776, 159 Ill. Dec. 730, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marriage-of-waltrip-illappct-1991.