Litty v. Becker

656 A.2d 365, 104 Md. App. 370, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 73
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedApril 4, 1995
DocketNo. 1137
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 656 A.2d 365 (Litty v. Becker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Litty v. Becker, 656 A.2d 365, 104 Md. App. 370, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 73 (Md. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

WENNER, Judge.

Appellants, Ernest and Suzanne Litty1 and Talbot County, have appealed from the Circuit Court for Talbot County’s [372]*372denial of their motions for costs under Md.Rule 1-341.2 We shall address only whether a trial court is precluded from considering motions for costs after the appeal has been concluded.

Finding that the circuit court either failed to exercise its discretion, or abused it, we shall reverse the judgment of the circuit court and remand the case to that court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

FACTS

This brouhaha has a storied history, including two prior journeys to Annapolis. Nonetheless, we need not discuss that morass, focusing instead only on the trial court’s denial of appellants’ motions for costs. On 11 August 1993, we filed a per curiam opinion affirming the judgment of the circuit court in favor of the Littys. Becker, et al. v. Litty, et al., 97 Md.App. 751 (1993). Subsequently, appellants moved for costs. Talbot County filed its motion on 18 February 1994, and the Littys filed their motion on 28 March 1994. The trial court denied the motions by orders dated 13 May 1994, in which it said:

1. The instant motion was filed more than thirty (30) days after issuance of the mandate dispositive of the appeal and more than thirty (30) days after the Order of the Court of Appeals denying the Petition for Writ of Certiorari.
2. This issue was not raised prior to the appeal and was therefore not reserved by this Court as an issue collateral to those on appeal.
3. In exercising its discretion, this Court now declines to hear the matters raised in the instant motion.

[373]*373In declining to consider appellants’ motions for costs, the trial court “chose to be guided by sections (b)(3) and (d)(1) of the “PROPOSED” amendment to Rule 1-341, a copy of which is attached hereto____ This court still believes that exercise of discretion was proper.” Interestingly, the proposed amendments were not adopted.3

In any event, this appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

Maryland’s appellate courts have not before considered whether costs, as sanctions under Md.Rule 1-341, may first be sought after judgment has been entered and appealed and the appeal has been concluded. According to appellants, the trial court erred in concluding that it was without jurisdiction to consider their motions for costs. As appellants see it, the trial court abused its discretion by failing to exercise discretion, asserting that it is within the discretion of the trial court to consider at any time a motion for costs under Rule 1-341.

It is beyond cavil in Maryland that attorney’s fees may be sought after a final judgment has been entered, because attorney’s fees are considered to be a collateral matter. Mercedes-Benz v. Garten, 94 Md.App. 547, 568, 618 A.2d 233 (1993). Moreover, even though noting an appeal vests an appellate court “with the exclusive power and jurisdiction over [374]*374the subject matter of the proceedings, and the authority and control of the lower court with reference thereto is suspended,” Kirsner v. Edelmann, 65 Md.App. 185, 192-193, 499 A.2d 1313 (1985) (quoting Lang v. Catterton, 267 Md. 268, 297 A.2d 735 (1972)), a trial court may act “with respect to collateral or independent matters, not relating to the subject of the appeal.” Kirsner, supra. In Kirsner, we were called upon to consider whether the trial court lacked jurisdiction to determine the issue of counsel fees because “the hearing before the Master occurred, and her Report and Recommendation issued .... ” while the appeal was pending before our court. We concluded that, as the trial court had specifically reserved the issue of counsel fees and referred it to the Master for a hearing, “its jurisdiction was unaffected by the master’s hearing prior to the decision and mandate in Kirsner’s appeal.” Kirsner, supra, at 193-194, 499 A.2d 1313. Nevertheless, in Bohle v. Thompson, 78 Md.App. 614, 642, 554 A.2d 818 (1989), we said that “[wjhere a party seeks attorney’s fees based on pretrial proceedings maintained or defended by another party and determination of the attorney’s fee issue may be had without inquiry into the merits of the substantive action, it would be an abuse of discretion for the lower court to wait until an appeal has been noted and decided to determine ... the ... attorney’s fees issue.” We nonetheless concluded in Bohle, because it was the responsibility of the moving party to ensure “that a pretrial attorney’s fees issue is resolved prior to appeal ...,” that the moving party had waived his right to attorney’s fees by thirteen months inaction. Id. at 642, 554 A.2d 818. As we said earlier, however, Maryland’s appellate courts have not addressed the effect of a moving party first seeking costs pursuant to Rule 1-341 after an appeal has been concluded. The issue with which we are here faced has been commented upon, however, by Niemeyer and Schuett, in Maryland Rules Commentary (2d ed. 1992):

A motion for sanctions under this rule is a proceeding ancillary to the action. For that reason, leaving aside whether the rule may form the basis for a separate action, a motion must be filed within the confines of the action. If [375]*375filed before the entry of judgment in the underlying action, it will be treated like any other motion. If after judgment, it may be treated as a matter of costs collateral to the action or as an adjunct to an enforcement proceeding. If on appeal, it should be filed with the appellate court and either decided by that court or by the trial court on remand....
If sanctions are sought after an appeal has been concluded or after the time for an appeal has expired and no appeal has been filed, the motion must be supported by some basis that justifies the court’s continuing jurisdiction over the case.

Id. at 51-524 (emphasis added.) Niemeyer and Schuett have cited no cases in support of this proposition, nor have we found any.

As a result, we turn to the federal courts’ treatment of Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 in cases similar to the one at hand. The Supreme Court of the United States said in Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp., 496 U.S. 384, 110 S.Ct. 2447, 110 L.Ed.2d 359 (1990):

This Court has indicated that motions for costs or attorney’s fees are “independent proceeding[s] supplemental to the original proceeding and not a request for a modification of the original decree.” Sprague v. Ticonic National Bank,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Johnson v. Spireon, Inc.
Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2025
Worsham v. Greenfield
78 A.3d 358 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2013)
Logan v. LSP Marketing Corp.
11 A.3d 355 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2010)
Grove v. George
994 A.2d 1032 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2010)
Worsham v. Greenfield
978 A.2d 839 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2009)
Aurora Credit Services, Inc. v. Liberty West Development, Inc.
2007 UT App 327 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
656 A.2d 365, 104 Md. App. 370, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 73, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/litty-v-becker-mdctspecapp-1995.