Summary
In Lehman v. Lehman (70 NY2d 674 [1987]), a child custody and visitation case, the Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court's decision to lower the compensation for a psychiatrist from $11,650 to $5000.
Summary of this case from IN MATTER OF KENNETH C. v. DELONDA R.Opinion
Decided July 7, 1987
Appeal from the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the First Judicial Department, Richard Wallach, J.
Vivienne Garfinkle for appellant.
Peter J. Unger for Sirgay Sanger, respondent.
MEMORANDUM.
The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, without costs.
Dr. Sirgay Sanger, a psychiatrist, applied to Supreme Court for compensation of $11,650, in connection with services rendered in a habeas corpus proceeding for interim custody or unsupervised visitation with a child. The trial court found that Dr. Sanger, whom it had appointed to conduct evaluations of both parties and their child, was of only limited assistance to the court because he had "abandoned his role as a neutral scientific arm of the court and became the dedicated partisan of the mother".
The court in its discretion fixed Dr. Sanger's fee at $5,000 which petitioner was directed to pay. The Appellate Division affirmed by a divided court, the dissenters concluding that whenever a court-appointed expert is found to have abandoned his role as a neutral scientific arm of the court, as a matter of law he forfeits all entitlement to a fee.
We conclude that because, in these circumstances, the Appellate Division affirmance of the award of expert witness fees was not an abuse of discretion as a matter of law, the issue is beyond our review (see, O'Brien v O'Brien, 66 N.Y.2d 576, 590).
Chief Judge WACHTLER and Judges SIMONS, KAYE, ALEXANDER, TITONE, HANCOCK, JR., and BELLACOSA concur.
On review of submissions pursuant to section 500.4 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals (22 N.Y.CRR 500.4), order affirmed, without costs, in a memorandum.