Summary
In Ujlaky, 498 Mich. at 890, our Supreme Court noted that "[t]he trial court applied the county's fee schedule, which capped compensation for plea cases at $660, but did not address at all the reasonableness of the fee in relation to the actual services rendered, as itemized by the appellant."
Summary of this case from People v. Bell (In re Attorney Fees of Faraone)Opinion
Docket No. 150887. COA No. 316494.
2015-09-30
In re Attorney Fees of John W. UJLAKY. People of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Shawn Douglas Simpson, Defendant, and John W. Ujlaky, Appellant.
Order
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the October 23, 2014 judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.305(H)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we REVERSE the judgment of the Court of Appeals as to Docket No. 316494, and we REMAND this case to the Kent Circuit Court for a determination of the reasonableness of the attorney fees requested. The trial court applied the county's fee schedule, which capped compensation for plea cases at $660, but did not address at all the reasonableness of the fee in relation to the actual services rendered, as itemized by the appellant. See In re Recorder's Court Bar Ass'n, 443 Mich. 110, 131, 503 N.W.2d 885 (1993). Although the expenditure of any amount of time beyond that contemplated by the schedule for the typical case does not, ipso facto, warrant extra fees, spending a significant but reasonable number of hours beyond the norm may. On remand, the trial court shall either award the requested fees, or articulate on the record its basis for concluding that such fees are not reasonable. See, e.g., In re Attorney Fees of Mullkoff, 176 Mich.App. 82, 85–88, 438 N.W.2d 878 (1989), and In re Attorney Fees of Jamnik, 176 Mich.App. 827, 831, 440 N.W.2d 112 (1989).
We do not retain jurisdiction.