Bankston v. Warbington

The trial court properly awarded attorneys' fees to the defendant since it found that the plaintiff used a contempt motion for purposes of harassment.

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Paige Bankston appeals from the trial court’s order entered pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-14 b awarding: 1 attorney fees incurred by Timothy Warbington in response to Bankston’s motion asking the court to hold Warbington in contempt for failure to comply with visitation provisions of a child custody decree, and 2 other expenses incurred by Warbington as a result of the visitation dispute. The court denied the contempt motion and subsequently considered Warbington’s request for the award of attorney fees and expenses. Finding pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-14 b that the contempt motion lacked substantial justification, was interposed for harassment, and unnecessarily expanded the proceedings, the trial court awarded Warbington $2,832.50 in attorney fees incurred in response to the motion, plus $1,468.00 for airline tickets purchased as a result of the visitation dispute. We find no abuse of discretion and affirm the trial court’s decision that Warbington was entitled to the award of attorney fees pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-14 b. For the reasons which follow, we vacate the court’s award of attorney fees in the amount of $2,832.50 and remand for reconsideration of the amount, and reverse the court’s award of $1,468.00 to Warbington for the expense of airline tickets purchased as a result of the visitation dispute.

1. The parties submitted the motion for attorney fees to the trial court by letter briefs. We find no merit to Bankston’s contention that the court was required to dismiss the motion because Warbington’s letter brief was not filed within ten days as ordered by the court. The court’s order awarding attorney fees pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-14 b found that Warbington’s letter brief was timely delivered to the judge’s chambers but not filed with the Clerk until a few days later “because the Clerk refused to accept submissions made in the letter brief format directed by the order.” The trial court did not err in refusing to dismiss the claim.

Bankston v. Warbington

The trial court properly awarded attorneys' fees to the defendant since it found that the plaintiff used a contempt motion for purposes of harassment.

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