Detailed Evidence Needed to Prove Attorney Fee Awarded as Sanction, High Court Rules
“All fee-shifting situations require reasonableness,” the opinion said.
June 24, 2019 at 03:18 PM
2 minute read
Photo: Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock.com
Even when a litigant is sanctioned for filing a frivolous lawsuit and ordered to pay the opposing parties' attorney fees, trial courts still need detailed evidence to rule on how much of the fee was reasonable, according to a recent Texas Supreme Court ruling.
The June 21 opinion in Nath v. Texas Children's Hospital follows a chain of cases in recent years that blasted lawyers' fee awards when the only thing to back them up was testimony and affidavits. The justices have strongly urged attorneys to provide courts with detailed billing records when they're proving attorney fee awards.
What's new about Nath is that the state Supreme Court made it clear that the same evidence is required when fees are awarded as sanctions.
“All fee-shifting situations require reasonableness,” the opinion said. “Before a court may exercise its discretion to shift attorney's fees as a sanction, there must be some evidence of reasonableness because without such proof a trial court cannot determine that the sanction is 'no more severe than necessary' to fairly compensate the prevailing party.”
The ruling means that Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine must return to the trial court to provide better evidence to back up a $1.4 million attorney fee award that they won as sanctions after petitioner Rahul Nath filed a frivolous lawsuit against them.
The Supreme Court's docket shows that Texas Children's attorneys were Vinson & Elkins partner Pat Mizell, counsel Stacy Vu and Cathy Smith, and Copeland & Rice partner Russell Gips. The opinion noted their fees totaled $726,000.
Meanwhile, Baylor's fees were $644,500. Its attorneys were Norton Rose Fulbright partners Joy Soloway and Shauna Clark, senior associate Jamila Mensah and senior counsel Jaclyn Caugherty, and Edward “Teddy” Adams Jr., vice president of litigation for Crown Castle International.
Mizell and Soloway each didn't immediately return a call or email seeking comment. Neither did Brad Beers of Houston's Beers Law Firm, who represents Nash.
Read the opinion.
Related story:
Texas Supreme Court 'Strongly Encourages' Billing Records to Prove Up Attorney Fee Awards
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Sheppard Mullin Expands in Dallas With 6-Lawyer White Collar Team From Bradley
3 minute read
Paxton's 2024 Agenda: Immigration, Climate, Transgender Issues, Social Media, Abortion, Elections
9 minute read
Trending Stories
- 1'A Death Sentence for TikTok'?: Litigators and Experts Weigh Impact of Potential Ban on Creators and Data Privacy
- 2Bribery Case Against Former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin Is Dropped
- 3‘Extremely Disturbing’: AI Firms Face Class Action by ‘Taskers’ Exposed to Traumatic Content
- 4State Appeals Court Revives BraunHagey Lawsuit Alleging $4.2M Unlawful Wire to China
- 5Invoking Trump, AG Bonta Reminds Lawyers of Duties to Noncitizens in Plea Dealing
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
