In Re: The Minors Donnisha Le'Jah Williams and Ronnishia Tatyana Thomas
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McCLENDON 3 This appeal arises from an attorney fee dispute following the settlement of wrongful death and personal injury claims on behalf of two minor children Ronnishia Tatyana Thomas and Donnishia Le Ijah Williams after the death of their mother and brother as a result of a fire in their home on August 1 2005 in Baton Rouge On February 4 2008 the children grandmother Shirley Sanders s Williams tutrix of the minor children filed a petition for authority to settle the s children claims Judgment was signed on August 6 2008 authorizing settlement of the minors claims in the amounts of 450 for Ronnishia and 000 000 400 for Donnishia The judgment included the following paragraph 3 Counsel for petitioners are to split attorney fees according to s their own agreements with the modification that Clarence T Nails Jr shall receive fifteen percent 15 of all attorney sfees for his services rendered Thereafter Ms Williams filed a motion to amend the judgment or in the alternative a motion for a new trial asserting that the judgment was contrary to the law and evidence and was made in error in awarding 15 of all attorney fees to Mr Nails In support of her motion Ms Williams presented a letter dated March 22 2006 showing that the 40 contingency attorney fee in this matter was to be split 60 to the Florida law firm the Gary law firm representing the interests of the minor children and 40 to the Louisiana law firm representing the interests of the children father The letter further stated s that the Gary law firm would be responsible for all attorney fees to be paid to Mr Nails Ms Williams also introduced a copy of a letter dated May 4 2006 from the Gary law firm explaining to Mr Nails that he was to receive 5 of the Florida s firm attorney fees The 5 fee was further reflected in the closing statement prepared by the Gary law firm in December 2007 upon settlement of the matter which was signed by Ms Williams and all counsel including Mr Nails Lastly Ms Williams presented copies of two letters from the Gary law firm in July 2008 rejecting Mr Nails request to increase his attorney fees to 15 s 2 In opposition Mr Nalls presented evidence showing the extent of his involvement in the matter but introduced no evidence to explain the increase of the attorney fee amount in the judgment beyond the 5 reflected in the closing statement signed by him At the conclusion of the hearing the trial court stated that there was nothing in the record that indicated that Mr Nails was entitled to anything more than a 5 attorney fee The court granted the motion for a new trial and ordered that the previous judgment be amended to delete the 15 attorney fee provision Judgment to that effect was signed on October 28 2008 Mr Nails requested reconsideration of the judgment which was denied and he appealed The standard of review of a judgment on a motion for new trial whether on peremptory or discretionary grounds is that of abuse of discretion LSAC arts 1972 1973 In re Succession of Theriot 08 1233 p P C 9 La 1 Cir 12 4 So 878 884 Following our thorough review of App 08 23 3d the record we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in finding that the law and evidence did not support the August 6 2008 judgment insofar as it pertained to Mr Nails attorney fees s Accordingly we affirm the trial court s October 28 2008 judgment deleting that portion of the earlier judgment in accordance with Uniform RulesCourts of Appeal Rule 2 16 All costs of this 6 appeal are assessed to Clarence T Nalls Jr AFFIRMED 3
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