MHL ARTICLE 81 - New York State Unified Court System

Matter of Brown, 182 Misc.2d 172; 697 N.Y.S.2d 838 (Sup. Ct., Queens Cty., 1999)
(Kassoff, J.)
Court declines award of attorney’s fees from IP's estate for legal fees incurred by conservator to
reconstruct IP's financial records, in connection with proceeding to remove conservator for breach
of fiduciary.
(v) Counsel for Guardian’s surety
nd
In the Matter of Benjamin D. Sherman, 277 A.D.2d 320;715 N.Y.S.2d 746 (2 Dept., 2000)
Counsel fees awarded to counsel for guardian’s surety and counsel for IP’s daughter where, after IP’s
death, daughter petitioned in Supreme Court for Special Guardian and final accounting in relation
to guardian’s wrong doing in failing to make nursing home payments for IP and also failing to turn
(vi) Counsel for non - party
nd
Matter of Marion C.W., 83 AD3d 1089; 923 N.Y.S.2d 558 (2 Dept., 2011)
Appellate Division affirms Supreme Court’s award of attorney’s fees to non-party trustee of the
AIP’s trust, noting that it is proper for the court in which the trust litigation is conducted to determine
the amount and source of counsel fees in that litigation.
nd
Matter of Ruth Q., 23 A.D.3d 479; 808 N.Y.S.2d 110 (2 Dept., 2005)
MHL 81.16 (f) does not authorize an award of attorneys fees to counsel for a non-party for services
rendered in opposing a petition for the appointment of a guardian.
c. Reasonableness of fee requested
Matter of Martha M. (Anonymous), (Unpublished Decision and Order), June 22, 2012,
Index # 1032/06, Sup. Ct., Dutchess Cty. (Pagones, J.)
In assessing the reasonable value of service rendered by the Petitioner’s attorney, the Court declined
to accept the itemized billing records submitted by the firm (wherein the attorneys billed at hourly
rates between $270 and $650 and paralegals billed at hourly rates of $225), noting that the rates
charged therein were substantially higher than the rates charged by attorneys in this geographical area
(where typical hourly rate for an attorney was between $200 and $350, and where the typical hourly
rated for a paralegal rarely exceeded $90).
Matter of Samuel S. (Anonymous), 96 AD3d 954; 947 N.Y.S. 2d 144 (2nd Dept. 2012)
The Appellate Division held that the trial courts failure to hold an adversarial hearing and provide,
in writing, a clear and concise explanation of the factors it considered and its reasoning in arriving
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