Novack v. Novack
| Decision Date | 13 September 1966 |
| Docket Number | 65-831.,No. 65-830,65-830 |
| Citation | 189 So.2d 513 |
| Parties | Ben NOVACK, Appellant, v. Bernice NOVACK, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Sibley, Giblin & Levenson, Miami Beach, for appellant.
Irving Cypen, Miami Beach, Sam Daniels, Miami, for appellee.
Before HENDRY, C.J., and PEARSON and SWANN, JJ.
By these appeals we are called upon to review the correctness of a chancellor's award of $56,500 to a wife for attorney's fees, in addition to a temporary attorney's fee of $3,500 previously awarded, in a divorce action.
On August 18, 1964 the appellee wife employed her attorney to obtain for her a divorce from her husband, alimony for herself, custody of and support for their child, and a special equity in the appellant's property. The attorney filed a suit on her behalf against the husband on October 3, 1964. The husband, in his answer and counterclaim, sought a divorce, custody of the child, and to defeat the wife's right to alimony upon statutory grounds. The wife's attorney filed a reply to the counterclaim, denying the material averments thereof, These were the major pleadings that brought the case to issue.
The case was set for trial on July 20, 1965. Prior thereto, the husband agreed to temporary allowances which were sought by the wife, thus eliminating the necessity of taking testimony. On the day of final hearing, before any testimony was adduced, the husband and wife reconciled.
The issue before us therefor concerns the reasonable value of the services rendered by the attorney for the wife in a cause which had been prepared for trial but never tried, due to a reconciliation between the parties.
In Provus v. Provus, Fla. 1950, 44 So.2d 656, on page 657, the Supreme Court said:
Lawyers are officers of the court and justice should be administered economically, efficiently, and expeditiously. Attorney's fees are an important factor in the administration of justice, and if they are fixed without proper relationship to these facts it could result in a loss of public confidence in the bench and bar
It would appear from the testimony that the chancellor reached the figure of $60,000 total attorney's fee by adopting the view that the wife's...
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Green v. Green, s. 58227
...the services rendered. The allowance must square with fairness to all alike under similar facts and circumstances (Novack v. Novack (D.Ct.App.Fla.1966), 189 So.2d 513, 514). The amount of the fees depends on the consideration of, in addition to the relative financial ability of the parties,......
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Valparaiso Bank & Trust Co. v. Sims
...279 So.2d 863, 866 (Fla.1973); Donner v. Donner, 281 So.2d 399 (Fla.3d DCA 1972), cert. den., 287 So.2d 679 (Fla.1973); Novack v. Novack, 189 So.2d 513 (Fla.3d DCA 1966), cert. disch. 195 So.2d 199 (Fla.1967); and Trope v. Trope, 238 So.2d 486 (Fla.3d DCA REVERSED and REMANDED for entry of ......
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Bosem v. Bosem
...such allowances on several occasions have been reduced by the courts. See Chaachou v. Chaachou, Fla.1961, 135 So.2d 206; Novack v. Novack, Fla.App.1966, 189 So.2d 513; Trope v. Trope, Fla.App.1970, 238 So.2d The award of attorney's fees in such cases should be made only for services that ar......
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Ortiz v. Ortiz
...Thoni, Fla.App.1965, 179 So.2d 420. It has also been held that attorneys' fees awarded must be based on evidence given. Novack v. Novack, Fla.App.1966, 189 So.2d 513; Hall v. Hall, Fla.App.1967, 200 So.2d 544. We therefore find that the award of $15,000.00 for attorneys' fees is not support......