The fact that a fee is reasonable, unreasonable or excessive is often a matter of degree and involves the evaluation of a multiplicity of factors that are. Claimants must document their right to be awarded a fee. However, that burden is generally met by submitting invoices and billing records. An attorney who wants to prove that he is entitled to compensation must provide sufficient details for the court to “determine if the hours, fees and expenses are reasonable for any individual item.
billed”. The Court found that the lawyer had presented sufficient evidence to support his hourly rates. A) A cost is reasonable if, by its nature and amount, it does not exceed what a prudent person would incur in carrying out a competitive business. The reasonableness of specific costs should be examined with special care in relation to companies or their independent divisions that may not be subject to effective competitive restrictions.
The fact that a contractor incurs expenses cannot be presumed to be reasonable. If an initial review of the facts results in a challenge to a specific cost by the contracting officer or the contracting officer's representative, the burden of proof will be on the contractor to establish that such cost is reasonable. If attorney's fees are on the table, so to speak, as an item of damages, either against the bondholder or against a party the surety is suing, the question is what is needed to prove the fees? In general, recovering an attorney's fee includes showing that those fees are reasonable. Even if the provision for attorney fees is in the form of a specific rate or percentage, proof of reasonableness may still be required.
The determination of the “reasonableness” of an award is at the sole discretion of the trial court. This is appropriate in view of the trial court's superior understanding of the litigation. The award of an attorney's fee will only change if an abuse of discretion is demonstrated. Blazer Financial Services, Inc. We consider that the client's level of recovery is by far the most important determinant of the amount of an attorney's fee.
There is a scaling effect, as commissions represent a smaller percentage of customer recovery as customer recovery increases. The relationship between fees and recovery is remarkably regular, and can be seen both in cases where a fee transfer law does not apply and in cases where the plaintiff was entitled to request reimbursement under a rate change law. The existence of a high risk is associated with increased rates, as is the presence of the case in a federal court rather than in a state court. Contrary to popular belief, we found no solid evidence that attorney fees increased during the period studied.
