HOUSTON – The attorneys who made 27 times more than their client in a breach of contract case were awarded reasonable fees, the First Court of Appeals recently opined.
The underline lawsuit was brought by Careen Plummer against her former employer, Jetall Companies.
Court records show Plummer began working for Jetall as a property manager in 2014. She resigned a year later. Afterwards, she demanded payment for $6,363.93 in unpaid wages.
When Jetall failed to respond to the demand, Plummer sued. At trial, Plummer sought to recover around $13,000 in damages. A jury awarded her $2,285.34 in actual damages and tacked on $61,662.50 in attorney’s fees.
Jetall then moved for a new trial, which was denied by the trial court.
On appeal, Jetall argued the trial court erred in awarding attorney’s fees when there was no evidence of presentment of a claim for unpaid base compensation.
On Oct. 6, the First Court held the attorney’s fees awarded “are not excessive or unreasonable.”
“Jetall’s only complaint in challenging the award as excessive is that it does not bear a reasonable relationship to the damages award,” the opinion states.
“But the amount of damages awarded is but one factor to consider when assessing the reasonableness of an attorney’s fees award, and a disproportionate relationship between the amount of damages and attorney’s fees awarded does not alone render the attorney’s fee award excessive.”
Plummer is represented by Houston attorney Chris Di Ferrante.
Appeals case No. 01-18-01091-CV