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Duffy v. Circuit Court For the Seventh Judicial Circuit2/11/2004
rneys who were of the opinion that the time and activities she performed were reasonable. She was allowed a short oral argument to the panel. She pointed out in her appeal that she was at a disadvantage because without an explanation or rationale for the cuts, she was unclear what she needed to justify.
. The panel of judges, consisting of Judge Kern, Judge Tice, Judge Davis and Judge Trimble, affirmed the fee reduction and wrote a letter. In its review of the cases, the panel recognized the Tappe decision and the factors listed therein. The panel explained in its letter to Duffy why the reductions were appropriate. This is the first time that Duffy actually received a specific explanation for the reductions.
. The panel determined that as to one of the Wilson cases, " he case was neither unusually complex nor difficult. The defendant received a probationary sentence similar to that uniformly obtained by Defendants of this age in these circumstances." The panel further concluded Duffy spent too much time and effort on suppression issues. The panel recognized that the judge presiding over the case should have been the one to review the bill; however, the panel concluded that Judge Tice had reviewed Judge Kern's reductions and agreed to them. Although the panel appears to have considered the complexity of the cases, it failed to take into consideration the other factors in determining the reasonableness of the fee. The panel stated that it used its "collective legal experience" and its review of other court appointed bills to find that Judge Kern did not abuse her discretion.
. As to the criminal case against Little, the panel found the case not to be "extremely complicated" with "straight forward issues that are standard in any criminal cases." The panel concluded as follows:
Judge Kern provided you with a highlighted copy of your bill showing line items reduced or deleted from your bill. You have now submitted detailed explanations for each entry. Even after reviewing your explanations we feel the changes, when reviewed in their totality, are unreasonably high. We do not doubt that you worked the hours reported but we find that the number of hours spent on the tasks accomplished are excessive.
We believe you to be a very competent and conscientious attorney. There will always be additional work that can be done in any case. The Court bears the burden and responsibility of monitoring court appointed fees while at the same time assuring constitutionally sufficient representation for indigent Defendants.
Although the panel attempted generally to address some of the reasonableness factors in Tappe, it did not address all of the factors or require the judges assigned to the cases to do so either.
. This rule setting forth the procedure of reviewing court appointed attorney fees is a relatively new procedure and standard and one which this Court has not previously addressed. Therefore, the lower court did not have the benefit of our direction prior to the Duffy matter being raised. It is apparent that the judges in good faith attempted to follow the rule. However, there are several things about the process they used which do not meet the standard as set forth in this opinion.
. The process used was flawed in several respects. First, the judge presiding over the cases, in the first instance, should have given the appointed attorney the explanation for the reductions specifically addressing the reasonableness factors. Secondly, the panel required Duffy to justify her bills without Duffy knowing why they were being denied. The panel should have required each judge who presided over the case to give Duffy an explanati
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