Reversal: COA awards Muncie attorney fees for unpaid legal services

A Muncie attorney is set to receive payment owed him by a former municipal client after the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a decision that denied his counterclaim for final payment and subjected him to attorney fees.

In 2006, Mark Abrell signed an agreement to provide legal services for the Delaware County Regional Wastewater District. The parties’ agreement stated Abrell would be paid a retainer of $600 per month, which included time spent at two regular monthly meetings and unlimited telephone calls, $175 per hour for legal work “in excess of the time covered by the monthly retainer,” and contingency fees collected from debtors in collection matters.

When Abrell prepared for and appeared at a district meeting in March 2017, he was discharged as the its attorney. Although Abrell sent the district his final bill of $880, the district’s board members voted not to pay the bill. The board alleged Abrell had collected unreasonable fees in the past because the monthly meetings had been reduced from two to one as of June 2015, without reduction in the retainer amount.

In August 2017, the district’s new counsel sent a demand letter to Abrell regarding files in addition to the active collection files it had taken from Abrell after his discharge. Abrell told the district that he was retaining a statutory attorney’s lien on his former client’s files and that his final bill included several hours of preparation work, including more time spent preparing for one meeting instead of two.

The district then unsuccessfully filed a complaint against Abrell with the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission, and subsequently filed a complaint for replevin to recover files in Abrell’s possession. Abrell filed a counterclaim, seeking payment of his final bill and his portion of contingency fees related to collection matters. The trial court ultimately directed the parties to attempt to settle the claim for contingency fees, and the parties came to an agreement with the district paying Abrell $1,341.50 from escrow funds.

Ultimately, the trial court issued a judgment against Abrell in the entire amount of the District’s attorney fees — $4,973.50 — and the counterclaim for his final bill was denied.

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed Tuesday, finding pursuant to the parties’ initial services agreement, Abrell was entitled to reasonable fees for his uncompensated legal work prior to his discharge as the district’s attorney. It noted the district was “contractually bound to pay Abrell for his legal services performed but uncompensated as of March 1, 2017.”

The appellate court additionally found the district did not demonstrate its entitlement to an award of attorney fees in Mark Abrell v. Delaware County Regional Wastewater District, 19A-PL-585 on grounds that Abrell engaged in meritless litigation.

“Here, the factual determination made by the trial court that the length of time Abrell retained certain files was ‘unreasonable’ is not equivalent to presenting an ‘unreasonable’ claim or defense. Moreover, Abrell substantially prevailed upon his counterclaim when he recovered significant contingency fees. Indeed, the district did not deny that Abrell was entitled to some recovery of fees and set aside an escrow fund for that purpose,” the panel wrote.

The case was therefore remanded with instructions to the trial court to determine the contractual fees Abrell is owed by the district.