troubled11
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? NYS
I want to appeal a final judgment the Surrogate's court made regarding attorney fee in my probate case. I want to do an appeal (in pro se) based on the fact that the referee who heard the case did not apply one important factor in deciding the reasonableness of the attorney fee -- he did not examine the time records which the attorney submitted in the form of handwritten notes on calendars and did not compare those records to the bill which was based entirely on time spent. In that trial I was represented by another attorney who told the referee that those records should not be accepted because they were cryptic and were not contemporaneous. But it seems that the court accepted those records without referring to them other than saying that "the bill was supported by time sheets" and by the other 8 criteria.
In his calendars, the attorney made errors in adding up his hours totaling over 40 hours to his benefit. He then transferred those hours to his bill and charged me $11,000 for that error. In his calendars he shows over 60 hours of research for which he charges me $17,000 -- I think the court should have found those research hours excessive for a lawyer specializing in probate litigation. In his time records the attorney shows over 14 hours for which he is charging me double because he was discussing my case with his junior attorney. He also shows 25 hours of preparation for trial and 25 hours of general file review which I think the referee should have found excessive for the probate trial which lasted 35 hours.
I found the following information on internet but I don't know how it applies to my case :
(1) "In an appeal,you don't have to present your case all over again. The court will just look at the trial record." -- What exactly is the trial record? Is it the ruling as presented by the referee who ruled against me? or does it mean the transcript of the trial?
(2) "The appeals court will only look at the mistakes the court made. It wont look at the facts again. The appeals court has to say how the mistakes changed how the case turned out." Does that mean that I can't present a list of math errors or a list of research dates? And if I don't submit those lists, how will the court know what those mistakes are?
Also can you tell me whether it is correct for me to file the Notice of Appeal with the Surrogate Court? And when I am ready to file my appeal, where should I file it?
And finally, can you give me an idea of what will happen at the appeal hearing, like do I get to talk or present any evidence?
I want to appeal a final judgment the Surrogate's court made regarding attorney fee in my probate case. I want to do an appeal (in pro se) based on the fact that the referee who heard the case did not apply one important factor in deciding the reasonableness of the attorney fee -- he did not examine the time records which the attorney submitted in the form of handwritten notes on calendars and did not compare those records to the bill which was based entirely on time spent. In that trial I was represented by another attorney who told the referee that those records should not be accepted because they were cryptic and were not contemporaneous. But it seems that the court accepted those records without referring to them other than saying that "the bill was supported by time sheets" and by the other 8 criteria.
In his calendars, the attorney made errors in adding up his hours totaling over 40 hours to his benefit. He then transferred those hours to his bill and charged me $11,000 for that error. In his calendars he shows over 60 hours of research for which he charges me $17,000 -- I think the court should have found those research hours excessive for a lawyer specializing in probate litigation. In his time records the attorney shows over 14 hours for which he is charging me double because he was discussing my case with his junior attorney. He also shows 25 hours of preparation for trial and 25 hours of general file review which I think the referee should have found excessive for the probate trial which lasted 35 hours.
I found the following information on internet but I don't know how it applies to my case :
(1) "In an appeal,you don't have to present your case all over again. The court will just look at the trial record." -- What exactly is the trial record? Is it the ruling as presented by the referee who ruled against me? or does it mean the transcript of the trial?
(2) "The appeals court will only look at the mistakes the court made. It wont look at the facts again. The appeals court has to say how the mistakes changed how the case turned out." Does that mean that I can't present a list of math errors or a list of research dates? And if I don't submit those lists, how will the court know what those mistakes are?
Also can you tell me whether it is correct for me to file the Notice of Appeal with the Surrogate Court? And when I am ready to file my appeal, where should I file it?
And finally, can you give me an idea of what will happen at the appeal hearing, like do I get to talk or present any evidence?