A recent New York Law Journal story, “Panel Vacates $200K Attorney Fee for JHO’s Lack of Records,” reports that a nearly $200,000 attorney fee award was vacated by an appellate panel that found a hearing officer failed to “develop the record as to the reasonableness” of the amount.

Ruling in STA Parking Corp v. Lancer Ins. Co., a unanimous panel of the Appellate Division, First Department, said Judicial Hearing Officer Ira Gammerman, “after a very abbreviated hearing, awarded attorneys’ fees of $196,372.33, the exact amount that was sought, to the penny.”

The fee dispute stemmed from defendant Lancers Insurance’s payments to Baritz & Colman, the law firm it hired to defend its insured, STA Parking, in connection with multiple property damage claims brought against it.  Lancers claimed it had already paid the law firm $180,000 in full satisfaction of its legal bill.

Baritz & Colman argued before Gammerman that the $180,000 payment was for a separate lawsuit specifically covered by its agreement with Lancers, according to the fee hearing transcript.  Lancers produced one of its claims managers to testify that Lancers agreed to pay Baritz’s $150 per hour for representing STA Parking in connection with all the lawsuits brought by neighboring property owners, including the one before Gammerman.

But an engagement letter produced by Lancers referenced only one of the lawsuits, and Gammerman ruled that the $180,000 paid was in connection with that case only.  Lancers argued that since Baritz & Colman continued to accept payments under the letter as additional cases were filed, the $180,000 payment had covered all of the cases, including the one before Gammerman.

The appellate panel vacated the fee award and order a new hearing.  Baritz & Colman associate Aaron Taishoff said his firm was “fully prepared to provide the court with whatever additional documentation it requests in compliance with the First Department’s holding.”