Attorney’s Fees in Family Court
One of the many powers a Family Judge possesses is the ability to award attorney’s fees. An attorney can request reimbursement of fees on behalf of their client at the conclusion of a motion or trial. When a request for fees is made, the Court must consider the following factors:
(1) the financial circumstances of the parties;
(2) the ability of the parties to pay their own fees or to contribute to the fees of the other party;
(3) the reasonableness and good faith of the positions advanced by the parties both during and prior to trial;
(4) the extent of the fees incurred by both parties;
(5) any fees previously awarded;
(6) the amount of fees previously paid to counsel by each party;
(7) the results obtained;
(8) the degree to which fees were incurred to enforce existing orders or to compel discovery; and
(9) any other factor bearing on the fairness of an award.
R. 5:3-5(c)
Once a Judge decides attorney’s fees should be awarded, it is nearly impossible for the decision to be overturned. (See Rendine v. Pantzer, 141 N.J. 292, 317 (1995) ruling fee awards should be disturbed only on the rarest of occasions.)
Examples of situations where an award of attorney’s fees might be appropriate are:
-a great disparity of income
-harassment through the legal process (duplicative motion filings, etc.), or
-one party being completely successful in their application to the court where the other party was completely unsuccessful.
There may be certain situations in which you may be in a position to be granted reimbursement of your attorney’s fees – either in part or whole. On the flip side, you may be filing something with the Court that could lead to you paying the other party’s fees. If you have questions or concerns about these situations, contact an attorney to ensure your rights are protected.
