Mindy Donovan v. Joshua R. Hastings

Summary

The Supreme Court of Tennessee interprets Tennessee Code Annotated section 20-12-119(c), which authorizes attorney-fee and cost awards following dismissal of a claim under Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 12.02(6). The court holds that recoverable fees and costs are not limited to those incurred after an amended pleading was filed when the amended pleading asserts the same claim as the original pleading. The court reverses the Court of Appeals, vacates the trial court’s award, and remands for reconsideration of reasonable attorney fees and costs.

Holdings

1. When the same claim is asserted in an original countercomplaint and repeated without change in an amended countercomplaint, attorney fees and costs recoverable under Tennessee Code Annotated section 20-12-119(c) are not limited to those incurred after the amended countercomplaint was filed. They may include reasonable and necessary fees and costs incurred as a consequence of the dismissed claim during the proceedings beginning with the original pleading.
2. The appellee waived the argument that section 20-12-119(c)(5)(B)'s sixty-day limitation barred recovery because he neither properly designated the issue nor presented a sufficient supporting argument in his brief.
3. Tennessee Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5 provides the correct legal standard for assessing the reasonableness of attorney fees and costs under Tennessee Code Annotated section 20-12-119(c).

Questions Presented

1. Whether attorney fees and costs recoverable under Tennessee Code Annotated section 20-12-119(c) are limited to those incurred after the filing of an amended pleading containing the dismissed claim.
2. Whether the appellee waived an argument that the statutory sixty-day filing limitation barred recovery because the issue was not properly presented under the appellate briefing rules.
3. Whether Tennessee Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5 provides the correct legal standard for assessing the reasonableness of attorney fees and costs under section 20-12-119(c).

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded