| IN RE: ADOPTION OF M.M.H. APPEAL OF: JAMES E. MAHOOD AND WILDER & MAHOOD, P.C. No. 1331 WDA 2008 2009 PA Super 177 Atlantic: 981 A.2d 261 Filed: 9/4/2009 | |
| Appeal from the Order Entered July 21, 2008, In the Court of Common Pleas, Allegheny County Civil Division, at No. A08-010(x3) | |
| Before: KLEIN, ALLEN, and COLVILLE,* JJ. | |
| Opinion by: ALLEN, J. | |
| This is an adoption case that concerns the orphans’ court’s authority to determine, sua sponte, the reasonable value of an attorney’s legal services and to reduce the legal fees it finds excessive. In this case, the trial court, sitting en banc, concluded that the legal fees of James E. Mahood and Wilder and Mahood, P.C., (“Appellants”) were excessive when compared to similar cases in Allegheny County, and reduced them to an amount that it found to be reasonable. On appeal, Appellants maintain, in essence, that the trial court committed an error of law because it lacked the authority to take such measures. We conclude that based upon the facts of this case, the trial court did not possess the authority – statutory, policy-based, inherent or otherwise - to unilaterally decrease Appellants’ attorney’s fees. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s order and remand for proceedings consistent with this Opinion. | |
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