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Utah Court of Appeals hears challenge to attorney-fee award in Lawrence v. Labor Commission
Summary
At oral argument in Lawrence v. Labor Commission, appellant counsel urged reversal of a partial attorney-fee award, arguing the ALJ admitted insufficient evidence and that a 50% award was arbitrary; respondent counsel defended the ALJ, saying affidavits supported the reduced award and the association failed to show prejudice under Christiansen precedent.
The Utah Court of Appeals on Monday heard arguments over whether an administrative law judge abused discretion in awarding partial attorney fees in Lawrence v. Labor Commission, and whether the proper remedy is remand after the Utah Supreme Court's Christiansen decisions or outright reversal.
Appellant counsel Lincoln Hopes told the three-judge panel that the ALJ repeatedly acknowledged there was "insufficient evidence" to allocate attorney hours and nevertheless awarded 50% of the requested fees. "If counsel can't allocate, it's an abusive discretion for the judge to say, well, he can't allocate, but I'll just pull out 50%," Hopes said, arguing the partial award was arbitrary and should be reversed to zero rather than remanded for another attempt to allocate hours.
Judge Ryan Taney pressed Hopes on remedies under Christiansen 2, asking whether the starting point should be remand to let the ALJ perform a full reasonableness analysis now that Christiansen clarifies the…
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