Hohensee v. Minear

⁶ Per Curiam. After a sale under a deed of trust in default had been finally ratified, the trustee moved, as the deed of trust authorized, for the allowance of a counsel fee against the estate in his hands in the amount of $15,000. In support of the fee was a certificate of the lawyer showing services rendered during some 300 hours in connection with his services in the circuit court and in this Court and the Supreme Court of the United States. After a hearing at which appellants, the former owner of the property and his son who had defaulted as purchaser on the first sale, had so vigorously challenged the fairness and permissibility of the fee asked that they did not reach its reasonableness, Judge Meloy, who had handled the case from its inception, stated that the court was “fully cognizant of the amount of work done by the attorney” and allowed a fee of $7,500 “subject, of course, to any exceptions that might be noted with respect to the auditor’s report.” A formal order of May 16, 1968, to that effect followed and appellants appealed on June 13, 1968.

Because of the pendency of this appeal, the auditor has not filed his report. The trustee sought dismissal of the appeal before briefs were filed but his motion was denied. On the ground that the appeal was not from a final order or decree, he renewed the motion in his brief, as Maryland Rule 836 d permits.