687 N.E.2d 9 | Ohio Ct. App. | 1996
Defendant Chrysler Corporation ("Chrysler") has appealed from a judgment of the Summit County Common Pleas Court in favor of plaintiffs Lonnie and Minnie Page on their claim for damages under Ohio's "Lemon Law." Chrysler has argued that the trial court (1) incorrectly refused to set off the reasonable value of plaintiffs' use of the automobile from the amount of damages they were awarded; (2) incorrectly treated expenses plaintiffs incurred in preparation for trial as costs; and (3) incorrectly awarded plaintiffs excessive attorney fees. This *127 court affirms the judgment of the trial court because (1) plaintiffs were entitled to a refund of the full amount they paid for their automobile, (2) defendant waived the right to contest the treatment of litigation expenses as costs by not bringing that alleged error to the trial court's attention, and (3) the trial court's award of attorney fees was supported by the evidence.
Plaintiffs' claims against defendant Fred Martin Motor Company were dismissed before trial. Their claims against defendant Chrysler were initially tried to a panel of arbitrators. The arbitrators found for plaintiffs and awarded Mr. Page $30,000 in damages and Mrs. Page $8,735.67 in damages. Chrysler appealed the arbitrators' award to the Summit County Common Pleas Court. Plaintiffs' claims were tried to a jury. At the outset, the trial court dismissed Chrysler's counterclaim. On January 5, 1996, the jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiffs for $29,305.80.
After the jury's verdict, plaintiffs moved the trial court for an order requiring Chrysler to pay their attorney fees and costs. The trial court held a hearing on this issue and, on February 13, 1996, awarded plaintiffs $21,187 in attorney fees and costs. Chrysler timely appealed to this court.
R.C.
Chrysler has argued that the costs properly awardable in a Lemon Law case are limited to court costs and "do not include expenses incurred in the preparation of a matter for trial." A party waives the right to raise as error on appeal an issue that was apparent at the time of trial if the party did not bring it to the attention of the trial court. Varisco v. Varisco (1993),
In regard to the first prong, Chrysler has argued that the trial court should not have awarded attorney fees that were in excess of the amount plaintiffs were obligated to pay under the contingent fee arrangement they had with their attorneys. One of plaintiffs' attorneys testified at the fee hearing that plaintiffs had entered into a fee agreement with her firm under which plaintiffs, in the event of a successful outcome, were required to pay a sum equal to the amount of hours the lawyers spent working on the case multiplied by the firm's hourly rate. Plaintiffs requested that the trial court award them the amount they were obligated to pay under that fee agreement. The trial court awarded them less than that amount because it concluded that plaintiffs' attorneys had spent an excessive amount of time preparing for trial. Chrysler failed to demonstrate that the trial court awarded plaintiffs more fees than they were obligated to pay under the fee agreement.
In the second prong of its argument, Chrysler has suggested that plaintiffs' lawyers spent more time than was necessary preparing for arbitration, and, therefore, the trial court should have reduced its award of attorney fees accordingly. A licensed attorney testified for plaintiffs at the fee hearing that the amount of time their lawyers spent on the case was reasonable. In view of that testimony, the trial court did not err by including in its award of attorney fees the full amount of time plaintiffs' lawyers spent preparing for arbitration. Chrysler's third assignment of error is overruled.
Judgment affirmed.
QUILLIN, P.J., and BAIRD, J., concur. *130