Goodyear Dunlop Tires North America, Ltd. v. Gamez
This case involves an appeal by Goodyear Dunlop Tires North America, Ltd. challenging a trial court's award of approximately $400,000 in guardian ad litem fees and an additional $30,000 in appellate fees. The underlying litigation was a products liability case involving multiple minor plaintiffs, for whom the guardians ad litem were appointed. Goodyear contested the fees, arguing they were excessive, covered work outside the guardians' scope of duties, included work performed after the case settlement, and featured inappropriate billing practices. The appellate court found insufficient evidence to support the reasonableness of the ad litem fees, noting issues like billing for non-essential tasks, duplicate work, and unreasonable time entries (e.g., billing for sleeping or over 24 hours a day). Consequently, the court reversed the award of appellate fees, finding the trial court lacked plenary jurisdiction to modify the judgment. The aggregate ad litem fees portion of the judgment was reversed and remanded for recalculation consistent with the appellate court's opinion.