Attorney's Fees of Bettencourt v. Gonda

Opinion of the Court by

McKENNA, J.

I. Introduction

Petitioner/Court-Appointed Counsel-Appellant David Bettencourt (“Bettencourt”) appeals from the order of the Circuit Court of the First Circuit’s administrative judge summarily reducing excess court-appointed attorney’s fees certified by the trial judge as necessary to provide fair compensation. We have accepted Bettencourt’s appeal as a discretionary transfer under Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 602-58(b)(l) (1993 & Supp. 2010), as this ease presents a question of first impression regarding the scope of the administrative judge’s authority…