Zelman v. Justice Administrative Commission

In this petition for writ of certiorari, petitioner claims the trial court departed from the essential requirements of law by limiting his attorney’s fee award to double the flat fee because the court failed to consider the number of hours expended by petitioner in determining whether the fee award was confiscatory. We agree and grant the petition.

Petitioner was appointed to represent an indigent criminal defendant, who had been charged with one count of manslaughter with a firearm. Over nine months later, petitioner filed a motion to dismiss the manslaughter charge pursuant to section…