Attorney urges pay for pro bono work

Thursday, June 30, 2005 | 8:58 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A Las Vegas lawyer told the Nevada Supreme Court Wednesday he was entitled to collect fees from the opposing side in a case he worked for free.

Attorney Marshal Willick took Sherry R. Wilfong's paternity case pro bono and won. He said he was awarded $3,000 in fees from the the father Robert Miller, who lost the case. Willick said he spent $27,000 in labor and costs.

But Jennifer Hodge, Miller's attorney, said there was no law permitting the award of lawyer fees in paternity cases. While there can be fees awarded in divorce cases to lawyers who represent their clients pro bono, that does not extend to paternity suits, she said.

Miller, an electrician who earns $60,000 a year, according to the pre-hearing legal briefs, started making payments of $100 a month to pay off the $3,000 but then stopped. Willick gained a court order but Miller appealed. The Supreme Court took the arguments under submission.

Miller and Wilfong met in 2000 and a child was born in December 2003 in Henderson. The pre-hearing briefs said Miller wanted her to have an abortion but she refused. She had the baby and moved back in with her parents and is indigent.

Willick said he won on the issues of custody, visitation and child support in district court and Miller should have to pay the fees as assessed by District Judge Cheryl Moss.

But Hodge insisted that the law on awarding fees in pro bono cases does not extend to unwed mother suits.

The court also indicated it was unhappy with John T. Kelleher who represented Miller in the district court and prepared the pre-hearing briefs for the Supreme Court. Justices indicated the briefs failed to follow the rules and suggested there may be sanctions in the case.

Hodge, defending Kelleher, said there was no intentional wrongdoing.

The court will rule later.