Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit;
No. 2:21-cv-10892—Stephen J. Murphy, III, District Judge.
United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan;
No. 2:15-bk-56003—Thomas J. Tucker, Judge.
Argued: March 8, 2022
Decided and Filed: August 16, 2022
Before: GILMAN, STRANCH, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges.
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OPINION
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NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. As special counsel, the law firm of Silverman & Morris
recovered $38,000 for the estate in this bankruptcy proceeding. For its services, the firm wanted
$37,063 in fees. But the bankruptcy court, finding that the benefit of the services did not warrant
awarding the full amount, halved the award, and the firm appealed. On appeal, we must address
two issues. The first is whether bankruptcy courts can consider “results obtained” when
determining whether fees are reasonable under § 330(a)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code. The second
is whether the bankruptcy court abused its discretion in reducing the fees by half. We answer
yes to the first and no to the second. So we AFFIRM. |