BENTONVILLE — County Judge Dave Bisbee wants the county to pay more than $73,000 in attorney fees for him.
Bisbee filed a petition Friday requesting Judge John W. Cole rule on whether the county should pay attorney Asa Hutchinson’s law firm $73,044.85 for representing him following his April 21 arrest on misdemeanor charges.
Bisbee went to trial in June on three misdemeanor charges stemming from his decision to hire his then-company, Valley Homes, to do remodeling at the county collector’s and assessor’s offices in Rogers. Gary Wierman, Bisbee’s longtime construction superintendent and then vice president of Valley Homes, did the remodel.
A jury found Bisbee not guilty on two of the three charges, but could not reach a decision on the charge accusing Bisbee of using his office or the influence created by his office to advance the economic interests of an associate.
Prosecuting Attorney Van Stone dropped the remaining charge last week.
Justice of the Peace Marge Wolf said the definition of reasonable should be examined before Cole decides whether the county should pay the legal fees.
Justice of the Peace Dan Douglas hopes Cole reviews the fees before making a decision.
“This seems a little bit extravagant to me, and I hope the judge can point out some things that will make the bill a little bit more reasonable,” Douglas said.
Hutchinson wrote in court documents that the definition of reasonable should include several factors including the experience and ability of the attorney; the time and labor required to perform the service properly; and the fee customarily charged for similar services in the local area.
Court documents filed by Hutchinson list his hourly rate at $660. Hutchinson charged Bisbee $400 per hour.
“I recognize that my usual hourly rate exceeds the customary rate of Arkansas lawyers, and for that reason I have reduced my rate to $400 per hour for most Arkansas cases. In the case of David Bisbee, we agreed to my lowest rate of $400 per hour,” Hutchinson said.
Two additional attorneys helped Hutchinson with Bisbee’s case. Hutchinson’s son, Asa Hutchinson III, charged $200 an hour and Duane A. Kees billed $175 an hour for their services.
All three men were present during Bisbee’s four-day trial in June at a rate of $775 per hour.
Criminal defense attorney Joel Huggins of Springdale said the amount Hutchinson is charging is high.
“That seems outrageous to me,” Huggins said. “I know he prosecuted the president, but $400 an hour still seems a little high.”
Hutchinson served as one of the prosecutors during the 1998 U.S. Senate impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.
Huggins said he charges a flat rate for handling criminal cases and generally charges no more than $2,500 to handle a misdemeanor case. He made $110 an hour when he was appointed to represent a man who was charged with murder and facing the death sentence.
The Arkansas Public Defender Commission pays private attorneys between $90 and $110 an hour when they are appointed to represent people facing the death penalty, said Public Defender Jay Saxton.
Rogers attorney Andrew Miller said he believes Hutchinson’s fee is reasonable considering the resources devoted to the Bisbee case, according to court documents.
Miller stated in court documents that Hutchinson asked him to review the fee. Miller believes Hutchinson’s hourly rate of $400 is consistent with the fees charged by other attorneys with Hutchinson’s experience.
Rogers attorney Ken Swindle said $400 an hour is not comparable to what other local attorneys charge.
“I wish I could get that much,” Swindle said.
Swindle said he normally charges a flat rate of $1,000 for a typical misdemeanor case and between $10,000 and $20,000 for felony cases.
Hutchinson said in his motion and accompanying petition his fee is reasonable because of the amount of time and energy his law firm needed to devote to the Bisbee trial.
“The AH Law Group was not able to devote significant time to other cases pending the conclusion of the trial of this case, and at least one major case was lost because of the time and attention devoted to this matter,” according to court documents.
Stone said there are a number of questionable items on Hutchinson’s detailed bill.
Those items include filing motions for Bisbee’s wife, Linda, and Bisbee’s corporate attorney, Howard Slinkard. Hutchinson did not represent Linda Bisbee or Slinkard and, as such, the county should not be paying those fees, Stone said.
Bisbee also sent out a political flier during the trial that prominently featured Hutchinson endorsing him. Stone questioned whether a portion of Hutchinson’s $73,000 fee was used to pay for that political ad.
“How much of this is an attempt to recoup political fees (Bisbee) paid to Mr. Hutchinson?” Stone asked.
Bisbee told a reporter in April he was paying Hutchinson $35,000 to represent him. Stone questioned how the fee more than doubled from what Bisbee originally said.
Justice of the Peace Bobby Hubbard also questioned why the fees were so high.
“Maybe Judge Bisbee was mistakenly thinking it was $30,000 because he did not read the contract all the way,” Hubbard said. “It sounds kind of odd that Bisbee would say the fees were $30,000 and then have them be this much.”
Stone said his office will file a response by the end of the week.
“It is an assault on the integrity of the system when you consider that there are defendants who are facing the death penalty whose attorneys are paid less in a capital murder case than what they are seeking for this misdemeanor case where there was no jail time on the table,” Stone said.
At A Glance
State Statute
Arkansas Code Ann. § 14-14-1202(d)(5) says any officer or employee charged as provided in this section and subsequently acquitted shall be awarded reasonable legal fees incurred in his or her defense.
Source: Staff Report