Harvison v. Lynn, [Ms. 2180999, Mar. 6, 2020] __ So. 3d __ (Ala. Civ. App. 2020). The court (Thompson, P.J.; Moore, Donaldson, Edwards, and Hanson, JJ., concur) reverses the Cullman Circuit Court’s award of over $47,000 in attorney’s fees against Nina Harvison, the daughter of an elderly dementia patient, McSwain, as to whom the circuit court had granted letters of guardianship.
For a number of years, Harvison filed numerous unsuccessful objections to actions of the guardian and conservator of McSwain.
The Court holds that Harvison raised “valid concerns regarding the factual and legal bases for the amount of the trial court’s award of attorney fees pursuant to the ALAA [Alabama Litigation Accountability Act]. Therefore, the denial of the postjudgment motion by operation of law was not harmless error, and the trial court erred to reversal by allowing Harvison’s postjudgment motion to be denied without a hearing.” Ms. *36.