ATTORNEY FEES - WAGNON V. GRAVELLE

Wagnon v. Gravelle, [Ms. 2140580, Jan. 22, 2016] __ So. 3d __ (Ala. Civ. App. 2016). Attorney fees under the Alabama Litigation Accountability Act, § 12-19-270, cannot be awarded after a summary judgment for the defendant unless the trial court reserves jurisdiction to do so. Here, the children of a decedent filed an action against the woman who lived with him, alleging that she had improperly disposed of his property. The circuit court entered a summary judgment for the defendant. She later moved for attorney fees, and the circuit court awarded attorney fees in the amount of $3,750.00. The children appealed from that ruling, and the Supreme Court held that the circuit court lost jurisdiction to award such fees when it “did not reserve jurisdiction to make an award under the ALAA in its final judgment dismissing the action and ... Jo Ann did not request such an award until after the trial court had granted Jo Ann’s motion to dismiss the action.”