Judge orders AZ attorney general to cover costs for Navajo County recorder after failed litigation

A judge ordered the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to pay tens of thousands of dollars in attorneys fees for Navajo County Recorder David Marshall after tossing out a lawsuit challenging Marshall’s eligibility for office.

Marshall, a former state lawmaker, resigned from the legislature in April to fill a vacancy in the Recorder’s Office. That prompted Attorney General Kris Mayes to file what is called a quo warranto action, arguing the state constitution barred lawmakers from taking other county or statewide offices before the end of their elected legislative term, whether or not they resign.

Maricopa County Judge David McDowell dismissed that action in July.

And now he has ordered the Attorney General’s Office to pay nearly $38,000 to cover costs that Marshall incurred due to the litigation. That included $36,200 in attorneys fees.

Marshall had actually requested more than that to pay his attorneys, claiming he paid $81,462.50. According to an application for attorneys fees, Holtzman Vogel, the firm that represented Marshall, charged him between $400 and $600 per hour for nearly 152 hours of work, plus additional charges for paralegal work.

McDowell found that amount was not allowed under state law.

That’s because state law allows the winning party in a court case to recover attorneys fees that do not exceed the amount they paid their lawyer “or a maximum amount of $350 per hour.”

Marshall’s attorneys had argued that the court should award the full amount agreed upon between a litigant and their attorney, and only use the $350 maximum “where no agreed upon rate exists.”

McDowell disagreed, saying the law doesn’t include that stipulation anywhere.

“If Mr. Marshall has an issue with the rate chosen by the legislature, his recourse is with the legislature not in asking the court to read additional words into a statute which the legislature elected not to insert,” McDowell wrote.

This is not the end of the litigation between Marshall and the attorney general, who plans to appeal the decision dismissing the case.

Richie Taylor, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, said the AG is waiting for the judge to finalize the fee judgement.

“Then we plan to file our notice of appeal,” he said.