McNiff v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc.

892 N.E.2d 598 (2008)

From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

McNiff v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc.

Illinois Appellate Court
892 N.E.2d 598 (2008)

  • Written by Lauren Petersen, JD
Play video

Facts

Courtney McNiff (plaintiff) received a Mazda RX-8 from her grandfather as a gift. McNiff’s grandfather had purchased the car from Sam Leman Mazda (defendant) for $30,854. The car quickly developed mechanical difficulties and continued to malfunction even after an engine replacement. McNiff hired two attorneys, Daniel Deneen and William Hutul, to represent her in an action to recover damages for the car. McNiff’s agreement with Deneen and Hutul included a contingency-fee agreement that said McNiff would pay 30 percent of any award to her attorneys. McNiff sued Sam Leman Mazda and Mazda Motor of America, Inc. (Mazda) (defendant) under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act for multiple warranty breaches. The parties settled with Mazda repurchasing the car from McNiff for $30,000. About a year after the parties settled, Deneen and Hutul filed a petition seeking $13,650 and $14,755, respectively, for attorney fees from the defendants. Deneen sought an additional $1,875 in fees for his preparation of the fee petition. Mazda argued that McNiff’s contingency-fee agreement capped the fees that her attorneys could receive at one-third of the settlement amount, or $10,000. Additionally, Mazda argued that the attorneys’ time sheets were insufficiently detailed and their fees unreasonably high. The trial court accepted the hours represented on the attorneys’ time sheets, set their hourly rates slightly lower than the petition asked, and ultimately awarded Deneen $13,530 and Hutul $12,485. Mazda filed a motion to reconsider. McNiff also filed a motion to reconsider asking the court to award a greater amount for the time her attorneys spent filing the fee petition and the motion to reconsider. The trial court denied both motions to reconsider. McNiff and Mazda appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Turner, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 815,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership