Robert Rauschenberg Foundation v. Grutman
Florida District Court of Appeal
198 So. 3d 685 (2016)
- Written by Liz Nakamura, JD
Facts
Robert Rauschenberg devised his entire residuary estate to the Robert Rauschenberg Revocable Trust, for which the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation (plaintiff) was the sole remainder beneficiary. The trust was administered by three trustees, Bennet Grutman, Bill Goldston, and Darryl Pottorf (the trustees) (defendants). The trustees managed the trust’s assets for the years between Rauschenberg’s death and the transfer of all trust assets to the foundation. In those intervening years, the trust’s assets increased in value from approximately $605.6 million to $2.2 billion. The trust did not include a method for calculating trustee’s fees or a provision dictating the amount of trustee’s fees that should be paid. The trustees petitioned to have their fees calculated using the factors enumerated in West Coast Hospital Ass’n v. Florida National Bank of Jacksonville and accordingly sought a fee award between $51 million and $55 million. The foundation countered, arguing that the lodestar method was more appropriate because it calculated fees based on multiplying a reasonable number of hours by a reasonable hourly rate and accordingly asserted that the trustees were entitled to only $375,000 in fees. The trial court applied the West Coast method and awarded the trustees $24.6 million in fees. The foundation appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Silberman, J.)
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