William Bell v. Birmingham News Company Book Reviews

William Bell v. Birmingham News Company by Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama Book Summary

This case concerns an award of an attorney's fee by the trial court. Appellants are members of the City Council of the City of Birmingham. The appellants scheduled a regular formal meeting for
December 5, 1989. It was made known prior to the meeting that a president and president pro tempore of the council would be
elected at the meeting and that the meeting would be closed. The Birmingham News Company (appellee) objected to the closed
session and the appellants responded by announcing that the election would be held in open session. Ultimately, the elections
were by secret ballot. The appellee's request that each council member disclose how he or she voted was denied. The appellee
filed a complaint in the circuit court seeking to enjoin the appellants and their successors from conducting elections in
closed sessions or by secret ballot, and requesting attorney's fees against the appellants. After receiving a join stipulation
of facts from the parties and hearing oral argument from counsel, the trial court entered an order finding the manner in which
the appellants conducted the election was an attempt to evade the provisions of § 13A-14-2, 11-43-45, and 11-43-49,
Ala. Code 1975, and that the appellee was entitled to the injunctive relief prayed for in its complaint. The trial court then
ordered the disclosure, retained jurisdiction for the purpose of awarding reasonable attorney's fees, and ordered the appellee
to submit an affidavit indicating the time and expenses incurred in the prosecution of this action. The appellants filed a
motion for reconsideration of the award of attorney's fees. After further consideration, the trial court overruled the motion
and awarded attorney's fees. The trial court noted in its order that there was no question raised regarding the reasonableness
of the amount of the charges. The appellants do not challenge the merits of the trial court's decision and appeal only the
award of the attorney's fee.

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