Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 18, 1992 TAG: 9201180211
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
JURY SAYS WOMAN MUST PAY LAWYERS' NOTE
A jury awarded two area lawyers more than $12,000 Thursday after a protracted civil trial over the incomplete payment of a note by their former client, Charlotte Joyce.In the late 1980s, John Spiers Jr. and Ed Jasie represented Joyce, a former Pearisburg real-estate agent, on charges that she defrauded clients of more than $150,000.
Joyce pleaded guilty in Giles County in December 1988 to eight indictments and was sentenced to six months in jail and 10 years probation.
Jasie - who died last year - and Spiers brought suit against Joyce in November 1989 for failing to pay part of a $25,000 promissory note that she and her husband signed to cover the balance of the legal fees and costs.
Blacksburg lawyer Heather Mitchell argued that the note was obtained fraudulently, saying the Joyces believed they were signing a note and deed of trust to her in-laws, who had provided them with financial assistance.
Mitchell said the two lawyers had been paid $21,000 toward legals fees and costs but had not provided Joyce with an accounting for their time. Mitchell said Joyce thought she was being charged $90 an hour.
Pete Beller, attorney for Spiers and Jasie, said the $90 hourly rate applied to the first civil case in which Spiers represented Joyce.
As the case grew into various civil and criminal matters, the lawyers charged a flat fee that was agreed to by Joyce, Beller said. Beller said total fees and costs - including two lawyers and expert testimony - came to $36,000. The $25,000 note was the amount owed after an $11,000 retainer had been applied.
Jasie alone spent 500 hours representing Joyce, Beller said.
Beller believes that Joyce knew what she was signing.
After a nine-day trial, the seven-member jury deliberated about four hours before awarding $12,465.60 plus interest to Spiers and to Jasie's estate, represented by his widow, Donna Jasie.
Mitchell asked Judge Joseph Cridlin, a Jonesville judge who heard the case, to set aside the jury's verdict. The judge gave Mitchell two weeks to file a written motion.