Facts: Mother and Father are the divorced parents of 14-year-old Child.

While in Father’s care, Child experienced an emotional episode, during which Father applied corporal punishment on Child’s buttocks with his hand and his belt.

Mother obtained a one-year order of protection that prohibited Father from contacting Child outside of therapy. Father was also ordered to pay all court costs and fees.

Father appealed.

On Appeal: The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court.

The one-year order of protection expired several weeks before oral argument on appeal. As a result, the issue Father challenged on appeal was no longer justiciable and, therefore, Father’s appeal was dismissed as moot.

Mother sought her attorney’s fees on appeal.

Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-3-617(a)(1) provides that

no domestic abuse victim … shall be required to bear the costs, including any court costs, filing fees, litigation taxes, or any other costs associated with the … appeal or enforcement of an ex parte order of protection, order of protection, or a petition for either such order ….

The legislative intent of this statute is to

• provide enhanced protection to domestic abuse victims,
• promote uniform law enforcement intervention whether the crime is domestic or committed by strangers, and
• communicate a position of intolerance to domestic abuse perpetrators.

One way the Legislature ensures that victims of domestic abuse receive “enhanced protection” is to enact a statute that broadly declares that domestic abuse victims should not be required to bear the financial burdens of legal action made necessary by a domestic abuse perpetrator.

Tennessee courts recognize that denying a victim of domestic abuse an award of attorney’s fees for defending against the respondent’s appeal would frustrate that legislative intent.

The Court found that Mother is entitled to recover her attorney’s fees on appeal:

Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-3-617(a)(1) clearly mandates that no domestic abuse victim shall be required to bear the costs associated with the successful filing, issuance, appeal, or enforcement of an order of protection. … [T]his legislative mandate extends to the reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred on appeal by such victims, even if the respondent’s challenge to the order of protection is no longer justiciable. Therefore, we hold that Mother is entitled to recover her reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred in defending against this appeal.

The case was remanded to the trial court to determine the amount of Mother’s judgment for attorney’s fees.

Tenney ex rel. Desirae B. v. Bullington (Tennessee Court of Appeals, Middle Section, November 29, 2021).

If you found this helpful, please share it using the buttons below.