Donahue

In separate orders, the trial court charged a trust with some $5 million in past and ongoing attorney fees incurred on behalf of a former trustee in defending against the beneficiary’s allegations of self-dealing and conflict of interest. Eight attorneys from three major law firms comprised the former trustee’s legal team, with four to five of those attorneys simultaneously appearing at the 14-day court trial.

We reverse the fee awards. While trustees are properly reimbursed for reasonable attorney fees to defend adverse claims against the trust, we cannot determine from the trial court’s order whether the fee awards are consistent with applicable legal principles. Long-established principles of trust law impose a double-barreled reasonableness requirement: the fee award must be reasonable in amount and reasonably necessary to the conduct of the litigation, but it also must be reasonable and appropriate for the benefit of the trust. We remand for the trial court to review the evidence and to assess a fee reimbursement in accordance with these dual criteria.

I

Factual and Procedural Background

Appellant Michelle Donahue (Michelle) became involved in litigation with her…