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Arguments For Plaintiffs ' Motion Attorneys ' Fees And Costs

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OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF 'S MOTION FOR DEFENDANT TO ADVANCE ATTORNEYS ' FEES and COSTS
COMES NOW, the Defendant, Michael A. McNeil, and opposes the Plaintiff 's Motion for Defendant to Advance Attorney’s Fees and Costs and states the following:
1. The Plaintiff’s Motion is not properly before this court since she failed to bring it pursuant any applicable rule since the matter before this court is a child custody/support matter and not a divorce/alimony/property settlement matter which Sections 7-107, 8-214, and 11-110 of the Maryland Code 's Family Law Article are concerned with. (See ¶¶ 8 through 10 of this document)
2. If the Plaintiff had brought her request before this Court pursuant to Section 12-103 of the Family Law Article this …show more content…

In order for this Court to grant attorney’s fees and costs, under Section 12-103 it is required to perform a Section 12-103(b)(3) analysis in order to determine whether either party had a substantial justification for bringing, maintaining, or defending the proceeding. Since this requires the Court to perform a retrospective analysis, it is impossible for this Court to perform the analysis at this point in the litigation.
5. However, if the Court was to perform a Section 12-103(b)(3) analysis today, it would find that the Defendant’s prima facie case is well supported by police reports, school records, an expert witness report, the Plaintiff’s own testimony, the Plaintiff’s own admissions, and the Defendant’s testimony. Whereas, the Plaintiff’s prima facie case is not so well supported. (See ¶¶ 31 through 38 of this document).
6. Additionally, the Plaintiff is seeking $20,000 in attorney fees for discovery, expert witness, and other costs. It should be noted that accordance with Scheduling Order (D.E. 588) the period for Discovery came to an end on June 2, 2016, and the times for designating experts ended on June 8, 2016. Also., neither times for designating experts or discovery has been extended. However, the Defendant has moved to extend discovery so that police records could become part of the record and to

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