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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
CIVIL ACTION NO. 11-11029-RGS
DIANE FAZIO et al.
v.
BRIAN TALBOT, Trustee of the Maccario Family Realty Trust of 1996
ORDER ON ASSESSMENT OF DAMAGES AND
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES
January 31, 2013
STEARNS, D.J.
The court held an assessment of damages hearing on January 24, 2013.    Plaintiff
Diane Fazio testified on behalf of the fifty-percent beneficiaries of the Trust for whom
judgment had previously entered.  Counsel for Defendant Brian Talbot was given leave
to submit responsive documentation as to the damages that were contested.   She did
so on January 30, 2013.   Having considered the parties’ submissions, the court finds
that the following damages have been shown.   Talbot was not entitled to continue
receiving compensation as the trustee after the Trust was terminated in December of
2011.1    Since the termination of the Trust, Talbot has paid himself $24,877.00 in salary
and reimbursements from Trust funds.   Nor was Talbot entitled to defend himself
1 That Talbot continued to pay himself from Trust funds after the court entered
a preliminary injunction to the contrary in September of 2012 is particularly troubling.




against claims of malfeasance and self-dealing in this action by using Trust funds to pay
legal fees amounting to $40,405.00.   However, the court finds that the two contested
payments of $7,180 were for federal tax liabilities incurred by the Trust and were
therefore proper Trust expenses.   Plaintiffs, being fifty-percent beneficiaries of the
Trust, are entitled to $32,641 in damages.
The court further finds that Talbot’s conduct in this case merits an award of
attorneys’ fees to plaintiffs, and that plaintiffs’ request for $19,082.33 in fees and costs
is reasonable given the duration, scope, and outcome of the case.2
ORDER
The Clerk shall enter judgment for plaintiffs in the amount of $51,723.33.
SO ORDERED.
/s/ Richard G. Stearns
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
2 Talbot has not contested otherwise.
2

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