Clients In the Case Did Ratify, Which Earned The Settling Former Attorneys A Nice Contingency Fee Award.
Chong v. Mardirossian Akaragian LLP, Case No. B341157 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Jan. 8, 2026) (partially published; fee discussion published) contains a good discussion of when a client can ratify an unauthorized settlement reached by former attorneys and the repercussions flowing from that ratification. It reinforces that a client has the option to rescind the settlement or to ratify it, if the ratification was not attributable to duress and was not necessary to minimize client losses. None of these ratification factors were present in the case, resulting in former attorneys obtaining a contingency fee recovery from over a $6 million gross settlement payout.