Cases: Retainer Agreements

Deadlines, Retainer Agreements, Section 1717: 4/1 DCA Affirms $108,848.50 Attorney Fees Award To Prevailing Plaintiff Attorney For Work In Seeking Unpaid Fees And In Defending Against Former Client’s Cross-Complaint

Cases: Deadlines, Cases: Retainer Agreements, Cases: Section 1717

Balance Of Unpaid Fees And Costs Were $31,147.17 When Former Client Stopped Making Agreed-Upon Monthly Installment Payments Of $200.             In Delisi v. Wagner, Case Nos. D074728 and D075506 (4th Dist., Div. 1 January 27, 2020) (unpublished), an attorney sued his former client for unpaid fees and costs when Former Client stopped making monthly

Arbitration, Nonsignatories, Quantum Meruit, Retainer Agreements: Judgment Confirming Arbitration Award Of $1,273,765.91 In Fees Owed To Two Law Firms Plus Another $508,678.82 For Fees And Costs Incurred In The Arbitration Affirmed

Cases: Arbitration, Cases: Nonsignatories, Cases: Quantum Meruit, Cases: Retainer Agreements

Arbitration Was Properly Ordered Because The Claims Between Client And The Two Law Firms Arose Out Of The Underlying Retainer And Arbitration Agreements Client Signed With The First Law Firm.             Client retained a law firm to represent her in an ongoing dissolution action – signing a Retainer Agreement and a binding Arbitration Agreement.  During

Liens For Attorney Fees, Retainer Agreements: Broad Retainer Lien Language Relating To A Lien For General Representation Did Allow For Attorney’s Lien Claim Work

Cases: Liens for Attorney Fees, Cases: Retainer Agreements

Also, Lien Claim Work Can Encompass Unrelated Work To A Specific Litigation Case.             In Callahan & Blaine v. Vogeler, Case No. G055912 (4th Dist., Div. 3 July 24, 2019) (unpublished), attorney-defendant in pro per balked at a contractual breach lawsuit brought by Callahan & Blaine—a well-known Orange County law firm—based on broad attorney lien

Liens For Attorney Fees, Retainer Agreements: ABA’s Formal Opinion 487 Clarifies Successor Counsel Duties In Contingency Case To Notify Client About Potential Repercussions With Respect To Original Counsel

Cases: Liens for Attorney Fees, Cases: Retainer Agreements

Successor Counsel Has At Least A Warning Duty, And Successor Counsel May Have More Obligations If That Counsel Tries To Resolve Dispute With Prior Counsel.             We can report that the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility recently released Formal Opinion 487, for which we provide a hyperlink.  It deals with

Ethics, Retainer Agreements: On Remand, Trial Court Properly Found Equitable Estoppel Did Not Alter The Rule Invalidating Fee Sharing Among Attorneys

Cases: Ethics, Cases: Retainer Agreements

Equitable Estoppel Theory Was Not Supported By The Evidence.             On December 19, 2012, we posted on Barnes, Crosby, Fitzgerald & Zeman, LLP v. Ringler, 212 Cal.App.4th 172 (2012) [discussed in our December 19, 2012 post], which held that a party may be equitably estopped from enforcing the rule which prohibits attorney fee splitting where

Ethics, Retainer Agreements: California Supreme Court Decides That Undisclosed Conflict Of Interest Rendered Retention Agreement And Arbitration Award Unenforceable, But Remands For Trial Court To Consider If Quantum Meruit Recovery Was Permissible

Cases: Ethics, Cases: Retainer Agreements

Lots of Questions Remain, Given This Was Not An FAA Case; However, Boilerplate Conflict Waivers Do Not Do The Trick.             The California Supreme Court has just come out with a widely-watched opinion in Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton v. J-M Manufacturing Company, Inc., Case No. S232946 (Cal. Supreme Court August 30, 2018) (published), although it

Retainer Agreements: Los Angeles County Superior Court Invalidates Oral Entertainment “Handshake” Fee Contingency Deals Not In Writing

Cases: Retainer Agreements

Case Involved Johnny Depp, And May Send Some Ripples Through Entertainment Industry.             This next case, although only at a state superior court level, may send some shock waves on how entertainment agreements are structured between actors and their lawyers.             What happened here is that Johnny Depp challenged millions of dollars paid out to

Retainer Agreement, Section 1717: Law Firm Suing For Breach Of Oral Agreement To Provide Legal Services, Based On Continued Applicability Of Retainer Agreement, Resulted In Law Firm Exposure Under Retainer Fees Clause

Cases: Retainer Agreements, Cases: Section 1717

Ex-Clients Won $38,841 In Section 1717 Fees After Prevailing On A Summary Judgment Motion.             Many California retainer agreements between lawyers and clients have attorney’s fees provisions and provisions indicating that any further requested work, even if oral, will proceed under the terms of the written retainer agreements. When both of these features are present,

Retention Agreements:  Riverside County Bar Association Fee Arbitrators Find Enforceable A Hybrid Retention Agreement Providing For A Contingency To Attorney If Successful, Plus A Feature That Attorney’s Fees And Costs Awarded For The Success Are Kept

Cases: Retainer Agreements

$304,570.00 Was Fee Award To Attorney, Plus $35,000 More For Post-Trial Work On A Quantum Meruit Basis.             We would like to thank Gregory M. Burke of CGA Ventures, Inc. for sharing with us the Findings and Award by the Riverside County Bar Association’s Fee Arbitration Program in a fee dispute with a former client.

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