Opinion Was Issued On December 7, 2016. ABA Formal Opinion 475 addresses how to deal with received fees from a client when different attorneys provided services to the client. Actually, a two part process is involved: (1) the fees must be held by the receiving attorney separate from the lawyer’s own separate property […]
Attorney Sued Too Late, With Account Stated Count Not Lengthening The 2-Year SOL. Leighton v. Forster, Case No. A145601 (1st Dist., Div. 4 Feb. 9, 2017) (published), is an interesting case to show how a noncompliant engagement letter leaves the attorney to seek recovery of fees in quantum meruit, which is governed by
Would Allow For Fraudulent Billing, But Appellate Court Did Not Say A Longer Period For Review Might Pass Muster. We have seen numerous attorney-client retainer agreements where there is a clause that says if a client does not dispute a billing entry within 10 or 15 days of receipt, all of the entries
Action Sounded In Both Contract And Tort, So Recovery Allowed. In GoTek Energy, Inc. v. SoCal IP Law Group, LLP, Case No. B266681 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Oct. 12, 2016) (published), an initial law firm providing patent application work for a client beat back a legal malpractice action based on the governing statute
Source: Wikipedia. Article “Trifecta.” Prevailing Party/Settlement: Goldenwest Plaza, LLC v. The Frank and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation, Case No. G050766 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Aug. 22, 2016) (Unpublished) –Split Result Meant No Prevailing Party. This case was a messy partition case where differing ownership interests with disputes on management of a shopping center brought
No Equitable Exception Applied, Plus Appeal From Post-Trial Motion To Tax Costs Order Could Not Be Entertained By Failure To Specifically Appeal It. McNulty v. Ottosi, Case No. B264239 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Aug. 11, 2016) (unpublished) has a series of lessons for attorneys entering into fee-splitting arrangements. Above: Splitting. Library of
Eric S. Blum And David J. Hesseltine Provide Some Tips On What Fee Arbitrators Focus On In Mandatory Fee Arbitrations. Under the Mandatory Fee Arbitration Act (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6200 et seq.), attorneys and clients must first arbitrate a fee dispute through a local county bar’s fee arbitration process unless that
Summary Judgment Reversed Based On Alliance Credit Bid Fraud Exception. Attorneys in Beach Whitman Cowdrey, LLP v. Robertson, Case No. B259718 (2d Dist., Div. 6 May 18, 2016) (unpublished) likely were bummed when the lower court granted a summary judgment in ex-client’s favor and also awarded ex-client $61,208 based on an attorney’s fees
Fee Clause Was Broad Enough To Allow For Recovery Of Fees, With Destruction Of Signed Fee Agreement By Terminated Attorney Not Precluding Recovery. Stolz v. Fleischner, Case No. E062781 (4th Dist., Div. 2 Jan. 6, 2016) (unpublished) is a situation where a terminated attorney won a fee recovery of $27,120 (out of a
Assignment Void Under The Anti-Assignment Act; However, Not All Is Lost—Contractual Attorney’s Lien Is Allowable As Against Government In CAFRA Actions. Under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA), successful claimants challenging the U.S. government’s seizure of property can obtain an attorney’s fee award against the government, which happened in the next case
