Cases: Retainer Agreements

Retainer Agreements: Contingent Attorney’s Failure To Define “Recovery” With Specificity Prevented Recovery For Work To Obtain Satisfaction Of Adverse Trademark Judgment Against Clients.

Cases: Retainer Agreements

Recovery Only Applied To Money Received By Clients, Teaching That Ambiguous Retainer Agreement Language Will Be Construed Against The Drafting Attorney.               Justice Fybel, the author of a 3-0 affirming opinion in Kadin v. ABS Power Brake Inc., Case No. G052734 (4th Dist., Div. 3 July 21, 2017) (unpublished), reminds us practitioners, especially litigators, to […]

Retainer Agreements: ABA Formal Opinion 475 Explains How To Treat Received Fees Where Different Attorneys Have Disparate Interests In The Funds

Cases: Retainer Agreements

  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

Deadlines/Equity/Retainer Agreements: Invalid Attorney-Client Retention Agreement Meant Attorney Collection Suit Was Subject To 2-Year Quantum Meruit Statute Of Limitations

Cases: Deadlines, Cases: Equity, Cases: Retainer Agreements

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

Fee Clause Interpretation, Retainer Agreements: Broad Retainer Attorney’s Fees Clause Encompassing “Any Dispute” Allowed For Fee Recovery In Legal Malpractice Action

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Retainer Agreements

  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

4/3 DCA Trifecta: Appellate Court Issues Three Fee Unpublished Decisions

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Retainer Agreements, Cases: Sanctions, Cases: Settlement

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

Appealability/Retainer Agreements: Attorney Failing To Get Fee-Splitting Written Consents Knocked Out Of The Box

Cases: Appealability, Cases: Retainer Agreements

  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

Arbitration/Retainer Agreements: July 2016 Issue Of “Orange County Lawyer” Has Interview With Orange County Bar Association’s Mandatory Fee Arbitration Committee Co-Chairs

Cases: Arbitration, Cases: Retainer Agreements

  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

Retainer Agreements: Attorney Retainer Agreement Secured By Real Property Did Not Prevent Firm From Seeking Fraud-Based Fees From Client After Making Full Credit Bid

Cases: Retainer Agreements

  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

Retainer Agreement/Section 1717: Unsigned Retainer Agreement, With Explanation, Justified Fee Recovery By Attorney Under Civil Code Section 1717 Based Upon Dismissal Of Legal Malpractice Tort Claims

Cases: Retainer Agreements, Cases: Section 1717

  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

Scroll to Top