A recent Law 360 story by Craig Clough, “Quinn Emanual Can’t Collect On LA County’$280K Legal Bill”, reports that a Los Angeles judge dismissed Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP's lawsuit seeking to collect more than $280,000 in legal bills from Los Angeles County, saying the claims should have been filed in a counter-suit after the defendants sued the firm several years ago.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jon R. Takasugi issued a tentative opinion ahead of a morning hearing that outlined a plan to dismiss the suit claiming the county is refusing to pay the firm for defending former Sheriff Alex Villanueva when the Board of Supervisors sued him over the rehiring of a deputy accused of misconduct.
The judge wrote in the tentative opinion that the suit is blocked by California's compulsory counterclaim statute, which "provides that any cause of action 'related' to a complaint must be brought as a cross-complaint or else not brought at all." After hearing arguments from attorneys from both sides, including on if he should allow leave to amend the suit, the judge sustained the county's demurrer to the complaint without leave to amend by making his tentative opinion final.
"I'm very convinced that the tentative is correct," Judge Takasugi said. "And I don't think we can get around the leave to amend forever because we're in a finite universe here." "I don't think giving you leave to amend is going to make any difference because everything is already done," he added.
Quinn Emanuel's August suit against the county, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Villanueva claims it provided legal services to the former sheriff in a lawsuit over his decision to rehire a deputy. The law firm claims the county blocked it from receiving a $280,075 payment for the "first few months of legal services."
The dispute stretches back to February 2019, when county counsel informed Villanueva that he would need to select independent counsel to represent him in a lawsuit filed by the Board of Supervisors over his decision to rehire Deputy Caren Carl Mandoyan after he had been fired over alleged personal and professional misconduct, according to the suit.
Villanueva then retained Quinn Emanuel, which drew up a written agreement effective March 4, 2019, the complaint states. It included anticipated billing rates ranging from $695 per hour to $1,400 per hour, but also acknowledged that the Board of Supervisors had agreed to pay an unspecified amount of the sheriff's and LASD's legal bills, according to the suit.
After the county sought a temporary restraining order, Quinn Emanuel appeared at the hearing on March 6, 2019, on behalf of the sheriff and the LASD, the suit states. While there, none of the county's attorneys objected to Quinn Emanuel's representation, nor did they suggest that a contract between the Board of Supervisors and Quinn Emanuel was required, according to the complaint.
After litigating the case for about a month, county counsel suddenly demanded that Quinn Emanuel enter into a contract with it in order to be paid, the complaint states. Quinn Emanuel eventually substituted out of the case in January 2020, according to the complaint. Payment of several invoices for the first few months of legal services was approved internally by the county, but its counsel interceded and blocked payment to Quinn Emanuel, the suit stated.
The suit included claims for breach of contract and services rendered, among others. It sought compensatory damages, interest, attorney fees and litigation costs.