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Law Firm Wins Fee Dispute With Former Client

October 21, 2010 | Posted in : Fee Dispute, Fee Dispute Litigation / ADR, Fee Issues on Appeal, Unpaid Fees

A recent NLJ story, “The Former WolfBlock Prevails in Fee Dispute” reports that the Appeals Court of Massachusetts affirmed a lower court grant of summary judgment to the now-dissolved law firm in a dispute over legal fees brought by Matthew Krepps, a former client.  Krepps filed the lawsuit in Massachusetts state court after an arbitration proceeding excused him from paying more than $31,000 in fees to WolfBlock, LLP.  The lawsuit claimed that the firm overcharged him by about $10,000 for on-line legal research that it did while representing him in a 2004 lawsuit.

In affirming the lower court, the appellate panel determined that even though Krepps had not filed papers to confirm the arbitration award, he was not entitled to bring claims pertaining to the on-line research fees into state court, since he had raised those claims in arbitration.  “[W]e find nothing unfair about treating the award as a final judgment for purposes of claim preclusion,” the court ruled.

Note: Philadelphia-based WolfBlock, LLP closed its doors in 2009 following a significant loss of partners and a drop in revenue.  At the time, about 280 attorneys worked at the law firm, which had been in business for about 106 years.