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Law Firms Spar Over Attorney Fees Ahead of Trial

August 4, 2021 | Posted in : Attorney-Client Relationship, Contingency Fees / POF, Fee Agreement, Fee Allocation / Fee Apportionment, Fee Dispute, Fee Dispute Litigation / ADR, Fees & Withdrawing / Terminated, FRCP, Hours Billled, Quantum Meruit, Trial / Jury / Verdict, Unpaid Fees

A recent Law 360 story by Celeste Bott, “Chicago Firm, Attys Spar Over Fees Ahead of Ex-Client’s Trial”, reports that Chicago law firm Wood Phillips and one of its former attorneys suing an ex-client for payment for their two decades of work in a patent case are embroiled in a contentious dispute over how potential recovery would be allocated between them, and the firm is asking an Illinois federal judge to weigh in on the applicability of its contingency fee agreements ahead of trial.

Wood Phillips Katz Clark & Mortimer and named partner John S. Mortimer are seeking to file either a pretrial motion to resolve whether the parties are bound by those agreements or, alternatively, to add a cross-claim against former Wood Phillips attorney Dean Monco for anticipatory breach of contract.

The case is set to go to trial early next year, as the firm and attorneys seek to be compensated for more than 20 years of work for carbon fiber manufacturer Zoltek Corp.  The firm and Mortimer argue, in their motion for leave to file, that it would be unfair and would create "chaos and confusion" to have the plaintiffs arguing amongst themselves at trial.

But U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold appeared skeptical of those proposed procedural avenues during a status hearing, pushing the parties to address how a Rule 16 pretrial motion could resolve a substantive issue such as the applicability of the firm agreements, how it would impact how the trial would be conducted and whether a potential cross-claim is premature given there's no recovery to divvy up yet.  The judge also questioned whether a cross-claim against Monco was fair given the late stage of the litigation.

Acknowledging that resolving the intra-plaintiff dispute could assist in a potential settlement, the judge said that there still needs to be a legal basis for resolving the issue, not just a practical one.  "I don't think I have a kind of free-ranging power, even if I wish I might, to just decide random stuff," Judge Pacold said.  "There has to be a legal basis and legal hook for really every issue that is teed up.  So I certainly understand all those practical considerations, there just has to be a legal framework for resolving it."

Lee Grossman, an attorney representing Mortimer and the firm, told the court the vehicle for the pretrial motion could entail a jury instruction telling jurors to conduct the recovery for Monco, Mortimer, and the firm based on the formula laid out in the firm agreements at issue.  As for whether a cross-claim is premature ahead of a potential recovery at trial, Monco has already stated in interrogatories that he doesn't intend to honor the firm fee agreements, Grossman said.

"One party has already said, 'I'm not going to follow that contract,'" Grossman said. "In the interest of judicial economy, or whatever economy is left, I don't think it's a practical way to go."  But Monco argued to the court that Wood Phillips has made multiple improper attempts to adjudicate an unfiled and disputed contract claim against any future quantum meruit recovery from Zoltek, and that his former employer can't use Rule 16 to skip the required steps of filing a pleading and then a motion for summary judgment.

Paul Vickrey of Vitale Vickrey Niro & Gasey LLP, representing Monco, said allowing that avenue would lead to a "sideshow" at trial and would only invite confusion and delay. The firm agreements have nothing to do with the elements for determining quantum meruit under Illinois law, Vickrey said, and the firm can later challenge the results in state court if they so choose.

The calculations laid out in the agreements at issue are "hotly disputed," said Patrick F. Solon, another attorney for Monco. The contract claim that the firm is now trying to pursue was never filed, and there's been no pleading, no answers and no discovery on the matter, he said.  But Grossman countered that the fee agreements have been a cornerstone in the yearslong case.  "There's no discovery needed on these agreements," he said.  "They've been talked about in this case from day one."

Also, before the judge is a conditional bid by Monco to disqualify Grossman as counsel. Monco contends that if the firm is allowed to pursue its claim for his "anticipatory breach" of firm agreements, "using Grossman as their counsel [...] would result in Grossman suing his own former client in this very action."  Judge Pacold didn't rule on the pending motions immediately, saying she would either issue a decision after reviewing the materials and arguments or schedule another hearing for further discussion.

According to the 2017 complaint, Zoltek had hired Monco and Mortimer in 1996 to represent the manufacturer in a lawsuit against the federal government alleging that the B-2 bomber, which was developed by aerospace company Northrop Grumman Corp., infringed its patented method to produce carbon fiber sheets that help military aircraft avoid being detected by radar. Japanese conglomerate Toray Industries Inc. acquired Zoltek in 2014.

The litigation, which proved "extremely contentious and difficult," lasted 20 years, with the attorneys spending almost 13,000 hours representing Zoltek, the firm said.  But after a July 2016 strategy meeting in St. Louis, which Monco and Mortimer said led to their termination as counsel, the manufacturer then allegedly refused to pay the attorneys for overdue legal bills.

The manufacturer eventually settled the previous litigation for $20 million, but Wood Phillips and the attorneys got nothing, according to the complaint.  In July 2019, an Illinois federal judge said Monco and Mortimer can't pursue fees out of that settlement and must instead raise their claims against the company, with whom they had the attorney-client relationship.