ETH 2009-176.
Court | California |
California Ethics Opinion
2009.
ETH 2009-176.
THE STATE BAR OF
CALIFORNIASTANDING COMMITTEE ONPROFESSIONAL
RESPONSIBILITY AND CONDUCTFORMAL OPINION NO. 2009-1762009ISSUES:In a lawsuit prosecuted by
Attorney A against Defendant, Client has a statutory right to seek an award of
attorney's fees. Attorney B, Defendant's counsel, makes a settlement offer,
conditioned on Client's waiver of his statutory right to attorney's fees, that
is insufficient to compensate Attorney A for her fees. (1) May Attorney A bar
the settlement notwithstanding Client's desire to accept it? (2) Does Attorney
B violate any ethical obligation by recommending or conveying the fee-waiver
settlement offer in this case? (3) Does Attorney B violate any ethical
obligation by recommending or conveying fee-waiver settlement offers in cases
generally?
DIGEST:
1. A lawyer must inform the client of a fee-waiver settlement
offer and consummate the settlement in accordance with the client's wishes even
if it reduces the likelihood of recovering some or all of his or her
fees.
2. A lawyer does not violate any ethical obligation by
recommending or conveying a fee-waiver settlement offer in a given case.
3. A lawyer does not violate any ethical obligation by
recommending or conveying fee-waiver settlement offers in cases
generally.
AUTHORITIES
INTERPRETED:
Rules 1-500, 3-510, and former rule 2-109 of the Rules of
Professional Conduct of the State Bar of California.(FN1)
Business and Professions Code sections 6068, subdivisions (a),
(b), (c) and (h), and 6103.5.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
Client engages Attorney A to prosecute a lawsuit against
Defendant under the Act. In addition to creating substantive claims, the Act is
a "fee shifting statute," granting a successful plaintiff a right to seek an
award of attorney's fees. Client and Attorney A enter into a written fee
agreement that is legally valid and ethically compliant. The fee agreement
provides that Attorney A shall be paid a one-third contingent fee or the
statutory award, whichever is greater.
Attorney A has previously represented, and currently represents,
others pursuing claims under the Act against Defendant. Attorney B, counsel for
Defendant, has handled many of these matters and is responsible for defending
Client's lawsuit. In the past, after settling claims under the Act, the
plaintiffs have filed motions for attorney's fees. As a result, on Attorney B's
recommendation, Defendant has decided to make fee-waiver settlement offers in
lawsuits under the Act generally, and Attorney B has conveyed such
offers.
Extensive motion practice and pretrial discovery ensue in
Client's lawsuit. Attorney B recommends to Defendant to make a fee-waiver
settlement offer of $20,000, and Defendant accepts the recommendation. Attorney
B conveys the settlement offer to Attorney A. If Client were to accept the
settlement offer, Attorney A would receive far less than the value of the time
she has invested in Client's lawsuit. The reasonable value of her services
totals $100,000.
In light of the evidence revealed in discovery, Attorney A
believes Client's case to be winnable at trial and the fee-waiver settlement
offer to be less than the potential value of Client's claim. Attorney A advises
Client regarding her analysis of the merits, likelihood of success at trial,
potential damages award, and the practicalities of litigation. Client, weary of
litigation, decides the settlement offer is adequate and instructs Attorney A
to accept it.
DISCUSSION
1. Statutory Attorney's
Fees
A variety of statutes that create a substantive claim also grant
the successful plaintiff a right to seek an award of attorney's fees.(FN2)Such
"fee shifting statutes," often involving civil rights, have been the subject of
much discussion by us and others.(FN3)
Discussion has centered around the decision made by the United
States Supreme Court in Evans v. Jeff D. (1986) 475 U.S. 717
[106 S.Ct. 1531] ("Jeff D."), a case involving the Civil
Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976 ("Fees Act").
Prior to the decision made in Jeff D., both the
United States Courts of Appeals and state and local ethics committees were
divided as to whether fee-waiver settlement offers were legally permissible and
not ethically prohibited.(FN4) In general, opposition to such settlements
focused on the risk of undermining the legislative purpose of enabling "private
attorneys general" and interfering with the administration of justice.
The ruling made in Jeff D. changed the debate.
At the threshold, it held that fee-waiver settlement offers presented legal
questions rather than ethical questions. (See,
id. at p. 727 [any "duty" on the part of the trial court to
reject a proposed fee-waiver settlement offer under the Fees Act "derives
ultimately from the Fees Act rather than from the strictures of professional
ethics"]; id. at p. 728 [the "defect, if any," in such a
settlement...
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