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Spiegel & Yochelson v. Brown3/4/2003
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
Plaintiff, the law firm of Spiegel & Yochelson (S&Y;, obtained a judgment in the amount of $26,168.22 against defendant Thomas Brown, its former client, for the reasonable value of attorney's fees, plus interest and costs, incurred in connection with an underlying matter that settled. On appeal, Brown challenges (1) the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the award of attorney's fees and (2) the denial of his motion to tax the award of prejudgment interest. We affirm both the judgment and the order denying the motion to tax prejudgment interest.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On July 4, 1997, Brown was attacked and bitten by his girlfriend's dog. In October 1997 he retained S&Y;to pursue a personal injury claim with respect to injuries sustained from the dog bite. Brown and S&Y;entered into a written contingency fee agreement whereby Brown agreed to pay legal fees to S&Y;in the sum of 33 1/3 percent of any monies recovered if the matter was resolved prior to filing a lawsuit and 40 percent of any monies recovered if the matter was resolved after filing a lawsuit; if Brown retained another attorney after the filing of the lawsuit, S&Y;was entitled to fees at the rate of $250 per hour in a sum for not less than 16 hours.
S&Y;pursued Brown's claim and filed a lawsuit against Sally Montoya, the owner of the dog, in June 1998. (Brown v. Montoya (Super. Ct. L.A. County, 1998, No. YC032525).) S&Y;contacted Montoya's carrier, Allstate Insurance Company, regarding claim information. S&Y;also met with Brown and prepared him for his recorded statement to Allstate in January 1998. Before June 1998, S&Y;gathered Brown's medical records, consulted with Brown and his treating physicians by telephone, reviewed medical reports and records, and prepared Brown's demand to Allstate for settlement. On June 2, 1998, S&Y;sent a policy limits demand letter, with medical reports, to Allstate on Brown's behalf.
By letter dated July 13, 1998, Allstate communicated to S&Y;an offer to settle Brown's claim for $58,000, which did not include any loss of earnings, as no verification regarding loss of earnings had been submitted to Allstate. In a July 18, 1998 letter, S&Y;informed Allstate that Brown was off work for six weeks as a result of the dog bite, but then Brown lost his job in large part due to the depression he suffered as a result of the dog bite. S&Y;was in the process of gathering information on Brown's loss of earnings. Brown rejected the $58,000 settlement offer. In late 1998, Montoya's attorney propounded interrogatories and a request for production of documents on Brown, and S&Y;prepared responses on Brown's behalf. In November 1998, Montoya's attorney filed a motion to compel Brown's responses, and in December 1998, Montoya's attorney took Brown's deposition. S&Y;spent a total of six hours preparing Brown for his deposition and attending the deposition. At a status conference in December 1998, the court set the matter for trial in April 1999 and ordered the case to mediation, which was set for March 11, 1999.
On March 2, 1999, Brown terminated the services of S&Y;and retained the firm of Bleau, Fox & Associates (BFA) to represent him in the Brown v. Montoya matter. BFA was then representing Brown in connection with Brown's claim agai
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