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Law Offices of Robert M. Becnel v. Ancale9/30/2002
AFFIRMED
This appeal involves a dispute between two law firms concerning the apportionment of attorney's fees obtained out of the proceeds of a settlement in a personal injury case. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm.
The facts of this case are not in dispute. On June 24, 1996, Louisiana resident Penny Ancale was injured at the Mobile Greyhound Park in Mobile, Alabama. Following this accident, Ms. Ancale retained Robert Becnel, a Louisiana attorney, to assist her in pursuing a claim for damages. On November 11, 1996, Ms. Ancale entered into a written employment contract in LaPlace, Louisiana with Robert Becnel in which she agreed to pay attorney's fees of 35% of the amount received by her in settlement of the claim. The contract also provided that in the event Ms. Ancale changed attorneys, she would be charged a fee of $175.00 per hour for legal work rendered by Becnel.
Thereafter, Ms. Ancale was referred by Mr. Becnel for medical care, and Mr. Becnel advanced money for the treatment of these physicians. Mr. Becnel also paid Ms. Ancale's outstanding physical therapy charges. The record also reflects that Mr. Becnel referred Ms. Ancale to an orthopedic surgeon, who eventually performed arthroscopic surgery on Ms. Ancale's knee. In addition, Mr. Becnel submitted a written settlement demand to Mobile Greyhound Park and its insurer, and Mobile Greyhound Park responded with a counter- offer of settlement. However, no lawsuit was filed on behalf of Ms. Ancale by Mr. Becnel.
On May 1, 1998, Ms. Ancale informed Mr. Becnel by telephone that she no longer desired his representation in pursuing her claim. On May 4, 1998, Ms. Ancale retrieved her file from Mr. Becnel and formerly discharged Mr. Becnel and his law firm in writing. Ms. Ancale subsequently retained the law firm of Accardo, Edrington & Golden to represent her in her personal injury claim and signed a contingency fee agreement with that firm. On May 13, 1998, the Accardo firm referred the case to Duhe, Barnard & Perloff, a law firm located in Mobile, Alabama, and by letter dated June 1, 1998, these two firms agreed to a division of any attorney's fees obtained. On June 11, 1998, Bryan G. Duhe filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama on behalf of Penny Ancale against Gulf States Racing, Inc. d/b/a Mobile Greyhound Park, Inc.
On August 5, 1998, Robert Becnel filed an intervention into the Alabama lawsuit and also filed a notice of attorney's lien. This motion was denied by the trial court on October 6, 1998.
Thereafter, on February 19, 1999, the written employment contract between Robert Becnel and Penny Ancale was filed and recorded with the Clerk of Court in St. John the Baptist Parish.
On February 22, 1999, Penny Ancale agreed to settle her claim against Mobile Greyhound Park for the sum of $74,500.00. Pursuant to the written agreement between the two law firms, the Duhe law firm transmitted a check to the Accardo law firm in the amount of $8,277.78, representing one-third of the total amount of attorney's fees earned. The Duhe law firm also deposited into the registry of the court in St. John the Baptist Parish the sum of $4,738.32 for medical expenses advanced by Robert Becnel. However, the parties could not agree on the division of the attorney's fees received by the Accardo firm. Accordingly, the Law Office of Robert M. Becnel filed the present lawsuit against the Accardo law firm seeking recovery of attorney's fees due under the contingency fee contract entered into by Mr. Becnel and Ms. Ancale.
Following a bench trial, the trial court rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff and against defendant in the amount of
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