 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
RYDER v. FARMLAND MUT. INS. CO.3/1/1991
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This case involves a fee dispute between two law firms arising from the referral of a personal injury case. The controversy between the law firms concerns the division of a contingent fee, one-third of the recovery, resulting from a $2,500,000 settlement on behalf of the plaintiff, Donald Ryder. Ryder's Kansas attorneys, Wallace, Saunders, Austin, Brown and Enochs, Chartered (Wallace, Saunders), who contend no referral fee is owing, filed a post-settlement motion to approve attorney fees and to resolve the dispute.
California lawyer Steven C. Geeting and his law firm of Fisher, Weathers & Geeting (all referred to as FW&G), who contend a referral fee is owing, appeal the rulings of the trial court. The trial court held that FW&G is not entitled to a referral fee to be paid by Wallace, Saunders from the one-third contingent fee.
We are presented numerous issues for review.
One of the issues is the trial court's denial of FW&G'S motion to dismiss the Wallace, Saunders fee motion. Was the trial court correct?
FW&G filed its motion to dismiss, asserting that the controversy over the referral fee was limited to the two law firms. FW&G claims the parties to the instant personal injury lawsuit, Donald Ryder, plaintiff, and Farmland Mutual Insurance Co., Coop Service, Inc., and Terry R. Nebhut, defendants, are not the real parties in interest in the dispute over the division of the one-third contingent fee. FW&G also contends the action should have been dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction over FW&G.
After denial of FW&G's motion to dismiss, the trial court sustained a Wallace, Saunders motion for summary judgment which denied FW&G any portion of the one-third fee. FW&G also appeals the summary judgment ruling.
The issue of attorney referral fees under MRPC 1.5 (1990 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 222) is a factor in this appeal. The threshold event in the Wallace, Saunders-FW&G fee division dispute begins on March 1, 1988, the effective date of our referral fee rule (MRPC 1.5). Wallace, Saunders asserts that MRPC 1.5(e) (1990 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 222-23), authorizes Ryder's motion to settle and approve attorney fees.
We agree with FW&G's real party in interest argument. The motion to dismiss should have been sustained. Because we have resolved the appeal by our ruling on the real party in interest issue, we conclude that it is not necessary to address FW&G's summary judgment-personal jurisdiction contention.
Our jurisdiction arises under K.S.A. 20-3017 as the case comes to us on a transfer from the Court of Appeals.
The trial court is reversed. The FW&G motion to dismiss should have been sustained. The case is reversed and remanded with directions to dismiss.
Facts
On February 26, 1988, Donald Ryder was seriously injured in a Western Kansas truck accident when the tractor/trailer he was driving for his employer collided with a pickup truck owned by Coop Services, Inc., (Coop) and driven by Terry R. Nebhut. Farmland Mutual Insurance Co. (Farmland) is the insurance carrier for Coop. Ryder was unconscious for three to four weeks following the accident. While Ryder was unconscious, his brother and sister-in-law, who lived in California, contacted attorney Mac Fisher of FW&G by phone regarding Ryder's accident. Fisher was, or had been, representing Ryder's sister-in-law at the time of Ryder's accident.
Wallace, Saunders asserts that this phone call was to obtain the name of a Kansas attorney. FW&G controverts this assertion and
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Kansas Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|