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Schwartz v. Chow2/3/2005
Argued February 12, 2002
Appellants seek to vacate a decision of the Attorney-Client Arbitration Board ("the Board"), awarding them $26,000 in fees and $2,230 in expenses for their representation of appellee Richard Chow in litigation arising out of an automobile accident and in seven other unrelated matters. Appellants maintain that the Board exceeded its authority by retroactively applying a rule not in effect at the time they entered into their retainer agreement with Mr. Chow, with the result that they were not awarded their full fee. We agree that the basis for the Board's award is unclear, but for that very reason we reject appellants' argument. Because the law is well established that an arbitrator is not required to provide an explanation for a ruling, and because appellants have presented no other valid ground for relief, we decline to remand the case and thus affirm the trial court's decision upholding the award.
I.
On May 28, 1982, Mr. Chow, then named Rong Yao Zhou, and his wife, Xiu Juan Wu, were involved in a serious automobile accident. Mr. Chow settled with the driver of the other car for $220,000, but filed suit against the owner of a restaurant who had served alcohol to the driver shortly before the accident occurred. See Zhou v. Jennifer Mall Restaurant, Inc., 534 A.2d 1268, 1269 (D.C. 1987) ("Zhou I"); Zhou v. Jennifer Mall Restaurant, Inc., 699 A.2d 348, 350 (D.C. 1997) ("Zhou II"). Although the case was originally dismissed by the trial court, Mr. Chow won reinstatement of his complaint on appeal. Zhou I, 534 A.2d at 1276. After a long litigation process, including another appeal, Mr. Chow obtained a judgment for $200,000 in 1997. Zhou II, 699 A.2d at 350. Mr. Chow is now divorced from his wife, and, under their divorce agreement, he is entitled to half of the judgment.
Throughout the litigation, Mr. Chow was represented by the law firm of Cadeaux & Taglieri, P.C. The law firm, in turn, engaged the services of Frederic Schwartz, Esquire, to assist in presenting both of Mr. Chow's appeals. The law firm and Mr. Schwartz agreed to divide the fee from the case evenly. In this proceeding appellants claim $50,000 in legal fees from the 1997 judgment, based on a retainer agreement between Mr. Chow and Cadeaux & Taglieri that was signed shortly after the accident occurred. The agreement states that the firm is entitled to:
a sum equal to 33a percent of any amount recovered or collected for or by [Chow], through or by compromise, settlement or otherwise before this suit is filed; in the event that the suit is filed, the sum shall be equal to 40 percent of any recovery; and in the event that it is necessary to prosecute an appeal, the sum shall be equal to 50 percent of any recovery.
Because the matter was not finally decided until the second appeal (Zhou II), appellants claimed they were entitled to a 50 percent fee on Mr. Chow's half of the $200,000 recovery, as well as $2,230 in costs.
Mr. Chow denied signing the retainer agreement and filed for arbitration pursuant to Rule XIII of the District of Columbia Bar Rules. Appellants counterclaimed for $8,219 in fees relating to seven other matters on which they had done work for Mr. Chow, including a "domestic action" relating to his divorce in which they sought fees of $900. The Board awarded appellants $26,000 in fees and $2,230 in expenses, but did not explain the reasons underlying its award.
Appellants filed a motion in the Superior Court to vacate the award, asserting that the rationale of the award was apparent and that the Board exceeded its authority by retroactively applying rules that were not in effect at the time the retainer ag
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