Court rules in favor of Fieger
Referral Fee - No Consent From ClientWhere plaintiff-law firm sued defendant-law firm to enforce an alleged agreement for a referral fee after defendant obtained a $6 million verdict for the client, the case was properly dismissed because there is no evidence that the client was advised of, or consented to, any fee-splitting agreement.
Plaintiff is not entitled to recovery on a quantum meruit theory because there is no evidence that it ever performed any work on the case.
Affirmed.
Dietrich and Assocs., et al. v. Fieger, et al.
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Referral fee deal goes sour for Fieger
Lawyer places lien against judgment, seeks his share
By Jennifer Chambers / The Detroit News
SOUTHFIELD -- Normally, attorneys Geoffrey Fieger and Harvey Chayet are in the same corner, fighting to win million-dollar settlements for clients.
This time, they are battling each other.
Chayet claims he is owed more than $500,000 by Fieger, who got involved in a 1994 auto accident lawsuit after Chayet's client fired him. After being retained by Mary Curry, Fieger sent Chayet a letter stating that he would share one-third of his legal fee with Chayet, who had already worked eight months on the case.
After winning more than $20 million for Curry -- a settlement that was later reduced to $4.7 million -- Fieger added another $1.5 million in fees to his string of multimillion-dollar court victories.
Chayet waited for his third. And he waited and he waited.
Fieger now says Chayet did no real work on the case and doesn't deserve a dime.
Chayet has a lien against the settlement and on Monday is asking a Genesee Circuit Court judge to enforce the written agreement he had with Fieger.
Today, the barristers -- who seemingly had an amicable relationship when the case was transferred -- have a few choice words for each other.
Fieger responded by calling Chayet several unflattering names, concluding: "He gets one-third of zero."
Chayet, a personal injury lawyer who has practiced for 30 years, says he respects Fieger's ability as a lawyer, but is disappointed in his conduct.
"He is a remarkable lawyer with remarkable success, but he is not a great lawyer because a great lawyer is an honorable lawyer. Your word is your bond. He not only gave me his word -- he sent it in a letter and he signed it," Chayet said.
Chayet said he spent eight months representing Curry, who suffered burns to her back in a fiery auto accident on Interstate 75 near Flint. On Nov. 7, 1994, commercial trucker Daniel Westerby slammed his rig into several vehicles that had stopped on the freeway for President Clinton's motorcade.
The accident killed three people. Curry, then a 43-year-old General Motors worker from Detroit, was hospitalized for 10 days and suffered permanent burn scars. She sued Westerby and his employer, Commercial Carriers.
After eight months on the case, Chayet received a letter from Curry stating he was fired and Fieger would be her new lawyer.
In a June 14, 1995, letter to Chayet, Fieger said he agreed to pay the lawyer a one-third referral fee as well as costs incurred from filing fees and research.
"I maintain the greatest respect for both you and your firm" the letter says "and repeatedly encouraged Ms. Curry to remain with you. She was absolutely intent upon having me as her attorney."
It was Fieger who called him, Chayet says, to make the offer. Chayet accepted the offer and subsequently placed a lien on the case for the value of his attorney services, something he said he would have done even if Fieger hadn't called.
"A deal is a deal, and he proposed it," Chayet said.
Fieger claims Chayet was fired because he did no work on the case. He also said Chayet refused to give him the case file after he was retained by Curry.
"He is doing something illegal. He can't file a lien against my client, he can sue me. He is going to be so heavily sanctioned (by the judge); it's unbelievable," Fieger said.
The case is before Circuit Court Judge Geoffrey L. Neithercut in Flint. The lien is against the judgment in the case, not Fieger.
As a result, Fieger said he won't be there -- he'll be in California filming his new TV show Fieger & Associates, a prime time reality-based legal show on ABC due to begin airing by early fall.
Fieger will play himself.
Fieger ordered to place funds in escrow
A Flint judge ordered Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger to deposit $530,000 from a $4.7 million settlement into an escrow account, until a claim that Fieger owes another lawyer money for attorney fees is settled.
Genesee Circuit Judge Geoffrey Neithercut said he wants to hear testimony from Southfield lawyer Harvey Chayet, who alleges Fieger is reneging on a contract to pay him a one-third share of attorney fees in a 1994 auto accident case.
Fieger, who was retained by Mary Curry after she fired Chayet, said Chayet doesn't deserve any of the money because he did no work on the case. Chayet said he and Fieger have a legal contract. Curry suffered burns to her back in a fiery auto accident on I-75 near Flint on Nov. 7, 1994.