GEORGE R. HALL, III, Individually and as Administrator of the Estate of Paul L. Hall; JANE ADAMS VENTERS, Individually and as Counsel v. LAKE CUMBERLAND REGIONAL MENTAL HEALTH/MENTAL RETARDATION BOARD, INC., doing business as THE ADANTA GROUP HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES; BETTY DOWELL; PHYLLIS HARRIS; JAMES R. WOOD, Counsel for Original Plaintiffs; WILLIAM N. DOUGLASS and ODESSA H. DOUGLASS, Guardians and Next of Friends AND JAMES R. WOOD, Individually and as Counsel ODESSA H. DOUGLASS, Guardians and Next of Friends v. JANE ADAMS VENTERS, Individually and as Counsel Individually and as Administrator of the Estate of Paul L. Hall, deceased
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RENDERED:
August 31, 2001; 10:00 a.m.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
C ommonwealth O f K entucky
C ourt O f A ppeals
NO. 2000-CA-001601-MR
GEORGE R. HALL, III, Individually and as
Administrator of the Estate of Paul L. Hall;
JANE ADAMS VENTERS, Individually and as Counsel
for the Estate of Paul L. Hall, deceased
v.
APPELLANTS
APPEAL FROM PULASKI CIRCUIT COURT
HONORABLE WILLIAM CAIN, JUDGE
CIVIL ACTION NO. 91-CI-00865
LAKE CUMBERLAND REGIONAL MENTAL HEALTH/MENTAL
RETARDATION BOARD, INC., doing business as
THE ADANTA GROUP HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES;
BETTY DOWELL; PHYLLIS HARRIS; JAMES R. WOOD,
Counsel for Original Plaintiffs; WILLIAM N. DOUGLASS and
ODESSA H. DOUGLASS, Guardians and Next of Friends
for Paul L. Hall, a developmentally disabled person
APPELLEES
AND
NO. 2000-CA-001710-MR
JAMES R. WOOD, Individually and as Counsel
CROSS-APPELLANTS
for Original Plaintiffs; WILLIAM N. DOUGLASS and
ODESSA H. DOUGLASS, Guardians and Next of Friends
for Paul L. Hall, a developmentally disabled person
CROSS-APPEAL FROM PULASKI CIRCUIT COURT
HONORABLE WILLIAM CAIN, JUDGE
CIVIL ACTION NO. 91-CI-00865
JANE ADAMS VENTERS, Individually and as Counsel
for the Estate of Paul L. Hall; GEORGE R. HALL, III,
Individually and as Administrator of the Estate of
Paul L. Hall, deceased
CROSS-APPELLEES
v.
OPINION AND ORDER
DISMISSING
** ** ** ** **
BEFORE:
DYCHE, HUDDLESTON and MCANULTY, Judges.
HUDDLESTON, Judge:
George R. Hall, III, administrator of the
estate of Paul L. Hall, appeals from an order that directed Jane
Adams Venters, George’s attorney, to disburse an attorney’s fee and
expenses to James R. Wood for services rendered on behalf of Paul
L. Hall.
Venters joins in the appeal from this order because the
court did not award her a portion of the fee paid to Wood in
connection with services she claims to have provided for Paul’s
estate.
Wood
cross-appeals
from
the
same
order
and
seeks
disbursement of funds allegedly owed him from the estate of Paul L.
Hall.
Wood filed a tort action for Paul1 in 1991 in connection
with an injury incurred in November 1990. A settlement was reached
in February 1997 with the tortfeasors.
However, because medical
bills were outstanding,2 Wood’s contingent fee was not disbursed at
that time.
In June 1997, Paul died.
George was appointed
administrator of Paul’s estate and was subsequently substituted as
the party plaintiff in the tort action.
Medicare eventually submitted a demand in the amount of
$178,180.61 for reimbursement of medical expenses paid on behalf of
Paul.
By an order entered April 25, 2000, George was directed to
1
Because Paul was developmentally disabled, the action was
filed by William W. Douglass and Odessa H. Douglas, as guardians
and next friends of Paul.
2
Claims had been submitted to both Medicare and Medicaid.
-2-
pay Medicare and to inquire as to the status of a claim made by
Medicaid.
Due to the settlement of the Medicare claims, the court
ordered George to disburse an attorney’s fee of $94,075.88 and
expense reimbursement totaling $4,883.77 to Wood.3
The court
recognized
of
that
this
was
only
a
partial
payment
Wood’s
contingent fee and ordered that the action remain on the docket
pending
review
of
the
status
of
the
Medicaid
claim
and
an
outstanding issue concerning Wood’s contingent fee.
George filed a motion to alter, amend or vacate4 the
order of April 25, 2000.
This motion was not designated as a
motion under Kentucky Rule of Civil Procedure (CR) 59.05; however,
we can reasonably assume that this was the intended mechanism for
making this motion.
We note in passing that this motion was
premature since the April 25, 2000, order was interlocutory,5 and
CR 59.05 permits a motion to alter, amend or vacate only final
judgments or orders.
On June 2, 2000, an order was entered denying George’s
motion to alter, amend or vacate the April 25, 2000 order.
The
order of June 2, 2000, also stated that the April 20, 2000, order
should be made final and that there being no just cause for delay,
the order was final and appealable .
This appeal and cross-appeal
followed.
3
The total settlement for Paul’s tort claim was $400,000.00
and Wood’s contingent fee was 1/3 of the settlement amount.
4
See Ky. R. Civ. P. (CR) 59.05.
5
See CR 54.01.
-3-
While Wood’s claim for an attorney’s fee and expenses is
but a single claim, the court’s decision to disburse only part of
the fee due renders Wood’s claim for fees a multiple claim.
CR
54.02 governs multiple claims and requires the court to determine,
and recite, that judgment is appealable and that there is no just
cause
for
delay.6
“Where
an
order
is
by
its
very
nature
interlocutory, even the inclusion of the recitals provided for in
CR 54.02 will not make it appealable.”7
Even if Wood’s claim is deemed to be only a single claim,
it is only final and appealable if all the rights of Wood have been
adjudicated.8
The order of April 25, 2000, does not adjudicate all
Wood’s rights.
Venters has inferentially conceded that this appeal is
not ripe for adjudication.
On November 18, 1999, Venters told the
circuit court that:
No disposition of the settlement proceeds can be made
until the claims of Medicare and Medicaid are satisfied.
It is anticipated at that time there will be competing
claims for attorney’s fees to be adjudicated by the Court
with any remaining funds to be paid to the Estate of Paul
L. Hall.
This matter is not ripe for adjudication
inasmuch as the claims of Medicare and Medicaid have not
been satisfied.
6
See CR 54.02(1).
7
Hook v. Hook, Ky., 563 S.W.2d 716, 717 (1978)(citations
omitted).
8
See Signer v. Arnold, Ky., 436 S.W.2d 493 (1969); CR 54.01.
-4-
We
agree
with
Venters’s
analysis.
The
Medicaid
obligation has not yet been satisfied; the amount of the Medicare
obligation is still uncertain.
Whether Wood’s claim for attorney’s fees and expenses is
a
single
or
multiple
claim,
we
must
interlocutory and thus not appealable.9
dismiss
his
appeal
as
Because the cross-appeal
is from the same interlocutory order it is not appealable.
When
the estate’s obligations to Medicare and Medicaid are settled, the
court can adjudicate the claims of Wood and Venters.
The appeal of George R. Hall, III and Jane Adams Venters
from the order entered April 25, 2000, is dismissed as having been
taken from a nonfinal order.
The cross-appeal of James R. Wood
from the same order is also dismissed as having been taken from a
nonfinal order.
ALL CONCUR.
ENTERED:
August 31, 2001
/s/ Joseph R. Huddleston
Judge, Court of Appeals
BRIEF FOR APPELLANTS/
CROSS-APPELLEES:
BRIEF FOR APPELLEES/
CROSS-APPELLANTS:
Jane Adam Venters
ADAMS and VENTERS
Somerset, Kentucky
James R. Wood
Owensboro, Kentucky
9
Hook, supra, n. 7, at 717 (“Although the question is not
raised by the parties or referred to in the briefs, the appellate
court should determine whether it is authorized to review the order
appealed from”). See Cornett v. Wilder, Ky. 307 S.W.2d 752 (1957).
-5-
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