Donna Grodner and Denise Vinet VS Daniel E. Becnel, Jr. and Law Offices of Daniel E. Becnel, Jr.
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NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL FIRST CIRCUIT NUMBER 2009 CA 0960 DONNA GRODNER AND DENISE VINET VERSUS DANIEL E BECNEL JR AND LAW OFFICES OF DANIEL E BECNEL JR Judgment Rendered AUG 1 1 2010 Q Appealed from the Nineteenth Judicial District Court In and for the Parish of East Baton Rouge State of Louisiana Suit number 497 058 Honorable Janice Clark Presiding Denise A Vinet Counsel for Plaintiffs2nd Appellants Donna U Grodner Denise A Vinet Donna Grodner Charlotte McGehee Mark Plaisance Baton Rouge LA Darryl Becnel Daniel E Becnel Jr Counsel for Defendant1st Appellant Daniel E Becnel Jr Reserve LA BEFORE CARTER C GUIDRY PETTIGREW GAIDRY AND HUGHES JJ J PETTIGREW J In this action arising from a dispute over the sharing of attorney fees Donna Grodner hereinafter referred to as Grodner Vinet Denise Vinet hereinafter referred to as and Daniel E Becnel hereinafter referred to as Becnel appeal from the judgment of the trial court awarding Becnel 30 together with interest 00 000 For the reasons that follow we affirm FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Grodner and Vinet entered into a contingency contract to represent a group of plaintiffs for injuries sustained as a result of a chemical release by Vulcan Chemical Company Grodner and Vinet filed suit on behalf of these plaintiffs hereinafter referred to as the Vulcan litigation on December 8 1998 and the case proceeded in state and then federal court On October 9 2001 Grodner and Vinet filed a motion to enroll Becnel as additional counsel of record After unsuccessful mediation the Vulcan litigation went to trial in June 2002 On the second day of trial the parties reached a settlement of approximately 00 500 103 2 Thereafter Grodner and Vinet sent Becnel a check for 50 00 000 representing his attorney fees Becnel objected to the amount but agreed to accept the undisputed 50 00 000 On July 8 2002 Grodner and Vinet fled a petition for declaratory judgment requesting that they be permitted to pay Becnel a sum to be determined at their discretion pursuant to their oral agreement or alternatively to have the court resolve the attorney fee issue Becnel filed a reconventional demand asserting that he Grodner and Vinet had entered into an oral contract to use his skill expertise and experience in toxic tort and chemical exposure cases to assist in the Vulcan litigation On February 6 2004 Grodner and Vinet filed a motion for partial summary judgment asserting that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to whether there was a written fee division agreement between the parties thereby limiting the division of the legal fee to the work Becnel performed Following a hearing the trial court rendered partial summary judgment in favor of Grodner and Vinet and against Becnel 2 with respect to the nonexistence of a written contract limiting the division of the fee to the work performed by Becnel Thereafter a trial on the merits was held on March 2 3 2004 to determine the amount owed Becnel as attorney fees reasons for judgment On April 13 2004 the trial court issued oral In these reasons the trial court stated that because there was no contract the case must be decided on quantum meruit The trial court recognized a conflict in the testimony regarding the number of hours Becnel spent working on the case but ultimately gave more weight to Becnel testimony and found that Grodner s and Vinet owed Becnel 80 in attorney fees which represents 400 hours at 00 000 00 200 per hour As such the trial court awarded Becnel 30 giving Grodner 00 000 and Vinet a credit for the 50 they had already paid The trial court thereafter 00 000 signed a judgment in conformity with its reasons on May 21 2004 Becnel filed a motion for new trial which was denied Grodner Vinet and Becnel now appeal DISCUSSION In the absence of a fee splitting agreement between the parties the method of sharing attorney fees depends on whether the attorneys were engaged in a joint venture Absent an agreement or custom to the contrary attorneys engaged in a joint venture share equally in the profits Whalen v Murphy 2005 2446 p 6 La App 1 Cir 9 943 So 504 507 writ denied 2006 2915 La 3 952 So 06 15 2d 07 16 2d 696 In order for a joint venture to exist the parties must consent to the formation of Grodner and Vinet assert in brief that there is no final judgment in the instant case This court previously issued a rule to show cause questioning the finality of the May 21 2004 judgment because it made no mention of Grodner and Vinet cause of action However by order dated September 14 2009 s this court recalled the rule to show cause and maintained the appeal Accordingly we find Grodner and s Vinet argument in this regard to be without merit Additionally Grodner and Vinet assert that Becnel abandoned his cause of action in the trial court because he failed to timely submit a judgment for the trial court signature on his motion for new trial s The trial court held a hearing on July 14 2004 following which it denied Bencel motion for new trial s Becnel submitted a written judgment on April 14 2006 on which the trial court made a handwritten notation indicating that the motion was denied in open court and ordering counsel to circulate and submit a judgment A final judgment was submitted and signed by the trial court on November 13 2008 Accordingly because the trial court rendered judgment on July 14 2004 and there is no evidence of abandonment before that time we likewise find this argument to be without merit See State ex rel Department of Social Services v Ramos 99 3536 La 2 754 So 923 see also Rodgers 00 11 2d v Rodgers 34 pp 24 La App 2 Cir 9 768 So 695 697 writ denied 20002857 La 188 00 27 2d 00 8 12 776 So 467 2d 9 the venture share in the losses as well as the profits of the venture and exercise equal control over the enterprise Whalen 20052446 at 6 943 So at 507 2d In the instant case the parties do not dispute that they entered into joint representation of the plaintiffs in the Vulcan litigation Becnel however asserts that Grodner and Vinet orally agreed each attorney was to receive onethird of the attorney fee and that this agreement was in the nature of a joint venture Grodner and Vinet conversely assert that such joint representation was not in the nature of a joint venture that they never agreed orally or in writing to share onethird of the attorney fee with Becnel and that they had agreed with Becnel to pay him whatever Additionally though all three parties exercised some level of control over the litigation and shared in the profits it is clear from the record that only Grodner and Vinet bore any of the risks involved as they each paid over 100 to finance the litigation 00 000 including the hiring of all experts and payment of court costs and filing fees and reimbursed Becnel for costs he submitted to them Accordingly from our review of the record we do not find any error in the trial court failure to find that a joint venture s existed in the instant case 3 2 In his reconventional demand Becnel asserted that he Grodner and Vinet had entered into an oral contract However Becnel has not raised as error the trial court failure to find an oral contract in the s instant case Accordingly we do not address this issue on appeal 3 Additionally we note that effective March 1 2004 Rule 1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct was e 5 amended to provide A division of fee between lawyers who are not in the same firm may be made only if 1 the client agrees in writing to the representation by all of the lawyers involved and is advised in writing as to the share of the fee that each lawyer will receive 2 the total fee is reasonable and 3 each lawyer renders meaningful legal services for the client in the matter Emphasis added Previous jurisprudence applying the principles of joint venture or quantum meruit to attorney fee disputes was in accord with former Rule 1 which provided that lawyers not of the same firm may e 5 divide a fee only if 1 the division is in proportion to the services performed by each lawyer or by written agreement with the client each lawyer assumes joint responsibility for the representation 2 the client is advised of and does not object to the participation of all the lawyers involved and 3 the total fee is reasonable See Dukes v Matheny 2002 0653 pp 3 5 La App 1 Cir 2 878 So 04 23 2d 517 520 521 writ denied 2004 1920 La 11 885 So 1132 However with the amendment of 04 8 2d Rule 1 requiring that the client be advised in writing as to the share of the fee that each lawyer will e 5 receive it is uncertain whether joint venture and quantum meruit principles will continue to apply to fee splitting disputes 4 In the absence of a joint venture the attorney fee can be divided only on a quantum meruit basis Dukes v Matheny 20020652 p 6 La App 1 Cir 2 04 23 878 So 517 521 writ denied 2004 1920 La 11 885 So 1132 2d 04 8 2d phrase quantum meruit means as much as he deserved Barham The Arceneaux V Kozak 20022325 p 10 La App 1 Cir 3 874 So 228 237 writ denied 04 12 2d 2004 0930 La 6 876 So 87 As such Becnel may only receive payment for 04 4 2d the services he performed and the responsibilities he assumed Dukes 20020652 at 6 878 So at 521 The considerations for determining a quantum meruit fee are the 2d time and labor required the novelty and difficulty of the issue the skill required the likelihood that acceptance of the work might prevent the attorney from accepting other opportunities and the experience reputation and abilities of the attorney Dukes 20020652 at 6 7 878 So at 521 Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1 2d a 5 As such a quantum meruit analysis is not limited to an hourly rate calculation See O v Cairns 95 3054 at p 10 La 11 683 So 697 703 Rourke 96 25 2d Rather a proper analysis evaluates not merely the hours expended but the results and benefits obtained Johnson v Insurance Company of North America 27 p 847 4 La App 2 Cir 1 666 So 1286 1290 see also Barham 96 24 2d Arceneaux 2002 2325 at 10 874 So at 237 A trial court award of attorney fees pursuant to 2d s quantum meruit is subject to the manifest error standard of review Barham Arceneaux 20022325 at 21 874 So at 245 2d It is undisputed that Grodner and Vinet began their representation of the plaintiffs in the Vulcan litigation in 1998 Grodner and Vinet filed suit on behalf of the plaintiffs in this multiparty action for injuries they sustained as a result of a chemical release Becnel was enrolled as additional counsel in October 2001 however dispute the amount of work that Becnel performed The parties Grodner and Vinet maintain that although Becnel was enrolled in October 2001 they did not provide him with any documents which they contend amounted to two large settlement binders until April 2002 As such they assert that Becnel performed approximately eighty hours of work Additionally they contend that Becnel did not work on the Daubertissues did 5 not attend Dr Lee Roy Joyner deposition and participated only by telephone in the s pretrial conference Further Grodner and Vinet asserted that they paid Dr Joyner 00 000 15 for preparation of a PowerPoint presentation which Becnel alleges was prepared by Abraham Amador an information technology professional in his office Becnel however asserts that he received boxes of documents in October 2001 and he spent time from October through December reviewing the depositions and other documents contained therein Becnel estimated that he spent approximately 250 hours reviewing and preparing for trial in addition to the time involved in two mediations pretrial conference preparation for Daubert motions jury selection and two days of trial Additionally Lynn Swanson an experienced attorney in Becnel firm attended s two days of Dr Joyner deposition and Darryl Becnel also an attorney in Becnel firm s s attended a mediation Becnel also alleges that he conferred with Amador in preparing the PowerPoint presentation which was intended to be used at trial although ultimately it was disallowed In her testimony Vinet admitted that she wrote a letter to Becnel indicating that she and Grodner wanted Becnel on board to help us in reaching a maximum verdict or settlement and that without him she did not feel this can be accomplished Vinet agreed that Becnel was enrolled as trial counsel Vinet also stated that prior to Becnel s involvement in the case they had received a settlement offer from the defendants for 00 000 100 However the case ultimately settled for 2 00 500 103 Vinet acknowledged that she and Becnel attended the mediations and participated in the settlement discussions with the defendants and plaintiffs and that Becnel helped to increase the final amount of the settlement Finally the parties do not dispute that Becnel is an accomplished attorney with many years of experience in complex litigation in federal and state court From our review of the record and the reasons for judgment we are of the opinion the trial court did not strictly perform an hourly rate calculation in determining the 80 attorney fee owed to Becnel During the trial on the merits counsel for 00 000 plaintiffs Mr Monahan commented that if the total amount of hours worked and a rate 9 were determined a reasonable fee could then be calculated The trial court stated Well that would certainly be one way to do it but that not the only way to do it Mr s Monahan Further in its reasons for judgment the trial court stated that even though there was no other evidence to document Becnel total hours spent the court was s willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and would accept his representation that he spent 400 hours in this case The trial court acknowledged that the prevailing rate for attorney fees in Baton Rouge was 150 00 The trial court continued as follows However Mr Becnel presented his credentials of long standing practice great ability with an impressive practice of civil litigation It is obvious the trial court was considering more factors than just hourly rate and total hours as required by O Rourke and Johnson After considering these additional factors the trial court increased the hourly rate to 200 and then awarded 80 with a credit of 50 Although as a 00 00 000 00 000 trial court we may have found differently on the work and value of that work by Becnel we cannot say nor do we find that the trial court committed manifest error in its award to Becnel CONCLUSION For these reasons we affirm the judgment of the trial court All costs associated with this appeal are assessed against Daniel E Becnel AFFIRMED 7 NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL FIRST CIRCUIT NUMBER 2009 CA 0960 DONNA GRODNER AND DENISE VINET VERSUS DANIEL E BECNEL JR AND LAW OFFICES OF DANIEL E BECNEL JR GUIDRY J dissents and assigns reasons GUIDRY J dissenting While I agree with the majority finding that there was no joint venture in s the instant case I respectfully disagree with the remainder of the majority s opinion affirming the trial court award ofattorney fees to Daniel Becnel s s In the absence of a joint venture the attorney fee can be divided only on a quantum meruit basis Dukes 020652 at p 4 878 So 2d at 520 The phrase quantum meruit means as much as he deserved Barham Arceneaux v Kozak 02 2325 p 10 La App 1 st Cir 3 874 So 2d 228 237 writ denied 04 04 12 0930 La 6 876 So 2d 87 As such Becnel may only receive payment for 04 4 the services he performed and the responsibilities he assumed Dukes 020652 at p 6 878 So 2d at 521 The considerations for determining a quantum meruit fee are the time and labor required the novelty and difficulty of the issue the skill required the likelihood that acceptance of the work might prevent the attorney from accepting other opportunities and the experience reputation and abilities of the attorney Dukes 020652 at pp 67 878 So 2d at 521 Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1 a 5 As such a quantum meruit analysis is not limited to an hourly rate calculation See Ov Cairns 95 3054 at p La 11 683 So 2d 697 Rourke 96 25 703 Rather a proper analysis evaluates not merely the hours expended but the results and benefits obtained Johnson v Insurance Company of North America 847 27 p La App 2nd Cir 1 666 So 2d 1286 1290 see also Barham 96 24 Arceneaux 02 2325 at p 10 874 So 2d at 237 A trial court award of attorney s s fees pursuant to quantum meruit is subject to the manifest error standard of review Barham Arceneaux 02 2325 at p 21 874 So 2d at 245 From my review of the reasons for judgment in the instant case it appears that the trial court strictly performed an hourly rate calculation in determining the 00 000 80 attorney fee owed to Becnel finding that Becnel had performed 400 hours of work at a rate of 200 per hour Further though the court did take into 00 consideration Becnel reputation and experience in determining the hourly rate s there is no indication that the trial court considered the results and benefits obtained nor any of the other factors articulated above Finally even if it can be argued that the hourly rate calculation were appropriate I would find that the trial court still erred in failing to use the 500 per hour rate asserted by Becnel and 00 used by Grodner and Vinet in their original attorney fee calculation Therefore based on the foregoing I would find that the trial court clearly erred in determining the amount ofattorney fees owed to Becnel based on quantum meruit s 2
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