Discharge For Cause

An attorney who had threatened to stop work on a matter while a motion for summary judgment was pending and opposition was due was not entitled to assert an attorneys’ lien after discharge, according to a decision of the New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department:

“The evidence elicited at the quantum meruit hearing showed that Curtis twice threatened to stop working on the matter while a motion for summary judgment was pending and opposition papers were imminently due. When Curtis discovered that plaintiff stood to recover a significant sum in settlement of the Zurich insurance case, it tried to coerce or pressure her into signing a new engagement agreement so the firm could receive proceeds from that settlement to continue representing plaintiff in the malpractice action. This was directly contrary to the express terms of their 2001 engagement agreement, under which payment was to be postponed until the conclusion of the action. The demand by Curtis for a new engagement agreement while opposition papers were due, coupled with the threat that it would stop working on the matter, was coercive.

The argument by Curtis that the threats were somehow excusable because the firm continued to work on the matter should be rejected since this would simply be a reward for misconduct. Curtis threatened to withdraw its services from plaintiff without good cause and for its own economic benefit, breaching the fiduciary duty owed to its client and giving plaintiff good cause to discharge her attorney. ” (Mike Frisch)