Court Has Authority To Require Arbitration Of Attorney Fees

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals rejected an attack on its rule compelling arbitration of attorney-client fee disputes.

It is well established that this court has statutory and inherent authority to regulate all aspects of the District of Columbia Bar. See Sitcov, supra, 885 A.2d at 295, 297. [Attorney] Ms. Stuart attempts to challenge this court’s inherent authority to regulate the Bar by highlighting D.C. Code § 11-1322 of the Court Reform Act — a section that discusses arbitration, but is unrelated to the subject of managing the District of Columbia Bar. However, what is more relevant to this court’s power to promulgate Rule XIII, is the language in the Court Reform Act that gives this court the express authority to “make such rules as it deems proper respecting the examination, qualification, and admission of persons to membership in its bar, and their censure, suspension, and expulsion.” D.C. Code § 11-2501 (a) (2012 Repl.) (emphasis added); see also D.C. Code § 11-2502 (2012 Repl.).

The reasonableness of an attorney’s fee is a disciplinary matter subject to censure, suspension, and expulsion, and thus a matter to be regulated by this court. See, e.g., In re Martin, 67 A.3d 1032, 1035 (D.C. 2013) (issuing an eighteen month suspension for, inter alia, charging a grossly unreasonable fee); see also D.C. R. Prof. Cond. 1.5 (a) (“A lawyer’s fee shall be reasonable”). It follows that the method of disputing attorney’s fees is also subject to regulation by this court given that a dispute over attorney’s fees may lead to censure, suspension, or expulsion should an attorney’s fee be deemed unreasonable…

Moreover, “clients are at a significant disadvantage in litigating” attorneyclient fee disputes, and Rule XIII “protects their ability to present meritorious claims and defenses, and . . . thereby fosters public confidence in the bar.” BiotechPharma, supra, 98 A.3d at 997. Accordingly, the language “make such rules as it deems proper” in the Court Reform Act establishes the inherent authority to regulate attorney-client fee agreements, and this court created Rule XIII because it deemed it proper to mandate arbitration in order to ensure a fair process for resolving disputes over attorney’s fees.

The mandatory arbitration provision is Constitutional

Ms. Stuart argues that by preventing lawyers from accessing the judicial system for fee disputes, Rule XIII denies them the First Amendment right of “access to the courts” and equal protection under the Constitution. However, lawyers are not a protected class under the Constitution, and as we stated in BiotechPharma, it is a privilege, not a right, to practice law and that privilege must be regulated for the protection of clients. Id. at 997. This critical goal would be defeated if arbitration of fee disputes was voluntary for attorneys, as Ms. Stuart argues it should be. Our holding, with respect to Ms. Stuart’s First Amendment equal access to the courts argument, is consistent with the court’s holding in BiotechPharma that Rule XIII does not violate an attorney’s Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial for fee disputes with clients. Id. at 995.

The order denying the attorney’s motion to vacate the arbitration award was affirmed. (Mike Frisch)