L to R: Dorothy Hubbard Cornwell and Howell Hollis III
Rebecca https://scoverbbee.wordpress...

1. No Signed Contract Is No Problem for Law Firm to Collect
$835K From Client
L to R: Dorothy Hubbard Cornwell and Howell Hollis III
Rebecca https://scoverbbee.wordpress.com Breyer
A Fulton County jury awarded a law firm more than $835,000 in attorney fees and interest after
finding that the firm's former client had agreed to pay a contingency fee on a nearly $4.2 million
settlement--even though no signed fee agreement could be found and the client insisted he had
never agreed to a contingency fee at all.
"Our position was that you can form a contract without a bilateral agreement signed by both
http://lawyers.findlaw.com/ parties," said Smith Moore Leatherwood partner Howell Hollis, who,
with associate Dorothy Cornwell, represented the law firm Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams &
Aughtry.
Defense attorney David Anton, who has filed a notice of appeal, said the case raises questions about
the interpretation of contract case law and State Bar of Georgia contingency-fee rules.
"We believe the court either did not properly interpret or did not follow the case law for unsigned
contracts," said the Alpharetta solo. "The case law doesn't say a contract necessarily has to be
signed, but our position was that this had to be signed."
Anton said Rule 1.5 of the State Bar of Georgia fails to answer the question. That rule says that a
contingency fee agreement "shall be in writing and shall state the method by which the fee is to be
determined."
"It does not refer to a signed agreement," he said. "It just says it must be in writing. Does that mean

2. a signed writing? If it's not a properly signed agreement, does that mean anybody can just send
somebody something and say it's an agreement?"
The underlying case involved two properties that once hosted a D&K Suit City men's clothing store
on Memorial Drive at Interstate 285. In 2005 and 2006, the Department of Transportation filed
condemnation suits, paying nearly $4.4 million into the registry of the DeKalb County Superior
Court.
The owners of D&K--Elie Karam, Elias Dabit and Edmond Dabit--challenged the taking and filed an
appeal.
Karam, whom Anton described as the local "point man" for the group, met with Richard Hubert, a
partner with Chamberlain Hrdlicka who has since retired. The two discussed a representation
agreement, and both sides agree that Hubert agreed to accept a reduced fee of $250 an hour--down
from $350 an hour--plus litigation expenses.
Hubert subsequently sent Karam a letter laying out those terms, plus what the firm said was
Karam's agreement to pay an additional 20 percent of any sums the DOT paid that exceeded 10
percent of the $4 million it had already paid for the property when it filed for condemnation.
According to the firm's version of events as detailed in court filings, the defendants "acknowledge
receipt" of the letter, "but they did not respond to it or reject its terms."
But Anton said Karam had made it quite clear that he would not pay any contingency fee.
"They said, 'we'll agree to take the case for a flat fee of $350 an hour.' My client says, 'no, make it
$250,'" said Anton. "No percentage fee was to apply."
According to the defense portion of the pretrial order, another Chamberlain Hrdlicka lawyer
searched the case file for the fee letter in June 2013 and couldn't find a signed copy. The firm sent
another copy of the letter to the defendants, claiming that "it learned for the first time that" the
owners "were disputing the notion that there had ever been a contingency fee component to the fee
structure."
Just before the condemnation trial was to commence in September 2013, the DOT settled with the
property owners, agreeing to pay another $4.1 million, including almost $1.9 for the value of
property and $2.3 million for the loss of value to D&K, which had to relocate across Memorial Drive.
When the settlement was closed, Hollis said Chamberlain Hrdlicka was paid between $130,000 and
$140,000 for its hourly billings at the agreed-upon $250 per hour rate. But Karam and his partners
refused to pay the 20 percent contingency fee, which totaled $749,776. That money was placed in
Chamberlain Hrdlicka's escrow account pending resolution of the dispute.
Anton said his clients refused to resolve the issue through the State Bar of Georgia's fee arbitration
process, and in February 2014 Chamberlain Hrdlicka filed a breach of contract suit in Fulton County
Superior Court. The complaint sought the $749,776 sum, or, if the letter agreement was deemed to
be unenforceable, asked for the quantum meruit, or reasonable value, of the services the firm had
provided.

3. The suit said that figure should represent one-third of the additional recovery the firm procured for
the defendants, which it claimed was almost $1.4 million.
During a three-day trial before Judge Craig Schwall, Hollis said, he had three cases to try: The first
was to explain the underlying condemnation action to the jury and the "sterling settlement" Hubert
and his co-counsel, Nicholas Papleacos, had achieved for the property owners.
"The second case we had to present was the contract between attorney and client: the contingency
fee agreement," he said. "In the event the jury determined that there was no contract, our third case
was the quantum meruit claim."
Anton said he argued that Karam would have never opted for the flat fee-plus-contingency
arrangement the firm said he'd agreed to.
"It doesn't make sense," he said. "If you do the math, what the firm was awarded was exponentially
more than what he would have been awarded under the $350 an hour flat fee."
Among the witnesses the plaintiffs called to testify as to the efficacy of the Chamberlain Hrdlicka
lawyers were Charles Pursley, an eminent domain specialist at Pursley Friese Torgrimson, and
Kenneth Levy of Decatur's Zachary & Seagraves, who had represented the DOT in the underlying
condemnation action.
The defense did not call any witnesses, Hollis said.
"We didn't have any to call," confirmed Anton. "Just my client."
After three days of testimony, Anton said the jury took a little longer than two hours to award
Chamberlain Hrdlicka $749,776, representing the 20 percent contingency fee. The final award
Schwall entered on June 5 included prejudgment interest of $85,700, for a total award of $835,730.
Both Hollis and Anton said that, in the end, the jurors simply didn't believe Karam's version of
events.
Hollis said the jury foreman also told him that the panel had been very impressed by Hubert and
Papleacos, who "did a great job in the courtroom" as witnesses.