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eBook details

• Title: Joye v. Heuer
• Author : United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Release Date : January 19, 1995
• Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
• Pages : * pages
• Size : 53 KB

Description

This case involves an attorneys fee dispute between attorney Henry T. Heuer of California and attorneys Reese I. Joye, Jr., Stanley Claypoole, and George J. Kefalos (JCK) of Charleston, South Carolina. Heuer appeals from the district court judgment in favor of JCK, awarding them one-third of the net attorneys fees that Heuer received in the representation of Mary Ann Parker, pursuant to an oral agreement between Heuer and JCK regarding the fee splitting. On appeal Heuers principal claims are that the district court lacked jurisdiction; the oral agreement is unenforceable for various reasons; and the district court erred in denying his motion for recusal. We affirm. On July 7, 1981, William Parker, a resident of South Carolina, and his passenger were killed in California when their tractor-trailer collided with a van. Parker had rented the tractor-trailer from the Hertz Corporation. Parkers wife, Mary Ann Parker, employed Joye, who had been her lawyer prior to the accident. Joye immediately traveled to California to investigate the accident. After two trips to California in which he interviewed witnesses, gathered evidence, and inspected the truck, Joye concluded that brake failure caused the accident and entered into a written fee agreement with Mrs. Parker. Subsequently, the estate of the deceased driver of the van brought suit in California against Mr. Parkers estate, as did Mr. Parkers deceased passenger in South Carolina. At Joyes request, Mrs. Parker flew to California to retain an attorney, whom Joye had already contacted and to whom he had sent her file, to defend against the suit there. Joye had been unable to get Hertzs insurance defense counsel to defend Mrs. Parker, and the statute of limitations in California was about to run. Upon meeting with Mrs. Parker, the California attorney told her that he was unable to take the case and gave her the file. Pursuant to phone conversations between Mrs. Parker in California and Joye in South Carolina, Joye sent Mrs. Parker to speak with the firm of Harney & Moore. They, too, were unable to take the case, but recommended Heuer. Joye told Mrs. Parker to go see Heuer, which she did, and he agreed to represent her. Heuer and Kefalos spoke by telephone about Heuers proposed representation of Mrs. Parkers interests in the California litigation. Kefalos informed Heuer that JCK was filing a cross-claim and counter-claim in the South Carolina case. Contemporaneous with this conversation, Kefalos made the following notation: "not intd to deprive of sh of proceeds in lawsuit," which Kefalos testified meant that Heuer did not intend to deprive JCK of their share of the proceeds in the lawsuit. During this conversation, Heuer and Kefalos agreed in general terms to share the attorneys fees, and agreed to notify each other prior to settlement of either the California or South Carolina cases. Heuer did not present proof of a written fee agreement with Mrs. Parker.

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