Looking to its sister courts for guidance, the Maryland Appellate Court rejected a former Ashcraft & Gerel attorney’s claims that a fee-sharing agreement based on a sliding scale unethically restricted her right to practice and limited a client’s choice of counsel.

Not only would attorney Jamie Bennett owe $700,000 in fees to her former firm, but she would also have to pay $81,212.10 in prejudgment interest, the appellate court held.