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Mager v. Bultena

In case involving counsel fees, judgment in favor of plaintiff vacated and case remanded; once plaintiff law firm had been discharged by client, the only recovery to which plaintiff was entitled should have been based on work performed pursuant to contract up to point of discharge; plaintiff was not entitled to any part of contingency fee earned by attorney who took over case because contingency occurred after discharge.

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�1 These cross appeals have been taken from the judgment in the amount of $183,600.00 entered in favor of the law firm of Mager, Liebenberg and White, (hereinafter ML&W) and against the law firm of Salmanson and Falcao, LLC (hereinafter S&F or appellant) and its client, Lynn M. Bultena, in this litigation over counsel fees. We are constrained to reverse and remand for the entry of a judgment in conformity with Pennsylvania law.

�2 This unseemly lawsuit was initiated by Carol Mager, Roberta Liebenberg, and Ann White, trading as the law firm of Mager, Liebenberg and White (ML&W), against Michael Salmanson, individually, Linda P. Falcao, individually, the law firm of Salmanson and Falcao LLC (S&F) and Mr. Lynn M. Bultena, individually. ML&W, in its complaint, claimed entitlement to the fee which had been received by appellant as a result of Mr. Salmanson’s representation of Lynn M. Bultena in a qui tam case*fn1 involving Mr. Bultena’s former employer, Blue Shield.

�3 Mr. Salmanson was employed as an associate at ML&W from July 1992 until June 10, 1997, when he resigned and began a practice with his wife, Linda Falcao. Mr. Bultena, as a result of a direct referral to Mr. Salmanson, had retained the law firm of ML&W in March of 1996, pursuant to a written retainer agreement dated March 15, 1996, which provided for Mr. Bultena to pay all costs associated with the firm’s representation and to pay an hourly fee of $200.*fn2 Mr. Salmanson’s agreement with his employer, ML&W, provided for him to receive 15% of all fees the firm collected from Mr. Bultena as an attribution fee for originating the client. The parties agree that no member of ML&W, other than Mr. Salmanson, ever worked on any matter for Mr. Bultena, and that at all times, ML&W paid 15% of the fees it collected from Mr. Bultena to Mr. Salmanson as an attribution fee.

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