Judge Andrew Tarantino Jr.
Law firm Gruenberg Kelly Della (GKD) sought to distribute attorney fees between it and Biscardi's former counsel, Cartier Bernstein Auerbach & Dazzo (Cartier). GKD obtained a $195,000 settlement for Biscardi and sought a 90 percent distribution of the contingency fee based on such settlement for an underlying personal injury action. Biscardi claimed Cartier was discharged for cause. The court found such claim meritless, noting GKD and Biscardi agreed Cartier was entitled to a contingency fee, but only upon the $20,000 settlement offer it obtained. It noted under Judiciary Law §475 an attorney commencing a personal injury action had a statutory lien attaching to any final order or settlement. The court stated as Cartier did not seek payment for the value of its services to the date it transferred files to GKD, it should be presumed Cartier would be seeking payment by a contingency fee. Thus, based on the amount of work Cartier performed, the court awarded it 45 percent of the 33??? percent contingency fee of $175,000—representing the last demand Cartier made. Hence, GKD was awarded 55 percent of the 33??? percent of the fee of $175,000, and 100 percent of the 33??? fee of the additional $20,000 it obtained.
