The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has denied an attempt by the late John M. O’Quinn’s law firm to have an excess insurance carrier pay a portion of a $46.5 million settlement he paid back to breast implant plaintiffs for overcharging them on litigation expenses.

O’Quinn, who was a partner in Houston’s O’Quinn & Laminack and earned a reputation as one of Texas’ most successful plaintiffs attorneys before he died in a 2009 car crash, represented plaintiffs against breast implant manufacturers on a 40 percent contingency-fee basis.