Araceli Cordova Ex Rel. Alfredo C. v. Nashville Ready Mix, Inc.
Case Details
- Judge(s)
- Judge Frank G. Clement, Jr.
- Status
- Published
- Procedural Posture
- appeal
Related Laws
No specific laws identified for this ruling.
Excerpt
This wrongful-death action arises out of the death of a Lemay Concrete employee who was struck and killed by a third party's cement-mixer truck while acting in the course and scope of his employment. The issues in this appeal are post-settlement disputes concerning an attorney's fee lien filed by the plaintiffs' first attorney, a subrogation lien filed by the employer's workers' compensation carrier, and the assessment of postsettlement discretionary costs against the carrier. The employee's family instituted this action after agreeing to pay their first attorney 33% of the gross recovery or "a reasonable attorney's fee" if they discharged him before recovering. While the action was pending, the insurance carrier paid workers' compensation benefits to the family and, after declining a settlement offer of $400,000, the plaintiffs discharged their attorney. The plaintiffs then retained substitute counsel. Months later, the wrongful-death claim was settled for $1,350,000. The plaintiffs then sought to void their first attorney's fee agreement and requested the trial court deduct a portion of their substitute counsel's fees from the carrier's subrogation lien. The trial court referred all issues to a special master. The special master found the fee agreement was valid and recommended a fee of $133,333—or 33% of $400,000, the amount of the last "firm offer" secured during the first attorney's representation. The special master's report contained no findings and identified no factors relied upon in determining that $133,333 was a "reasonable fee," other than finding the amount would be one-third of the last "firm offer" obtained by the first attorney. The special master also found the carrier's own counsel protected its subrogation lien and, thus, recommended that the carrier not be liable for any portion of the plaintiffs' attorneys' fees. The trial court adopted verbatim the special master's findings and recommendations. Additionally, the court assessed post-settlement
What This Ruling Means
This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.
Similar Rulings
Plaintiff brought claims against Knox County and the County Clerk based on allegedly discriminatory employment practices. The trial court determined that Plaintiff committed serious discovery violations and imposed as a sanction the exclusion of certain evidence. With this evidence excluded, the trial court granted summary judgment to the Defendants. Plaintiff appeals, challenging the discovery sanction, the trial court's conclusion under the Tennessee Human Rights Act that the continuing violation doctrine did not apply, the trial court's conclusion that the Clerk was not individually liable, and the award of attorney's fees against the Plaintiff and her attorney. We affirm.
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