Title: The Florida Bar v. Quick
Citation: 279 So. 2d 4
Docket Number: 42152
State: Florida
Issuer: Florida Supreme Court
Date: June 6, 1973

279 So. 2d 4 (1973)
THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant,
v.
Garrett D. QUICK and Rutheled B. Wolter, Respondents.
No. 42152.

Supreme Court of Florida.
June 6, 1973.
Charles M. Harris, Titusville, for complainant.
Horton and Perse, Miami, for respondents.
PER CURIAM.
In this Bar discipline proceeding, we review a recommendation of the referee dated December 10, 1971, that respondents, Garrett D. Quick and Rutheled B. Wolter, be found guilty of violations of Article XI, Rule 11.02(4) of the Integration Rule of The Florida Bar, 32 F.S.A., and Rule 27 of the Additional Rules Governing the Conduct of Attorneys, 32 F.S.A. The referee *5 has recommended a private reprimand for respondent Quick and a public reprimand for respondent Wolter. Respondent Quick has petitioned this Court for review of the referee's recommendations.
The record below is voluminous and the testimony is conflicting, but the proceedings and evidence have been summarized by the referee as follows:
*7 Based on the testimony and exhibits presented at the hearings, the referee made the following findings of fact:
Respondent Quick contends that the proof adduced by The Bar in support of the findings of fact and recommendations of guilt and discipline "failed to sustain the Bar's burden of proving impropriety by clear and convincing evidence" as required by The Florida Bar v. Rayman, 238 So. 2d 594 (Fla. 1970) and The Florida Bar v. Schonbrun, 257 So. 2d 6 (Fla. 1971). We are compelled to agree.
Article XI, Rule 11.02(4) of the Integration Rule provides that controversies as to the amount of fees charged are not grounds for disciplinary proceedings unless the amount demanded is extortionate or the demand is fraudulent.[1] Thus, in order to show impropriety, it is necessary for The Bar to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the amount demanded from the client is extortionate or that the demand is fraudulent. We find no *8 such clear and convincing evidence in the record before us.
Initially the client, Mrs. Chamberlain, and respondent Quick agreed in writing to $30.00 per hour as a fair fee for the attorney's services. The final fee charged, $14,998.99, represented in excess of 450 hours work on the case at $30 per hour plus costs. The fee charged, therefore, accorded with the original agreement between the parties, at least to the extent that respondents' time charts were accurate and did not represent a padding of the bill. There was no evidence below to suggest that such was the case. Moreover, the referee made a specific finding that the evidence was insufficient to establish that respondents unduly complicated and extended the cause for the purpose of increasing the attorneys' fees chargeable to the client.
Thus, we take it as established that respondents actually expended 450 hours of their time in furtherance of Mrs. Chamberlain's claim, and we confront the primary issue in the case: the existence or non-existence of an oral novation of the written fee agreement materially altering the total fees chargeable to Mrs. Chamberlain. Mrs. Chamberlain testified that she became concerned about the mounting charges, discussed the matter with respondent Quick and received an oral agreement for a flat $5,000 fee to cover all services and costs. The client supported her assertion with a statement for total services in the amount of $5,000 submitted by Quick on July 1, 1969. Respondent Quick did not deny sending the statement but testified that it was provided at Mrs. Chamberlain's request as a negotiating tool, the idea being that a fairly high fixed charge might provide an impetus for the husband to settle the case. Quick did deny a novation of the original written fee agreement.
We do not view these contradictory facts, supported only by the two statements tendered to the client and the testimony of interested parties to the matter as establishing by "clear and convincing evidence" a novation of the original fee agreement and subsequent disregard thereof. Moreover, after considering the overall import of the testimony adduced below, we are persuaded that the dispute is an inappropriate one for disciplinary action, and should more properly be made the subject of a civil action in the circuit court, if any party feels the necessity for redress.
With regard to Finding #6 of the referee, the unauthorized participation of respondent Wolter in the litigation, our conclusion must be the same. Rule 27 of the Additional Rules guards against "deceit or wilful misconduct" of the attorney. Even assuming that we accept the client's statement that she was unaware of Wolter's participation initially (and Wolter denies this), it is clear that she learned of his contribution during the course of the litigation and approved it. She testified that she was extremely satisfied with the outcome of the lawsuit. We fail to find in this testimony the "clear and convincing evidence" of deceit or wilful misconduct required for disciplinary action.
In reaching the result we do in the case sub judice, we have no wish to thwart the discipline of attorneys guilty of impropriety in their professional behavior. It is necessary to bear in mind, however, that disciplinary actions while not fully criminal in character, are penal proceedings the results of which may permanently cripple an attorney's reputation and standing in the community. Thus, we adhere to the view we took in The Florida Bar v. Rayman, supra, that the quantum of proof necessary to sustain a referee's finding of guilty is something more than the mere "preponderance of the evidence" sufficient for a civil action. We have defined that quantum as "clear and convincing evidence", not as *9 stringent a standard as that required in criminal cases, but most certainly more than the contradictory and inconclusive testimony adduced in the instant case.
Accordingly, the findings and recommendations of the referee are disapproved for the reasons specified and the charges against respondents Garrett D. Quick and Rutheled B. Wolter are dismissed.
It is so ordered.
CARLTON, C.J., and ROBERTS, ERVIN, BOYD and McCAIN, JJ., concur.
MASON, Circuit Judge, dissents with opinion.
DEKLE, J., dissents and concurs with MASON, Circuit Judge.
MASON, Circuit Judge (dissenting):
I must respectfully dissent. The record herein amply sustains the referee's findings. The charges made by these two attorneys were, in my opinion, extortionate and the demand fraudulent; and not only constituted a breach of trust which an attorney owes his client but were a direct, intentional breach of the fee contract made by the respondents with their client, Mrs. Chamberlain. The controversy between these respondents and their client was not a mere misunderstanding between them as to the fee to be charged which would be the subject of a civil suit only, and not an appropriate one for disciplinary proceedings, but was one which grew out of the attorneys' studied effort to extract a fee not within the contemplation of the parties to the fee contract. I would sustain the referee's findings, and would suspend both respondents for ninety days and impose the costs of these proceedings upon them.
DEKLE, J., concurs.
[1]  The Rule has since been amended to include excessive fees as a ground for discipline, but we are concerned in this case with the requirements of the Rule at the time of the conduct complained of.