Opinion ID: 786398
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Amount of Quantum Meruit Fees

Text: 15 We conclude, however, that the district court did abuse its discretion by deciding that the clients' lack of a monetary recovery in the underlying litigation precluded Q & S from being awarded compensation for its services in quantum meruit. A fee based on quantum meruit is for the reasonable value of the services rendered before discharge, which, as noted, is typically determined immediately after discharge. See Cohen, 81 N.Y.2d at 658, 602 N.Y.S.2d at 790, 622 N.E.2d at 290 (As against the client, a discharged attorney may recover the `fair and reasonable value' of the services rendered, determined at the time of discharge and computed on the basis of quantum meruit. (citation omitted)); Schneider, 302 A.D.2d at 188, 754 N.Y.S.2d at 224 (noting that the right to quantum meruit fees for an attorney discharged without cause accrues immediately upon ... discharge). It follows that a discharged attorney's recovery in quantum meruit for a fee is not limited by the former client's ultimate recovery, which might be determined after — sometimes long after — the time of discharge. See Lai Ling Cheng, 73 N.Y.2d at 459, 541 N.Y.S.2d at 745, 539 N.E.2d at 573; Tillman, 259 N.Y. at 135, 181 N.E. at 76; Butler, 235 A.D.2d at 219, 651 N.Y.S.2d at 527. New York courts' preference for thus determining quantum meruit attorney's fees upon discharge is inconsistent with making such fees contingent upon a monetary recovery. Lai Ling Cheng, 73 N.Y.2d at 459, 541 N.Y.S.2d at 745, 539 N.E.2d at 573. And it follows that a court ought not to consider the former client's actual recovery in determining quantum meruit fees. 6 Id. Nevertheless, under New York law, in determining such amount, a court may consider, inter alia, (1) the contingent nature of the representation, Tops Mkts., 2001 WL 392082, at , 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4238, at -; Lai Ling Cheng, 73 N.Y.2d at 459, 541 N.Y.S.2d at 745, 539 N.E.2d at 573; Smith, 192 A.D.2d at 950-51, 596 N.Y.S.2d at 576; Corsi, 44 A.D.2d at 906, 357 N.Y.S.2d at 747, (2) the results achieved by the attorney before discharge, Tops Mkts., 2001 WL 392082, at , 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4238, at -; Schneider, 302 A.D.2d at 189, 754 N.Y.S.2d at 224; Smith, 192 A.D.2d at 950-51, 596 N.Y.S.2d at 576, and (3) the client's actual chance of success at the time the attorney was discharged, see Corsi, 44 A.D.2d at 906, 357 N.Y.S.2d at 747 (holding that a court should consider the likelihood of [the client's] recovery in determining a quantum meruit fee). The client's chance of success at the time of discharge is thus not irrelevant to the amount of a quantum meruit award. 7 16 The district court warned, perceptively, that allowing a discharged attorney to recover quantum meruit fees despite the client's ultimate failure to obtain a monetary recovery may constrain the client's ability to terminate the representation. Universal Acupuncture, 232 F.Supp.2d at 134. But we are bound by the New York Court of Appeals's interpretation of New York law. And the Court of Appeals has instructed that 17 [p]ermitting an attorney improperly discharged to recover the reasonable value of services rendered in quantum meruit, a principle inherently designed to prevent unjust enrichment, strikes the delicate balance between the need to deter clients from taking undue advantage of attorneys, on the one hand, and the public policy favoring the right of a client to terminate the attorney-client relationship without inhibition on the other. 18 Demov, Morris, Levin & Shein v. Glantz, 53 N.Y.2d 553, 558, 444 N.Y.S.2d 55, 58, 428 N.E.2d 387, 390 (1981) (citation omitted). Applying that instruction to the case at bar, we conclude that if Q & S was not discharged for cause, it is entitled to an appropriate award of attorney's fees in quantum meruit.