Opinion ID: 738304
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Specific reductions.

Text: 44 Dunne challenges several of the magistrate's reductions in hours for which the Florida common fund was charged. In particular, the magistrate subtracted hours for which Dunne charged Oregon under his contract. Where a lawyer working for one client produces a fund benefitting one not his client, the non-client may be obligated to pay for the benefit conferred, even though the lawyer was paid by his client. 2 George E. Palmer, The Law of Restitution 431 (1978); see also Greenough, 105 U.S. at 532; Paul, Johnson, 886 F.2d at 271. The common beneficiaries would be unjustly enriched if they enjoyed the entire benefit produced by the work, and the client unjustly impoverished if it bore the entire burden of the expense of producing the fund. In this case, however, it was not an abuse of discretion to treat Dunne as fully compensated, where his work for Oregon was fully compensated by the people of Oregon pursuant to Dunne's contract, and his benefit to Florida was amply compensated. 45 Dunne's remaining specific reduction disputes are not supported by challenges to particular findings or legal errors. 46