Opinion ID: 2570497
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Limited Role of the Court

Text: The Kansas Constitution grants the power to enact new laws and to amend existing laws exclusively to the legislative branch of government. Kan. Const. Art. 2, § 1. All governmental sovereign power is vested in the legislature, except such as is granted to the other branches of government, or expressly withheld from the legislature by constitutional restrictions. Samsel v. Wheeler Transport Services, Inc., 246 Kan. 336, Syl. ¶ 1, 789 P.2d 541 (1990), overruled in part on other grounds 248 Kan. 824, 844, 811 P.2d 1176 (1991). It is the primary duty of the courts to safeguard the declaration of rights and remedies guaranteed by constitutional provisions. Samsel v. Wheeler Transport Services, Inc., 246 Kan. 336, Syl. ¶ 2. Courts in Kansas are vested with judicial power, which is the power to hear, consider and determine controversies between rival litigants. State, ex rel., v. Mohler, 98 Kan. 465, 471, 158 Pac. 408 (1916), affd 248 U.S. 112, 63 L. Ed. 153, 39 S. Ct. 32 (1918); see also U.S.D. No. 380 v. McMillen, 252 Kan. 451, Syl. ¶ 5, 845 P.2d 676 (1993) (The judiciary interprets, explains, and applies the law to controversies.). Courts are limited to the exercise of judicial power in interpreting statutes or applying the common law and may not usurp the legislative power of determining policy matters or the executive power of implementing such policy. State v. Brady, 156 Kan. 831, 843, 137 P.2d 206 (1943) (court's role in implementing death penalty and clemency issues); see Tomasic v. Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., 264 Kan. 293, 337-38, 955 P.2d 1136 (1998). With a clear stated purpose, the majority violates the Kansas Constitution's restrictions and legislates a cause of action that requires Goertz, as an officer of the court, to reimburse to the insurance carrier that portion of the contingent fee obtained due to the fraudulent act of a client. To reach the desired result, the majority founded its new cause of action on the rule adopted by our Supreme Court in KRPC 1.5(f)(3) (1999 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 313-14), which provides: A lawyer shall not enter into an arrangement for, charge, or collect ... a contingent fee in any other matter in which such a [contingent] fee is precluded by statute. The majority's rationale in creating a cause of action is based on the Kansas Supreme Court's responsibility of supervising Kansas attorneys, pursuant to K.S.A. 7-103. That statute provides: The supreme court of this state may make such rules as it may deem necessary for the examination of applicants for admission to the bar of this state and for the discipline and disbarment of attorneys.(Emphasis added.) This case does not concern the examination of applicants for admission to the bar, attorney discipline, or attorney disbarment. Therefore, K.S.A. 7-103 does not provide authority for the Supreme Court to order Goertz to reimburse Excel under the guise of supervision of Goertz as an officer of the court. The majority states that Goertz, an officer of the court who had a contingent fee agreement with a client, is different from the other professionals covered by K.S.A. 44-5,120 et seq. It concludes that as a matter of public policy, the Kansas Supreme Court cannot approve Goertz' retention of that portion of the fee obtained through his client's fraud and orders Goertz to return the disputed $1,588.46 of his fee. Unlike other professionals, Goertz, an officer of the court, is now subject to a separate court-created civil action, and, although he did not violate a legislative act, he is subject to disciplinary measures if he fails to obey the rule of the court. The court has no right to enlarge the scope of the statute or to amend it by judicial interpretation. Coe v. Security National Ins. Co., 228 Kan. 624, 629, 620 P.2d 1108 (1980). Pursuant to K.S.A. 44-5,120, Excel's cause of action is against those who committed fraudulent acts, i.e., the workers compensation claimant, not her attorney who was innocent of fraud and legally earned compensation commensurate with the award he obtained for his client.