Opinion ID: 1861326
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: apportionment percentage

Text: The statutory language of subsection 6 makes it clear that expenses of recovery include costs plus reasonable attorney fees. Therefore, the trial court must first determine what would be a reasonable attorney fee before dividing that fee between the attorneys for the plaintiffs. As the statute indicates, if the division of attorney fees has been agreed upon or stipulated to by counsel, then as long as the fee percentage of recovery is not excessive under the guidelines of GCR 1963, 928, the agreement will govern the division of fees. [16] However, if there is no such agreement, the attorney fees shall be divided among the attorneys    as directed by the court. In Kroll, supra, 295, Justice WILLIAMS set forth succinctly the factors to be considered by the trial court in dividing attorney fees: The court in making the division should consider the value of the services performed by attorneys, the agreement each attorney had with his client, and the necessity of ensuring that attorneys working on a contingent fee basis are compensated sufficiently to ensure that the incentive to take third-party actions on such a fee basis is protected. If the total reasonable attorneys' fees determined by the court are less than the sum of the amounts originally agreed to by the attorneys and their clients, the fees of both attorneys should be appropriately reduced, assuming the insurer's attorney contributed in the preparation and trying of the suit. In Franges, the parties do not dispute the division of fees or the reasonableness of expenditures. [17] The total cost of recovery amounted to $40,807.17. Once the total cost of recovery is ascertained, the division of those expenses between the plaintiffs must be determined. Since subsection 6 requires the expenses of recovery to be apportioned between the insurer and the employee, the first step is to determine what percentage of the gross recovery the total expenses of recovery represent. This apportionment percentage is computed by dividing the gross recovery into the total cost of recovery: Total cost of recovery $40,807.17 ______________________ = Apportionment Percentage of 34.005975% Gross recovery of $120,000.00