Opinion ID: 738304
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Oregon case.

Text: 61 Dunne was paid for his work for Oregon, first by salary as an assistant attorney general, and subsequently pursuant to contract, at hourly rates of $60, then $40, to which he agreed. He seeks an additional award from the western states common fund created by the litigation. Unlike Florida, Oregon did not agree that Dunne was entitled to a common fund quantum meruit award. Instead, it sought to hold Dunne to his contract and succeeded. He was awarded nothing at all from the common fund, and he appeals. 62 The district court adopted the report of its special master regarding Dunne's claim. The court concluded that an award based on Dunne's contribution to Oregon's portion of the common fund would not exceed what he had already received: 63 Dunne was for a time a member of the Office of the Attorney General of Oregon, and later a contract attorney for Oregon, working on early stages of the refined petroleum products litigation; for those efforts he received compensation from Oregon. Thereafter, he undertook work for the State of Florida in that state's piece of MDL-150 and was paid something for that work. 64 Upon settlement of the Florida case, the court awarded to Dunne a lodestar-based fee of $2,104,333 from Florida's $9,000,000 plus settlement. He now claims entitlement to an additional fee of more than $4,000,000 on the basis of alleged further and uncompensated contributions to the overall litigation effort. It is determined that an accomplishment-based award to Dunne, consistent with the approach adopted in this report for other counsel, for his contribution to the whole MDL-150 effort, (i.e., Florida and the Western states combined), would not exceed what he has already received from the State of Oregon, the State of Florida, and the fee award in connection with the Florida settlement. Dunne has not presented persuasive evidence that any uncompensated activity on his part contributed to the settlements now under discussion. He is entitled to no additional award in the current fee proceeding. 65 Oregon argues that Dunne's claim is moot, because awards have been made to other attorneys from the common fund based on the cumulative impact of all the awards, and Dunne did not challenge the other awards. Generally, an appeal will be dismissed as moot when events occur which prevent the appellate court from granting any effective relief even if the dispute is decided in favor of the appellant. Holloway v. United States, 789 F.2d 1372, 1373 (9th Cir.1986). The record before us does not show that the entire common fund has been distributed, or that other awards could not be reconsidered, so Dunne's appeal is not moot. 66 There are three periods of time at issue. During the first, Dunne was an employee of the State of Oregon in the Attorney General's office. During the second, he was in private practice, and provided legal services to the State of Oregon pursuant to a series of written contracts. During the third, he had been fired as contract counsel for Oregon, but was working on the Florida case pursuant to his contract with the Attorney General of Florida. 67 Dunne says in his brief that his fee petition makes no claim for the hours he worked while employed by Oregon as an assistant attorney general. But he argues that he should be compensated from the common fund for his discovery contribution regarding a critical witness, Kenneth Galligan. We characterized Galligan's testimony as the most significant evidence of a relevant fact that led us to overturn summary judgment against the western states. In re Coordinated Pretrial Proceedings, 906 F.2d at 456. Dunne is right about the financial benefit to the western states of Galligan's testimony. 68 But Galligan was found by investigators working for the Oregon Attorney General's Office and the California Attorney General's Office. All of Dunne's work with and regarding Galligan was performed as an Assistant Attorney General of the State of Oregon. Thus Dunne really is claiming quantum meruit compensation from the common fund for work he did while a full-time employee of the State of Oregon. 69 Dunne cites no authority for the novel proposition that an employee is entitled to more than his agreed upon rate of pay if the work he does for his employer is of especially great value. Nor have we found any. The general rule is the opposite, that when a person makes a contract with eyes open to be paid a certain amount for his services, that is all he gets: 70 A person of full capacity who, pursuant to a contract with another, has performed services or transferred property to the other or otherwise has conferred a benefit upon him, is not entitled to compensation therefor other than in accordance with the terms of such bargain, unless the transaction is rescinded for fraud, mistake, duress, undue influence or illegality, or unless the other has failed to perform his part of the bargain. 71 Restatement of Restitution § 107(1) (1937); see also § 212. Dunne offers no reason, except the allegedly great value of his work, why this general rule would not limit his compensation to his salary for the work he did while an employee. 72 For the second period, when he was an independent contractor, Dunne makes two arguments, first that his work should be compensated under the same principles as governed awards to the attorneys who received millions of dollars from the western states common fund, and second, that he was not paid for part of his work. As to the first argument, it is governed by the same principle as his claim for a quantum meruit award for the work he did finding and talking to Kenneth Galligan while he was an assistant attorney general. Dunne contracted with his eyes open for an hourly rate. He had no equitable entitlement to more. 73 The second argument, that Dunne was not paid for part of his work, apparently refers to 59.5 hours and $417.51 in expenses in excess of his contractual limit. Dunne's contracts limited the hours and expenses for which he would be compensated to maximum amounts per month. For example, here is typical language in one of them regarding his monthly limit on hours: 74 In consideration of the performance of these services, the Department will pay you the rate of $60.00 per attorney hour, not to exceed four hundred twenty-five (425) hours during the term of this contract, and not to exceed two hundred fifty-five (255) hours for the first three (3) months of the contract.... Moneys paid under other terms of this contract will be deemed to be total payment for all services and expenses. 75 Dunne offers no authority for the proposition that the contractual limit would not operate against his claim, and we have found none. The not to exceed 425 hours and will be deemed to be total payment clauses mean that Dunne agreed, with his eyes open, that this is all he would get, even if he worked more hours or spent more money in connection with the lawsuit, during the period of time controlled by the contract. 76 During the final period, Dunne had been fired by Oregon, but was still working for Florida. Dunne argues that the western states common fund should compensate him for the benefit his work for Florida conferred on Oregon after Oregon fired him. The Florida and Oregon cases were related, so a lawyer serving Florida might well advance the interests of the Oregon common fund. As we have explained above, sometimes a lawyer working for one client who produces a fund benefitting a third party is entitled to compensation from that fund, in addition to his contractual compensation from 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. 77 We are satisfied, though, that in this case, the district court did not abuse its discretion in deciding that Oregon had already sufficiently compensated Dunne for the benefits he conferred upon the Oregon portion of the common fund. There are three reasons why. First, during the periods of his employment and his independent contract, he was fully compensated in the amounts he agreed upon. 78 Second, he was fired. Oregon did not stand with its arms folded and enjoy the benefit of Dunne's work, and then object only when it came time to pay for it. Oregon could not stop Florida from using Dunne's legal services, but it did all it could to cease using them itself. One who officiously confers a benefit upon another is generally not entitled to compensation for it. Restatement of Restitution § 2 (1937). Dunne has cited no authority to the contrary. There are exceptions, as when one party to a multiparty case objects to hiring the lawyer, but not to taking the money the lawyer obtains. Felton v. Finley, 69 Idaho 381, 209 P.2d 899 (1949). But the Felton exception has no application where the benefits conferred by the claimant lawyer are uncertain, and other lawyers, including those retained by the party which refused the claimant lawyer's services, were largely or entirely responsible for conferring the benefit. See John P. Dawson, Lawyer and Involuntary Clients: Attorney Fees From Funds, 87 Harv.L.Rev. 1597, 1644-47 (1974). 79 Third, the district court, in the exercise of its discretion, took account of the extent to which Dunne conferred value on the Oregon beneficiaries, and the extent of his compensation, and decided it was adequate. The record supports the district court's exercise of discretion. A Washington Assistant Attorney General on the case swore in an affidavit that Dunne was a liability, lacked basic trial skills, and seemed interested in promoting his own interests at the expense of the interests of the plaintiffs and tried to drive wedges between the states. Regarding the critical Kenneth Galligan deposition, he swore that Dunne claimed to be too busy to attend the defendants' cross-examination. Other evidence was consistent with these remarks. The district court could reasonably exercise its discretion to conclude that although the common fund was large, Dunne's contribution to it was small and had been fully compensated. 80 Dunne's argument suggests that (1) he billed for 21,068.6 hours, and his Florida award was only 10,931.6 hours; (2) someone ought to pay him for the 10,137 hours; (3) if not Florida, then Oregon. But his conclusion does not follow. He is entitled to a fair fee from Florida, and nothing beyond his contract from Oregon, whether he spent more time on the case or not. 81 Dunne also argues that the special master did not spend enough time on his submissions. If he had, Dunne argues, he would have discovered the uncompensated hours and understood the value to Oregon of Dunne's work for Florida. We see neither prejudice, for the reasons stated above, nor error.