Court Opinion

ID: 9521797
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:11:54.21794+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:58:01.758311
License: Public Domain

JON E WILCOX, J.
¶ 43. {concurring). I ultimately join the majority opinion. The law in Wisconsin on this particular issue is meager at best, but it does suggest that an attorney cannot be held liable to a third-party creditor for a failure to ensure payment when the attorney does not agree to a purported assignment of settlement proceeds. Notwithstanding this holding, I write separately to express my view that in cases such as this, an exception should be made when *692the attorney has actual notice of a professed assignment of settlement funds between a client and a health care provider. As such, I respectfully concur.
¶ 44. After injuring herself in a motor vehicle accident, Sol Hernandez sought chiropractic treatment from Dr. Yorgan. Hernandez was unable to pay for the treatment she received from Dr. Yorgan, so she executed a form entitled "Authorization and Doctor's Lien" (Agreement) provided by Dr. Yorgan. See majority op., ¶ 3.
¶ 45. Hernandez subsequently sought an attorney to handle her personal injury claim, and she eventually retained Attorney Durkin. After Hernandez completed treatment with Dr. Yorgan, Attorney Durkin requested Hernandez's medical records from Dr. Yorgan's office. Dr. Yorgan sent the records and included the Agreement. Attorney Durkin never signed it, but there is no dispute that he had actual notice about the Agreement. Further, Attorney Durkin did not send a letter or other acknowledgment accepting or declining the purported assignment contained in the Agreement.
¶ 46. Prior to Hernandez's settlement, Attorney Durkin contacted Dr. Yorgan to ask if he would reduce his fee; Dr. Yorgan refused. Subsequent to this conversation and with the knowledge that Dr. Yorgan was expecting payment from the proceeds, Attorney Durkin disbursed the funds, less attorney's fees, to Hernandez. Dr. Yorgan never received any payment.
¶ 47. In my view, a better rule would be that in cases such as this, when an attorney has actual notice of a purported assignment between a client and a medical provider, yet still chooses to release the assigned settlement funds without notifying the health care provider, the attorney may be held liable. Other jurisdictions have reached a similar conclusion. See, e.g., Kaiser *693Found. Health Plan, Inc. v. Aguiluz, 54 Cal. Rptr. 2d 665 (Cal. Ct. App. 1996) overruled on other grounds by Snukal v. Flightways Mfg., Inc., 3 P.3d 286 (Cal. 2000); Berkowitz v. Haigood, 606 A.2d 1157 (N.J. Super. Ct. Law Div. 1992) (attorney has the obligation to honor an assignment if properly notified).
¶ 48. Although I recognize that the Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys do not provide the basis for civil liability, see SCR 20, Preamble, I call attention to them because they provide certain ethical guidelines for how an attorney should approach a situation such as this when a preexisting agreement purporting to assign settlement proceeds is discovered by the attorney.1
(1) Notice and disbursement. Upon receiving funds or other property in which a client has an interest, or in which the lawyer has received notice that a 3rd party has an interest identified by a lien, court order, judgment, or contract, the lawyer shall promptly notify the client or 3rd party in writing. Except as stated in this rule or otherwise permitted by law or by agreement with the client, the lawyer shall promptly deliver to the client or 3rd party any funds or other property that the client or 3rd party is entitled to receive.
(3) Disputes regarding trust property. When the lawyer and another person or the client and another person claim ownership interest in trust property identified by a lien, court order, judgment, or contract, the lawyer shall hold that property in trust until there is an accounting and severance of the interests. If a dispute *694arises regarding the division of the property, the lawyer shall hold the disputed portion in trust until the dispute is resolved. . ..
SCR 20:1.15(d)(1), (3) (2006) (third emphasis added).
¶ 49. The Comment to this Rule further explains the following:
Third parties, such as a client's creditors, may have just claims against funds or other property in a lawyer's custody. A lawyer may have a duty under applicable law, including SCR 20:1.15(d), to protect such 3rd-party claims against wrongful interference by the client, and accordingly, may refuse to surrender the property to the client. However, a lawyer should not unilaterally assume to arbitrate a dispute between the client and the 3rd party.
If a lawyer holds property belonging to one person and a second person has a contractual or similar claim against that person but does not claim to own the property or have a security interest in it, the lawyer is free to deliver the property to the person to whom it belongs.
Comment, SCR 20:1.15(d) (2006) (emphasis added).
¶ 50. The Rules suggest that when an attorney knows a third party claims an interest in future settlement proceeds which the client has agreed to, the best course of action is to hold the money in trust until the matter can be resolved through a proper procedure.
¶ 51. In order to avoid situations such as the one Attorney Durkin found himself in this case, it seems appropriate that attorneys should not remain silent in the face of a written demand for the assurances of payment. The attorney should unambiguously notify the health care provider whether he or she intends to be bound to the agreement.
*695¶ 52. I am not suggesting that attorneys have a duty to investigate the financial affairs of their clients prior to releasing settlement funds. I am merely suggesting that when an attorney has actual notice of a purported assignment of settlement proceeds, as in this case, he or she should take the proper precautionary steps suggested by the ethics rules before releasing the funds. Such a rule would help prevent the unjust result of this case.

 I cite to the 2006 version of Supreme Court Rule 20:1.15, which has been modified since the underlying transaction in this case. Attorney Durkin cannot be held to the higher ethical standards of these modified rules and did not violate the ethical rules in force at the time of the transaction.