Court Opinion

ID: 9721850
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 09:10:54.272204+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:28.904185
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE CLARK, dissenting: I must dissent because I think the majority is venturing into troubled waters when it begins to assess the value of a lawyer’s services for the purpose of imposing disciplinary sanctions. It is quite within the sphere of proper judicial activity to set legal fees as part of punitive damages, or to approve a fee as reasonable in dissolution-of-marriage or probate cases. It is quite another matter, however, when we hold that an attorney has charged an excessive fee and publicly censure him for so doing. The majority has engaged in a subjective process in which it places an arbitrary value on legal services, thereby voiding a valid agreement, based on a code which is not binding upon this court. I would urge that before we besmirch a lawyer’s record of 49 years, which includes a considerable amount of pro bono publico work, we have a firmer basis for doing so than that which exists here. The majority fails to realize that its opinion says that a lawyer can voluntarily enter into an agreement with a client, based on the mutual agreement of the parties as to the worth of the attorney’s services, only to be second-guessed later on. The majority overlooks what was in the contemplation of the parties at the time they entered into the fee agreement. Fisher needed legal representation surely, but there is nothing in the record to indicate that his need was urgent or that he was desperate to obtain counsel on that day. Therefore he could have rejected respondent’s offer and sought other counsel. However, Fisher insisted on retaining respondent, based in part on the recommendation made by Fisher’s own mother. The point is that Fisher thought he was getting fair value for his money since respondent had a favorable reputation and 49 years of experience. While it is our duty to scrutinize lawyer-client dealings where an injustice has been done, I do not think we should pierce the veil of lawyer-client relations where no fraud or other wrongdoing has been shown. A client who voluntarily agrees to pay what he thinks a lawyer’s services are worth should not be heard to complain when, after the lawyer has begun to prepare the case, the charges are dismissed. My opinion might be different had coercion, overreaching or deception been shown here. But those elements simply are not present. An additional ground for my disagreement with the majority opinion is its reliance upon the Code of Professional Responsibility. We have, as the majority opinion notes, repeatedly asserted that the Code is not binding upon the court but serves only as a guide. (In re Taylor (1977), 66 Ill. 2d 567, 571; In re Heirich (1956), 10 Ill. 2d 357, 387.) I would think, however, that in so controversial an area as attorneys’ fees, where one’s fee is dependent upon so many subjective factors, we should be chary about imposing sanctions pursuant to a code which has no legal effect in Illinois. There are times when the Code proscribes conduct which clearly should be forbidden. It is in those kinds of cases that we should apply the Code. But where, as here, the infraction is subject to varying interpretation, we should not impose sanctions without a clear and binding directive, either by rule or statute. Moreover, it is my belief that the court today has embarked on a path which contravenes the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar (1975), 421 U.S. 773, 44 L. Ed. 2d 572, 95 S. Ct. 2004. The court proscribed the formulation of minimum fee schedules as violative of section 1 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. sec. 1 (1970)). The reason behind that decision was that minimum fee schedules constituted an anticompetitive system in restraint of trade. (421 U.S. 773, 792, 44 L. Ed. 2d 572, 587, 95 S. Ct. 2004, 2015.) I think the same can be said of the effect the majority opinion may have. By finding an attorney’s fee to be excessive, the majority is imposing an artificial ceiling on fees, rather than permitting the forces of the marketplace to determine what a fee should be. The Supreme Court has found that the legal profession, at least with regard to fees, is analogous to any other business. (421 U.S. 773, 787, 44 L. Ed. 2d 572, 585, 95 S. Ct. 2004, 2013.) Thus I think it is not our place to interfere with the workings of the legal marketplace in the absence of wrongdoing or illegality, the same way as it is not our place to interfere with the workings of the remainder of the commercial marketplace. We should instead allow the marketplace to find its own level. It might be argued that this case is distinguishable because Goldfarb holds that the State bar, as an arm of the Virginia Supreme Court, could not promulgate fee schedules which tended to raise the cost of legal services, while this case attempts to limit the cost of legal services. But that comparison is not borne out by the opinion in Goldfarb. There it was stated: “Nor was it necessary for petitioners to prove that the fee schedule raised fees. Petitioners clearly proved that the fee schedule fixed fees and thus ‘deprive [d] purchasers or consumers of the advantages which they derive from free competition.’ [Citations.] ” (421 U.S. 773, 785, 44 L. Ed. 2d 572, 584, 95 S. Ct. 2004, 2012.) Therefore it is not the effect of price fixing which the court held to be illegal, but the anticompetitive practice of deciding what a fee should be, even if the fee set down was a reasonable one. Price fixing is illegal per se under the Sherman Act whether the prices fixed are reasonable or not. United States v. Socony-Vacuum. Oil Co. (1939), 310 U.S. 150, 218, 84 L. Ed. 1129, 1165, 60 S. Ct. 811, 842. While it is true that the majority, as a branch of the State government, is exempt from the provisions of the Sherman Act (Bates v. State Bar (1977), 433 U.S. 350, 53 L. Ed. 2d 810, 97 S. Ct. 2691), I think there can be no question but that the majority, in attempting to define what is a reasonable fee as opposed to an excessive one, is in fact engaging in an anticompetitive practice. Instead, I agree with Mr. Chief Justice Burger’s statement in his dissent in Bates which, while addressing price advertising, has equal applicability to price fixing: “[L]egal services *** by necessity, must vary greatly from case to case. Indeed, I find it difficult, if not impossible, to identify categories of legal problems or services which are fungible in nature. *** A ‘reasonable charge’ for [an uncontested] divorce could be $195, as the appellants wish to advertise, or it could reasonably be a great deal more, depending on such variables as child custody, alimony, support, or any property settlement. Because legal services can rarely, if ever, be ‘standardized’ and because potential clients rarely know in advance what services they do in fact need, price advertising can never give the public an accurate picture on which to base its selection of an attorney.” 433 U.S. 350, 386, 53 L. Ed. 2d 810, 838, 97 S. Ct. 2691, 2710. I would suggest that it is not our function to delve into what is a reasonable fee in a given case precisely because no case is “standard.” The negotiation of a fee should be left to the parties. A person may be willing to pay more for the services of a particular attorney at a particular time, when, however, under different circumstances, the attorney’s services would not be as valuable. In this connection the question may be asked whether the fee in this case would be excessive if the attorney involved were a nationally famous criminal lawyer? Or, would the fee be considered excessive if a corporate client retained an attorney because of his reputation as an aggressive advocate, and the case was settled shortly thereafter? I doubt it, because the attorney would argue that since he was ready, willing and able to perform, he had performed his part of the agreement and was entitled to keep the retainer. The result should not differ here, simply because the respondent does not possess a reputation as “high-powered” and the case involved a simple battery. I do not think it is appropriate for the court to rate one attorney’s worth over another’s, which is precisely what this case sets a precedent for doing. Accordingly, because of the reservations I have expressed about the dangers of assessing the value of legal services in order to impose disciplinary sanctions, I must dissent from the majority opinion.