Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
A Failed Attempt to Avoid Legal Fees
Matrimonial attorneys often have trouble collecting their fees from clients. This can be especially true when the case has been resolved and the client is dissatisfied with the outcome. Clients may get very creative in their efforts to avoid making payment. Case in point: A suit brought by a law firm against a nonpaying client was recently decided in the firm's favor, in spite of the defendant client's unusual attempt to be excused from his obligation. The case, Paul, Weiss Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison v. Koons, 2004 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 667 (Sup. Ct., N.Y. Cty. 5/14/04) (Acosta, J.) presented the novel issue of whether a party could defeat a properly pleaded account-stated cause of action in an attorney-client relationship by claiming that the legal fees were excessive pursuant to DR 2-106, therefore rendering the agreement to pay the outstanding fees illegal and unenforceable.
An account stated is an agreement between the parties to an account based on prior transactions between them acknowledging the correctness of the separate items and agreeing that a balance is due by one party to the other. An implicit agreement to pay arises when the party that owes money to the other fails to object to the bill within a reasonable time or makes partial payments on it. Evidence warranting summary judgment in the creditors favor “will arise from either the absence of any objection to a bill within a reasonable time or a partial payment of the outstanding bills.” Chisholm-Ryder Co. Inc. v. Sommer & Sommer, 70 A.D.2d 429, 431, 421 N.Y.S.2d 455 (4th Dept. 1979). In addition, an affirmance by the debtor that the money is owed will make it difficult for a court later to hold that the debt is not legitimate.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent Trolls
With trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.