Decision  James F. Keegan v. August A. Busch & Company

Date:	03/04/2004
Organization:	Department of Industrial Accidents
Docket Number:	DIA Board No. 009574-90
Location:	Boston

• Employee: James F. Keegan
• Claimant: Burke and Burke
• Insurer: Pacific Employers Insurance Company

COSTIGAN, J. The claimant law firm, Burke and Burke, appeals from a decision in which an administrative judge determined that the $9,000 attorney's fee, payable out of the employee's § 48 lump sum settlement with the insurer, was subject to the lien filed by the law firm of Hislop, Carney and Troupe, pursuant to G. L. c. 221, § 50.¹ The judge found that a March 1993 separation agreement between Attorney Joseph M. Burke² and that law firm, (Ex. 4), applied to and controlled their respective fee entitlements. He awarded $3,000, one-third of the fee, to Carney and Troupe, the appellee in this matter. Because we agree with Burke and Burke that the separation agreement did not apply to the lump sum attorney's fee at issue -- a point which Carney and Troupe barely disputes on appeal -- we reverse the decision and recommit the case to the judge to determine what share of the fee, if any, is due to Carney and Troupe, based solely on the equitable doctrine of quantum meruit.

 

 

¹ General Laws c. 221, § 50, as amended by St. 1945, c. 397, § 1, provides:

From the authorized commencement of an action, counterclaim or other proceeding in any court, or appearance in any proceeding before any state or federal department, board or commission, the attorney who appears for a client in such proceeding shall have a lien for his reasonable fees and expenses upon his client's cause of action, counterclaim or claim, upon the judgment, decree or other order in his client's favor entered or made in such proceeding, and upon the proceeds derived therefrom. Upon request of the client or of the attorney, the court in which the proceeding is pending or, if the proceeding is not pending in a court, the superior court, may determine and enforce the lien; provided, that the provisions of this sentence shall not apply to any case where the method of the determination of attorney's fees is otherwise expressly provided by statute.

 

² Since March 1993, a principal and partner of Burke and Burke.