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EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Months after teaming up to help a brain-injured Springfield man win a massive jury verdict in a medical malpractice case, two Eugene law firms are now fighting in court over how to fairly split their $4.2 million in attorney fees.
Corson & Johnson — whose lawyers assumed a lead role during Lee Lyman's trial — says in court filings that Jet Harris of Harris Law Group didn't complete all of her duties as promised, and therefore doesn't deserve her full share of attorney fees paid out in the case.
Harris, however, contends she did perform up to par after asking Corson & Johnson to help her represent Lyman in court. She asserts the other firm broke its deal with her and now owes her $990,000 in addition to the $480,000 she's already been paid for her work.
"These are not things that usually end up in a courtroom," Portland attorney Julie Vacura said. Vacura represents Harris, and said her client's dispute with Corson & Johnson is no different than contract disagreements that sometimes crop up between businesses that work together on a project.
"I think it's unfortunate that it has to be something that got into a courtroom, and I think both parties would like to get it resolved," Vacura said. "I hope that's what does happen before we have to have a trial over it."
The somewhat unusual, high-stakes squabble became public last month, when lawyers representing Corson & Johnson filed a complaint in Multnomah County Circuit Court asking a judge to decide how to fairly split the $4.2 million pot.
Corson & Johnson asserts its agreement with Harris spells out "a mutually agreed-upon division of labor, responsibility and work" on Lyman's case. Harris, the complaint alleges, breached her agreement with the other firm by not completing all of her responsibilities.
Corson & Johnson claims its lawyers were "forced to perform in full or in part nearly all of the duties, responsibilities and work" that Harris had agreed to handle.
Mike Greene, a Portland attorney representing Corson & Johnson in the fee dispute, declined comment on the case.
Harris, however, contends in a formal answer to the complaint that it's Corson & Johnson who violated the deal.
She said in a July 1 court filing that attorney Don Corson at one point stated in an email to her that the list of duties cited in the original complaint reflected what the lawyers had "preliminarily discussed about possible initial division of labor on the case" and that "nothing is set in stone."
The more important document, Harris asserts, is a Feb. 7, 2013, letter that Corson wrote to her. It states that Corson's firm would receive 65 percent of attorney fees in the event that Lyman's case did not settle prior to 45 days before trial. Under that scenario, Harris would receive the remaining 35 percent.
The case did go to trial, and a Lane County jury in October awarded Lyman $12.2 million in damages. The jury ruled that PeaceHealth, Dr. Albert Cho and Northwest Anesthesia Physicians, which employs Cho, are responsible for causing brain damage to Lyman, who was given 18 times the prescribed dose of a powerful medication after his heartbeat became unstable during a March 2011 surgery at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield.
The defendants all threatened to appeal the judgment, triggering settlement discussions that ultimately reduced Lyman's total reimbursement to $10.5 million. Court records show that PeaceHealth ended up paying Lyman $6.5 million, with Cho and his employer paying the other $4 million. The deal worked to bring the case to a close rather than launch it into a potentially costly and lengthy appeal process.
A full 40 percent of the money, or $4.2 million, went toward paying Lyman's attorneys. That's at the upper end of what lawyers typically charge clients upon agreeing to take on personal injury cases.
Harris asserts in court documents that the first of two attorney fee payments was made in December, days after a judge approved Lyman's settlement with Cho and his employer.
Harris says — in line with the 65-35 fee split outlined in Corson's letter from 2013 — that she was entitled to $560,000 of the $1.6 million payment but ultimately agreed to accept 30 percent, or $480,000.
Harris took the reduced sum, Vacura said, "in hope that they would just be done with (negotiations), not because she thought she didn't deserve it."
After PeaceHealth agreed to settle, a second attorney fee payment, totaling $2.6 million, was received. Harris says she's entitled to $910,000 — or 35 percent — of that payment, but so far has not received any part of it.
Lyman's wife, Connie Lyman, said in a brief telephone conversation that she is "unfortunately" aware of the attorney fee dispute. She declined to make any additional comment.
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Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com
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