Minnesota Lawyer
The Stowman Law Firm may not collect a portion of a contingency fee earned in a case from which it withdrew because it did not have good cause to withdraw, the Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled.
The court said that attorneys seeking to recover fees based on quantum meruit must have withdrawn for good cause.
The firm withdrew because the client would not settle the case and the firm believed it could not get a better result, which is not good cause, the court said.
The court was unanimous in the result, with Justices David Stras and David Lillehaug concurring. The case is In Re Petition for Distribution of Attorney’s Fees between Stowman Law Firm, P.A. and Lori Peterson Law Firm, formerly d/b/a Lori Peterson and Associates.
