Think twice before handling a so-called routine matter for a friend without a written fee agreement. The Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District in Chodos v. Borman recently slashed a jury’s $7.8 million fee award to a lawyer who handled an “unremarkable family law dispute” with no written fee agreement. The appellate court knocked the fee award down to $1.8 million after finding the jury’s application of a lodestar multiplier was inappropriate.

In Chodos, an attorney represented a client in two underlying divorce cases and a related Marvin action. The client originally retained the attorney in 2007 to defend against a divorce action filed by her husband. The couple reconciled for a brief period; then, in 2008, the attorney initiated a second divorce action at his client’s request. The attorney also brought a Marvin action, asserting a property claim on his client’s behalf to a beach home acquired outside of the couple’s marriage.

The attorney, an experienced business litigator who routinely charged $1,000 an hour, represented his client for over two years, in all three actions, despite never getting paid and not having a written fee agreement. The three matters were finally resolved when the client accepted a settlement valued at $26 million. The attorney and client could not agree on the amount of his attorney fees. Accordingly, the attorney brought a quantum meruit action claiming the value of his services was $9 million.

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