In Campbell Harrison & Dagley, LLP v. Hill, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals analyzed the trial court’s order that vacated most of an arbitration award. The arbitrators awarded the law firms their fees, based upon a hybrid hourly-rate fee (approximately $3.15 million) and a contingency fee (approximately $25 million). The district court vacated the arbitrators’ award of the contingency fee, which was challenged on appeal to the Fifth Circuit. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals examined the Texas General Arbitration Act, as well as Hill’s claim that the contingency award was unconscionable. Concluding that the district court substituted its judgment for that of the arbitrators, the Fifth Circuit upheld the hourly-rate fee and reversed and rendered the contingency fee award in favor of the law firms.
