Nostrame v. Santiago

213 N.J. 109 (2013)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D underwent cataract surgery that resulted in a significant injury to her eye. She retained P to pursue a medical malpractice claim and signed a contingent fee agreement. P filed a complaint, and during this time D moved to Florida to live with her daughter. P had an appointment with D on June 1, 2007, but she did not appear. The same day P received a letter discharging him as her counsel, instructing him to turn over her file to Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman, LLC (Mazie Slater), and requesting that P not contact her because her decision was final. P called and wrote to her, trying to determine why he had been discharged. D's new attorney directed P in writing to cease all further contact with D and to turn over D's file. P sued D related to the release of the file and P's assertion of a lien, resulting in a court order directing Mazie Slater to pay P's expenses in the amount of $2,654.06 and preserving P's lien pending resolution of the underlying malpractice litigation. The malpractice suit was settled for $1,200,000, and D filed its motion to discharge P's lien, asserting that plaintiff was not entitled to any portion of that fee. P then sued for damages in the nature of a contingent fee claiming Mazie Slater had tortiously interfered with his contract with D by inducing her to discharge him. The trial court permitted P to recover a quantum meruit based on the value of services performed before his discharge. The trial court valued plaintiff's lien based on plaintiff's claimed hourly rate and the number of hours he certified he had worked on the file and awarded him $11,623.75 as his fee. P then named D, and her daughter and D moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim. The trial court decided P should be permitted discovery. The Appeals court reversed and dismissed P’s complaint. They concluded that clients are free to discharge their attorneys at any time in the absence of fraud or wrongful means. The State Supreme Court granted certiorari.