Law Offices of Jacob Emrani v. Mininsohn CA4/3

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Lopez retained Emrani to represent him in his efforts to recover for the injuries he sustained in an accident involving an Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA) bus. Lopez signed a contingency fee agreement with Emrani, promising to pay Emrani 45 percent of any recovery he received after a lawsuit was filed. If either Lopez

All statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure unless otherwise stated.

2 or Emrani terminated the representation, the agreement granted Emrani a lien for the value of his services against any recovery Lopez received. In June 2009, Emrani filed a lawsuit against OCTA on Lopez‟s behalf (Lopez Action). OCTA hired attorney Patrick M. Desmond from the law firm of Woodruff, Spradlin & Smart (Woodruff Firm) to represent it in the Lopez Action. In June 2010, Lopez terminated Emrani‟s representation and substituted Mininsohn as his attorney. The record does not disclose the precise terms of Mininsohn‟s fee agreement with Lopez, but he too represented Lopez on a contingency fee basis. Upon receiving the substitution of attorney, Emrani notified Mininsohn, OCTA, and the Woodruff Firm that his contingency fee agreement…