Schneider

Business and Professions Code section 6146 enacted as a part of the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975 (MICRA) limits the amount of fees an attorney may obtain in a medical malpractice action when representing a party on a contingency fee basis. If periodic payments are awarded to the plaintiff under section 667.7 of the Code of Civil Procedure, section 6416 (b) requires the court to determine the “total value” of such payments based upon the projected life expectancy of the plaintiff and to use this amount to compute the total award from which attorney’s fees are to be calculated. The principal issue here is whether the “total value” of periodic payments means the arithmetic sum of all payments required by the award, i.e., the award’s face value or the present value of the stream of future payments, For the reasons set forth below we decide the value of an award of periodic payments for the purpose of calculating a contingent attorney’s fee is the present value of the periodic payments, normally best represented by the cost of the annuity purchased to fund the payments. We also hold a plaintiff’s attorney discharged before the court makes this determination…