Richard D. Jackson Gloria J. Jackson v. United States

Appellants appeal an August 25, 1987, order limiting their attorney from receiving more than a $171,667 share of a $1,300,000 settlement that Appellants received from the federal government in an action brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”). Appellants contend on appeal that the district court erred when it applied a California statute to limit attorney fees to roughly 13 percent of the recovery. We reverse.

I

Appellants retained attorney Wesley H. Harris to represent them in a suit arising from alleged medical malpractice in the care and treatment of Appellant Richard Jackson at the San Diego Naval Hospital. The initial contract between Appellants and their attorney provided for fees of 25 percent of any recovery, the maximum allowed for any judgments rendered under the FTCA. See 28 U.S.C. § 2678 (1982). After a bench trial on the issue of liability alone, the district court ruled in favor of Appellants and requested that the parties hold a settlement conference to determine the amount of damages. The parties agreed to settle the case for $1,300,000. The attorney fees under the original contract would have been $325,000 (25 percent of $1,300,000), but Appellants…