Gonzalez

A minor’s attorney filed this appeal on his own behalf, dissatisfied with the attorney fees he was awarded in an order approving a compromise in a medical malpractice case. We reverse and remand so the trial court may award fees pursuant to the applicable California rule of court, not the local court rule that was preempted at the time of the award. In addition, the trial court was not required to award the maximum contingency fees allowed under the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975 (MICRA) (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6146, subd. (a)).

I

BACKGROUND

The allegations and facts in this appeal are taken from the complaint, the petition to approve a minor’s compromise, and the resulting order.

A. Complaint

The operative complaint alleged as follows. In June 2009, Katherine Gonzalez, a minor, filed this action against Edward Chen, M.D., for injuries arising out of the way in which she was delivered at birth. In particular, based on Katherine’s size, Dr. Chen should have performed a cesarean section instead of a vaginal delivery. His failure in that regard caused Katherine to suffer shoulder dystocia at birth which later developed into Erb’s palsy, or paralysis, of…