Schulz
Schulz v. Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Rothschild, J.
*739 This case arises out of a wrongful death lawsuit, in which appellant Herzog, Yuhas, Ehrlich & Ardell, APC (Herzog) represented plaintiffs and respondents Silke Schulz and her four young children. 1 Silke's husband Rainer died when the plane he was piloting crashed just before landing at an airport in Germany. Herzog obtained a settlement of $18,125,000 from the manufacturers of the aircraft and from the providers of some of the aircraft's systems, maps, and charts, all of whose negligence allegedly contributed to the crash. After a trial to determine the allocation of the settlement funds among Silke, her four young children with Rainer, Rainer's two adult daughters from a previous marriage, and Asia Today, the trial court allocated virtually all the settlement proceeds to the minor children. The court awarded Herzog 10 percent of the children's funds as attorney fees, rather than the 40 percent called for in the contingency fee agreement or the 31 percent requested by Herzog. Herzog contends that the trial court abused its discretion by reducing its fee to 10 percent. We agree and reverse.