Get It In Writing!

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned a trial court determination that a junior lawyer was entitled to 1/3 of a more senior lawyer's contingency fee that would have paid her more than $1.3 million from claims against Iran that were collected from frozen Iranian assets. The junior lawyer had worked for the senior lawyer for about five years without a written compensation agreement but had received a 1/3 share of fees in nine earlier cases. The court concluded that the conversations between the two lawyers did not create an enforceable oral contract. (Mike Frisch)