HOUSTON – The 1st District Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court’s summary judgment in favor of a law firm that filed suit against former clients for unpaid attorney’s fees, remanding the case back to trial for further proceedings.
Dow Golub Remels & Beverly LLP represented Laurie Ann McRay, Infinity Capital LLC and McRay Money Management LLC (collectively, McRay) in two separate lawsuits. The firm alleges the clients failed to pay it for its services.
In rendering its verdict, the three-judge appeal court panel ruled “Dow Golub did not sue on a sworn account, which allows a party to establish a prima facie right of recovery for “any claim...for personal service rendered."
In a ruling signed by Justice Jane Bland, the court further asserted “we hold that, to recover on its claim for breach of its engagement agreements, it was Dow Golub’s summary-judgment burden to attest that the hours that it billed to the two engagements, and thus the overall fees that it charged, were reasonable for the professional services that it rendered.”
The Harris County District Court granted summary judgment to the Texas-based firm for the fees, plus the additional fees that the law firm incurred in collecting its contract damages.
McRay based their appeal on the argument “the law firm did not conclusively establish liability for the amount of fees owed, nor for the fees incurred in collecting the debt,” the April 26 opinion states.
Attorneys for McRay also argued that the trial court tactfully erred by disallowing one of their client's expert witnesses.
During testimony, McRay argued that the “engagement agreement” entered into by the two parties allowed the company to terminate Dow Golub’s representation at any time by written notice.
McRay moved to terminate Dow Golub in early 2015 with the company responding with its breach of contract and quantum meruit lawsuit after alleging it was not paid for work outstanding and two other invoices later submitted.
In addition to disputing the balance sought by Golub, McRay later filed a countersuit over allegations of professional negligence.