Betts v. Republic Indemnity Co. of America
Betts v. Republic Indemnity Co. of America
Opinion of the Court
In this action for attorney’s fees, judgment was for plaintiff for $4,700. Defendant appeals from the judgment.
Plaintiff alleged, in his complaint, that defendant became indebted to him in the sum of $5,000 for the reasonable value of services rendered, and no part thereof had been paid except $300. Defendant denied the allegation, except the part there
The court found as follows: that during July and October, 1945, the defendant retained the services of plaintiff, an attorney at law, for the purpose of securing the admission of defendant to do business in California; plaintiff individually or through attorneys employed in his office, spent approximately 200 hours in matters of negotiation, research of the law, preparation of documents, conferences with the client and representatives of the insurance commissioner, and other necessary services, some of which were beyond the scope originally anticipated by defendant; said services covered a period of time between July 15, 1945, and September 5, 1946; as a result of the services of plaintiff the defendant was admitted as an insurance carrier to do business in California, and .defendant was permitted not only to write the insurance which it originally requested but also workmen's compensation insurance, and this result was particularly attributable to the efforts of plaintiff and it represents an extraordinary result beneficial to defendant; the services of plaintiff were reasonably worth $5,000, and that $300 of said sum had been paid to plaintiff. The court also found that there was no agreement, oral or otherwise, that plaintiff’s fees for legal services would be “a or in a minimum fee of $300.00, or otherwise, or a or any maximum fee of $750.00, or otherwise, and in that connection, finds in fact that the agreement was to pay the reasonable value of the services rendered.”
Appellant asserts that said finding, that there was no oral agreement that plaintiff’s fees would be a minimum of $300 or a maximum of $750, is not supported by the evidence.
Appellant’s three witnesses, who were officers of appellant, testified in substance that plaintiff told them that his charge would be from a minimum of $300 to a maximum of $750.
Plaintiff testified in substance as follows: Mr. Horwitz, one of the witnesses for appellant, asked him in July, 1945, to fix a definite or flat fee, and he replied that he could not give a flat fee because he did not know what difficulty he might get into—that the fee would be a reasonable fee. Mr. Horwitz then said he had hoped that plaintiff would state a definite fee, and plaintiff replied that that was impossible.
There was ample evidence to support said finding that there was no oral agreement that the fees would be a minimum of $300 or a maximum of $750. Appellant argues, however, to the effect that remarks of the judge at the close of the trial show that the judgment was not based upon the testimony of plaintiff, but that it was based upon two letters written by plaintiff after the services had been performed. Appellant asserts that said letters were of no probative value. The remarks of the trial judge cannot be considered in determining whether the findings are supported by the evidence. (Buckhants v. B. G. Hamilton & Co., 71 Cal.App.2d 777, 781 [163 P.2d756, 759].)
Appellant also asserts that the amount of $5,000 awarded as attorney’s fees is exorbitant. The appellant had been chartered as a casualty insurance company in Arizona and it had a paid in capital of $150,000 and a surplus of $50,000. It was seeking to do business as such a company in California. Under a rule of the Insurance Commissioner of California, an insurance company was required, in order to obtain such permission, to have one dollar of surplus for each dollar of capital. Plaintiff and an attorney employed by him had many conferences
The judgment is affirmed.
Shinn, P. J., and Vallée, J., concurred.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.