Tomorrow's opinions, Feb. 4, 2010
The Supreme Court will issue decisions in at least two cases tomorrow.
Shoemake v. Ferrer, No. 81812-6 (briefs and argument). Whether damages in a legal malpractice claim should be reduced because of a contingency fee agreement, and whether attorney fees can be awarded for acts of bad faith that happen prior to the start of litigation. Andrea Shoemake was hit by a drunk driver and retained Douglas Ferrer to file a lawsuit for her, agreeing to give him a 40% contingency fee (i.e. Ferrer would get 40% of any damages). Ferrer filed the complaint, failed to appear for trial, and the case was dismissed. For eight years he told Shoemake that the case was simply backlogged in court. She eventually discovered the truth and sued for malpractice.
The trial court awarded damages to Shoemake for malpractice, but reduced the award by the 40% she would have paid to Ferrer. She also received attorney fees for the malpractice suit costs because Ferrer had acted in bad faith. The Court of Appeals reversed these two decisions, finding that Shoemake was not fully compensated if she had to pay Ferrer’s 40% plus the costs for her new attorney, and finding that attorney fees cannot be awarded for bad faith acts that occur prior to the start of litigation.
In re PRP of Grantham, No. 82194-1 (briefs and argument). Did the Department of Corrections violate James Grantham’s due process rights by refusing to give him access to evidence used against him in a prison disciplinary hearing? Grantham is an inmate at McNeil Island prison, and was charged with violating rules when a correctional officer was caught smuggling tobacco and marijuana to him. The evidence against him included a report of suspicious comments he was overheard making to his brother on the phone. Grantham was given notice of the disciplinary hearing where he was charged, but the notice didn’t contain the dates and times of his alleged violations. He also requested a copy of the phone record on which the charges were based, which was refused. He appeals for violation of due process due to this lack of evidence. The Court of Appeals denied Grantham’s petition, but the Supreme Court granted discretionary review.
