Young v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia
169 F.R.D. 72 (1996)

- Written by Caitlinn Raimo, JD
Facts
Michael Pritchard (defendant) was severely injured in an automobile accident. State Farm Mutual Insurance Company and State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (collectively, State Farm) (defendants) insured the vehicle Pritchard was riding when he was injured. Ralph Young (plaintiff) was Pritchard’s local counsel in his case against Smith, the driver of the automobile, and Sutherland (defendant) was Pritchard’s trial attorney. The jury awarded Pritchard damages payable by Smith. Subsequently, Pritchard, Smith, and the automobile’s owner sued State Farm for unlawful trade practices and bad faith. The case settled pursuant to a confidential agreement. Because the insurance policy on Smith’s vehicle was insufficient to compensate Pritchard for his injuries, the lawsuit against State Farm was the only available source of money to satisfy the verdict. Young and other attorneys (collectively the attorneys) (plaintiffs) contended that Young and Pritchard’s attorneys had an oral contract for contingency fees, to be determined after both cases were resolved. Therefore, they sought a portion of the settlement paid to Pritchard and sued Sutherland and Pritchard for breach of contract and quantum meruit, and Pritchard, State Farm, and Sutherland for enforcement of their attorney’s lien. The attorneys moved to compel disclosure of the terms and amount of the settlement agreement, the amount of attorneys’ fees received by Sutherland or any other attorney, and the name of an individual who decided not to enforce the attorneys’-fee lien. State Farm opposed, citing relevancy and the settlement agreement’s confidentiality provision.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Feinberg, J.)
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