Remotely Ethical

Fees and Litigation Funding

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Topic 1: The Court Awarded Me $1 in Legal Fees. What Should I Do?

In this segment we discuss:

  • Vines v. Welspun Pipes, where a law firm applied for $96,000 in legal fees in an Fair Labor Standards Act case, but the judge awarded only $1.
  • Factors a court might consider in determining whether to grant a fee application.
  • How lawyers can reduce the risk of having their fee applications denied or substantially reduced.
  • Who has standing to appeal an adverse decision on a fee application - the lawyer or the client?

    • Topic 2: Is My Litigation Funding Deal Enforceable and Ethical?

    In this segment we discuss:

    • Fast Trak Investment Co. v. Sax et al., No. 18-17270 (9th Cir.), where the Ninth Circuit certified a question the New York Court of Appeals, as to whether a litigation funding agreement constitutes a loan or an investment.
    • If the arrangement constitutes a loan, it may violate New York's civil and criminal usury statutes.
    • The importance of carefully selecting your choice of law provisions in litigation funding agreements.
    • People v. RD Legal Funding, LLC, No. 2020 N.Y. Slip Op. 31382(U) (N.Y. Sup. Ct.), a New York case that the Court of Appeals may consider when it evaluates the litigation funding agreement at issue in the Fast Trak case.
    • New York City Bar Ethics Opinion 2018-5, which opined that a non-recourse litigation funding agreement between a litigation funder and a New York lawyer constitutes fee-sharing in violation of Rule 5.4.
    • A report issued by the New York City Bar Litigation Funding Task Force that recommends amendments to Rule 5.4, to allow lawyers to enter into certain non-recourse litigation funding agreements.

      • Case Notes From Captivity

      Tyler’s Case Notes: Tyler has been making his own delicious cold brew coffee. Here is the recipe. Nicole will not be making cold brew coffee, because she thinks it tastes terrible.  She recognizes that this may be a minority view.

      Nicole’s Case Notes: Nicole spent last weekend building a potting bench out of two pallets that came with a Home Depot delivery. You can see photos of the original pallets and the final potting bench on Nicole’s (otherwise rarely used) Instagram account here.

      You can watch videos of Remotely Ethical on our YouTube channel.

      For more information about attorney ethics and professional responsibility, please visit our blog.

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      Remotely EthicalBy Nicole Hyland and Tyler Maulsby