Brault Graham, LLC v. Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos, P.C

GRAEFF, J. This appeal arises out of a suit filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County by The Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos, P.C. (“PGA”), appellee, against Brault Graham, LLC (“BG”), William Gately, Esquire, and Albert D. Brault, Esquire (collectively “appellants”), seeking recovery of attorneys’ fees. 1 ⁶⁴³ Harry Bargar, now deceased, and Carole Bargar initially retained PGA, pursuant to a contingency fee agreement, to represent them in a complex medical malpractice case against various parties in Bargar, et ux. v. MidAtlantic Cardiovascular Associates, P.A., et al., Case No. 03-C-04000132, in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. Mr. Gately, who was then employed by PGA, assisted by Mr. Brault, represented the Bargars on PGA’s behalf for nearly five years. After a trial, a jury found in favor of the Bargars, awarding them a judgment in excess of $5 million.

This Court vacated the judgment on evidentiary grounds in an unreported opinion, Sell, et al. v. Bargar, et ux., No. 408, Sept. Term, 2006 (filed Mar. 17, 2008), and remanded the case for a new trial. At some point prior to this Court’s decision, PGA terminated its relationship with Mr. Gately, with an effective date of April 30, 2008. The Bargars then discharged PGA and retained Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault under a new retainer agreement, which provided for a contingent fee of 40% in the event of recovery. Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault represented the Bargars for the next 18 months, ultimately settling the case for an undisclosed amount.

The agreed contingency fee to Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault was deposited into BG’s escrow account. PGA then filed a quantum meruit claim in the circuit court, seeking to recover a percentage of the contingency fee paid to Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault. After a three-day bench trial, the circuit court granted judgment in favor of PGA and ordered Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault to pay PGA 65% of the fees recovered. On appeal, appellants present two questions for our review, 2 which we have rephrased as follows: ⁶⁴⁴ 1.

Did the circuit court properly find that PGA was entitled to recover quantum meruit attorney fees? 2. Did the circuit court properly consider evidence of fee-sharing agreements with Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault? For the reasons set forth below, we answer the first question yes, holding that the circuit court properly found that PGA was entitled to quantum meruit fees. With respect to the second question, however, we disagree with the court’s analysis regarding fee-sharing agreements.

Accordingly, we shall vacate the judgment and remand for further proceedings. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On January 8, 2001, Mr. Bargar arrived at St. Joseph’s Hospital emergency room in cardiac distress. Mr. Bargar was informed that Dr. Mark Midei, who ran the cardiac catheterization lab, had determined that Mr. Bargar needed a “re-do” bypass surgery. Mr. Bargar requested that the surgery be performed by Dr. Peter Horneffer, a cardiac surgeon with Cardiac Surgery Associates, P.A.

(“CSA”), who previously had performed bypass surgery on Mr. Bargar in 1992. Dr. Timothy Bessent, an emergency room physician, told Mr. Bargar, falsely, that Dr. Horneffer was not available to do the surgery. He said that Dr. Jeffrey Sell, a cardiac surgeon who, along with Dr. Midei, was associated with Midatlantic Cardiovascular Associates, P.A. (“Midatlantic”), a group of cardiac surgeons and cardiologists, would perform the surgery.

The following day, Dr. Sell performed the bypass surgery on Mr. Bargar. On January 19, 2001, three days after Mr. Bargar was discharged, he suffered a massive heart attack and was left severely disabled. At the time Dr. Sell performed the surgery on Mr. Bargar, CSA and Midatlantic were involved in a longstanding dispute. ⁶⁴⁵ In February 2001, CSA and its affiliated surgeons, including Dr. Horneffer, retained PGA to represent them in a suit against Midatlantic (the “CSA case”), for unfair competition in hiring surgeons and unfair trade practices, including lying to patients regarding surgeon availability. Mr. Gately and another PGA attorney, H. Russell Smouse, along with Kathleen McDermott, who was retained as outside counsel as an expert in federal health care law, Medicare, fraud and abuse law, were counsel of record in the CSA case.

In September or October 2003, Mr. Bargar asked Dr. Horneffer about Mr. Gately’s representation of CSA. Dr. Horneffer, who had worked closely with Mr. Gately in the CSA case, advised that he thought that Mr. Gately was an excellent lawyer. Mr. Gately testified that, after he met with the Bargars and reviewed their potential claims against St. Joseph’s Hospital and the physicians involved in his surgery, he recommended to Mr. Angelos that PGA take the case, thinking that the case had potential claims for both medical malpractice and fraud. Mr. Angelos directed Mr. Gately, who had limited experience in medical malpractice, to investigate the matter further, and Mr. Gately met with Thomas Summers, chairman of the medical malpractice department at PGA.

On October 23, 2003, Mr. Bargar entered into a contingent fee retainer agreement with PGA, in which he agreed to pay PGA 40% of any settlement, verdict, or recovery in the case, plus PGA’s reimbursable out-of-pocket expenses. Mrs. Bar-gar entered into a similar agreement on November 3, 2003. Mr. Gately was a direct employee of PGA at the time the retainer agreements were executed. 3 He testified that he was ⁶⁴⁶ advised that, as a direct employee, he would receive 25% of the fee of any case he brought into the firm. A “general case intake sheet” prepared for the new case file provided for a 25% split fee arrangement between PGA and Mr. Gately. 4 In December 2003, Mr. Gately, with the assistance of Mr. Summers, drafted a complaint against Midatlantic, Dr. Midei, Dr. Sell, and other defendants, alleging, inter alia, medical malpractice, fraud, battery, and failure to obtain Mr. Bargar’s informed consent for the surgery (the “Bargar case”).

The complaint initially was filed with the Health Claims Arbitration Office, and on January 6, 2004, the case was removed to the circuit court. Although Mr. Gately believed that Mr. Summers would handle the medical malpractice aspects of the Bargar case, Mr. Summers withdrew from the case with Mr. Angelos’ permission soon after the complaint was filed. From February 2004 through April 2005, Mr. Gately, despite numerous requests to Mr. Angelos for assistance with the medical malpractice matters, was the only attorney handling the Bar-gar case. He handled “voluminous and very involved” preliminary motions, conducted depositions, and met with the Bar-gars “constantly.” In April 2005, Mr. Gately was advised that Mr. Angelos had authorized him to engage Mr. Brault’s services to handle the medical malpractice aspects of the litigation.

There was no discussion about Mr. Brault’s fee until after the jury verdict. Mr. Gately recommended to Mr. Angelos that Mr. Brault receive a 25% to 30% fee, but Mr. Angelos refused. Following Mr. Gately’s discharge from PGA, however, Mr. Smouse advised that Mr. Angelos had agreed that Mr. Brault was entitled to 25% of the Barger fee. 5 ⁶⁴⁷ On December 16, 2005, after more than three weeks of trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the Bargars, awarding $2,253,250 in compensatory damages against Midatlantic, Dr. Midei, and Dr. Sell, based on a failure to obtain Mr. Bargar’s informed consent, battery, and fraud. The jury also awarded the Bargars $2,750,000 in punitive damages against Midatlantic based on fraud.

The jury found no liability for medical malpractice. PGA agreed that the verdict was the product of the “phenomenal job” by Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault. The Midatlantic defendants appealed the judgment to this Court. The issues were briefed in 2006 with the assistance of Mr. Howell, who was retained to assist Mr. Gately with the appellate proceedings, and who was compensated by PGA for his services in that regard.

On March 7, 2007, the case was argued in this Court. On March 17, 2008, this Court vacated the judgment and remanded the case for a new trial based on evidentiary grounds. Between oral argument and the filing of this Court’s opinion, no work was done on the Bargar case. On April 10, 2008, Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault filed a Motion for Reconsideration in this Court, which was denied.

At some point prior to this Court’s decision, the relationship between Mr. Gately and PGA had “significantly deteriorated,” and Mr. Gately was informed that PGA would terminate its association with him, effective April 30, 2008. In the interim, there was discussion regarding who would notify the Bargars that Mr. Gately no longer would be employed by PGA. According to Mr. Gately, on April 15, 2008, after PGA failed to make arrangements for handling the Bargar case and failed to advise the Bargars of their dissociation with Mr. Gately, Mr. Gately mailed the following letter to the Bargars: Please be advised that Peter G. Angelos on behalf of the law offices of Peter G. Angelos decided to sever his relationship with William F. Gately and Howell & Gately. As a result, Mr. Gately will no longer be in a position to work on the case on behalf of the law offices of Peter G. Angelos. ⁶⁴⁸ As the clients involved, you have the right to determine your future representation.

You may continue to be represented by the law offices of Peter G. Angelos without the involvement of Mr. Gately. On the other hand, you may discharge the law offices of Peter G. Angelos as your attorneys and retain the services of Mr. Gately. Finally, you may discharge the law offices of Peter G. Angelos and retain any other lawyers or law firms of your choosing. The determination of counsel is always the right of the client.

On April 16, 2008, Mr. Angelos sent a letter to the Bargars on behalf of PGA. That letter provided: I received yesterday afternoon a copy of Bill Gately’s letter to you of April 15, 2008. Please be advised that this office would welcome the opportunity to continue your representation in the matter addressed in Mr. Gately’s letter and to provide appropriate staffing to ensure that your interests are properly and vigorously represented. Our commitment to you is evidenced by the many hundreds of man hours devoted to your representation at very considerable expense as well as the other substantial expenses advanced in prosecuting your case and in attempting to preserve the verdict on appeal.

We would be most happy to meet with you at your convenience to discuss how we could proceed as counsel on your behalf. If you would give me a call upon receipt of this letter, such a meeting could be promptly arranged. It is accurate, as Mr. Gately points out, that you have a choice in the matter. We hope that the choice that you make is to continue with this firm as your counsel.

The Bargars received PGA’s letter, which was hand-delivered, before they received Mr. Gately’s mailed letter. Mrs. Bargar stated in an affidavit that, upon receipt of Mr. Angelos’ letter, the Bargars were “shocked” and “disturbed at the content of the letter which indicated that Mr. Gately would no longer be representing [them].” They were “totally unaware ⁶⁴⁹ of any difficulties” between Mr. Gately and PGA or of any “potential disassociation” between Mr. Gately and PGA. After receiving Mr. Gately’s letter, the Bargars decided immediately to discharge PGA and retain Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault to represent them. There was no question in their minds that they wanted Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault to “continue handling the case because of their prior handling of the matter and their dealing with us and our confidence in them.” Ms. Bargar stated that, to their knowledge, “no other lawyer knew anything about the case,” and they “wanted the same lawyers who had been successful in the past to continue with the matter.” On April 19, 2008, the Bargars mailed the following letter, drafted by Mr. Brault, to Mr. Smouse of PGA: We learned that Mr. Angelos decided several days ago to sever his relationship with William F. Gately and that as a result, Mr. Gately will no longer be able to represent us if we continue to be represented by the law offices of Peter G. Angelos.

In light of this situation, we hereby discharge the law offices of Peter G. Angelos, P.C. as our attorneys in the litigation against Drs. Midei, Sell and Midatlantic Cardiology Associates, P.A. We have elected to engage Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault to represent us in the matter henceforth. We trust that the file can be transferred to them in a timely fashion so that our interests will be protected. Mrs. Bargar later testified in a deposition, the transcript of which was admitted at trial in this case, that there was no interruption in the legal services provided in the Bargar case after the Bargars discharged PGA and retained Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault.

She also testified that she and Mr. Bargar had “every confidence in” Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault, and that Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault had been “very aggressive and very compassionate and [they] saw no need to go anywhere else.” Between October 30,2003, and April 30, 2008, PGA paid Mr. Gately $1,193,016 in compensation. In addition, PGA paid a total of $252,695 to employ a full-time assistant for Mr. Gately. ⁶⁵⁰ PGA also incurred direct expenses of $74,503.99 in connection with the Bargar case, including the $53,338.73 in fees that it paid to Mr. Howell and to other outside counsel, Blank Rome, LLC and Ms. McDermott, to assist Mr. Gately with various aspects of the case, and $21,165.26 in other expenses. After April 30, 2008, when Mr. Gately no longer was employed by PGA, Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault continued their representation of the Bargars pursuant to a contingent fee agreement providing that, in the event of settlement or favorable judgment, the Bargars would pay them a 40% contingency fee out of “the gross amount recovered” on the Bargars’ behalf, minus costs and expenses. That representation included a July 10, 2008, petition for certiorari in the Court of Appeals, which was denied on August 26, 2008.

Meanwhile, on May 6, 2008, PGA sent a letter to Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault asserting its statutory attorney’s lien on any settlement or judgment, stating: Pursuant to Section 10-501 of the Business Occupations and Professions Article of the Maryland Annotated Code and Maryland Rule 2-652; this firm hereby places you on notice that in the course of its representation of the Bar-gars it incurred substantial expense both for significant investment of legal time and for out-of-pocket expenses it advanced. Its fee arrangement with the Bargars was contingent and, consequently, it has received neither compensation for this legal representation nor reimbursement of these expenses. Thus, it has a substantial interest in any settlement, award or judgment made in the Bargar’s favor stemming from this litigation. The Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos, P.C. hereby directs you, under the terms of the statute, to hold and preserve any money payable or property passing to the Bargars relating to the above-captioned matter so that the adjudication of its rights, pursuant to Rule 2-652(c), will not be prejudiced.

On September 25, 2009, Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault settled the Bargars’ claims for a confidential amount. On November ⁶⁵¹ 24, 2009, the Bargars dismissed, with prejudice, their claims against Midatlantic, Dr. Sell, and Dr. Midei. Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault retained 40% of the settlement proceeds, plus reimbursable expenses, in a BG escrow account. On March 29, 2010, after filing an initial motion in January, PGA filed an Amended Motion to Enforce Attorney’s Lien on the proceeds of the settlement.

It noted that it had represented the Bargars for more than four years, from October 2003 through April 2008, including trying the case and handling the appeal in this Court, with a 40% contingency fee agreement. PGA sought either: (1) a statutory attorney’s lien, pursuant to Md.Code (2009 Supp.) § 10-501 of the Business Occupations & Professions Article, on the settlement proceeds in the amount of 40% of the gross amount of the settlement, together with the expenses PGA disbursed on the Bargar’s behalf; or (2) in the alternative, “an amount in quantum meruit, based on a percentage of the total fee payable by [the Bargars], said amount to be determined by the [c]ourt,” to compensate PGA for its services to the Bar-gars, asserting that “the settlement of this case was in very significant measure due to PGA’s efforts.” On December 10, 2010, prior to a ruling on this motion, PGA filed its initial complaint in this case seeking quantum meruit recovery against Mrs. Bargar, 6 the personal representatives of Mr. Bargar’s estate, Mr. Gately, Howell & Gately, Mr. Brault, and BG. The complaint also contained a count for tortious interference with contract against Mr. Gately, alleging that Mr. Gately “intentionally and fraudulently induced the Bar-gars to terminate PGA as their attorney by ... falsely representing to the Bargars that PGA had no attorney who could effectively prosecute the Bargar [case] after [Mr.] Gately left PGA.” On March 24, 2011, the court held a hearing on the Amended Motion to Enforce Attorney’s Lien. It denied the motion, noting that PGA had filed a complaint seeking recovery under ⁶⁵² a quantum meruit theory, which it determined was the appropriate forum for the resolution of the issue.

On July 21, 2011, PGA filed a Second Amended Complaint for Quantum Meruit. The complaint asserted that PGA was entitled to “a substantial portion of the contingent fee that was paid to, and is being held by, Gately and Howell & [Mr.] Gately and/or [Mr.] Brault and Brault Graham ... for the services PGA provided and the expenses it disbursed on behalf of the Bargars from October 23, 2003 through April 19, 2008.” PGA requested “quantum meruit judgment against Defendants measured by the reasonable value of the services PGA provided and the expenses it disbursed on behalf of the Bargars.” During the ensuing discovery prior to trial, PGA asked in an interrogatory whether the settlement of the Bargar case “was in whole or in part not the result of work performed on behalf of the Bargars by PGA prior to April 19, 2008.” In their answer, Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault responded that the settlement “was wholly the result of a combination of’ thirteen separate outside factors, unrelated to work performed by PGA, including a federal investigation of Midatlantic and public disclosure of a stent scandal. In a deposition, however, Mr. Gately stated that the settlement occurred because “[w]e got lucky because things happened that had nothing to do whatsoever with the work we had done back in 2004 or the trial or anything else, nothing that [PGA] had done. We just got lucky.

We took a greater risk and God rewarded us.” On January 4, 5, and 20, 2012, the court held a non-jury trial. During trial, Mr. Gately agreed that he and Mr. Brault had nothing to do with those thirteen events he attributed to bringing about a settlement, and he reiterated that they “were lucky those events occurred on our watch,” and they “became fortunate.” When asked whether it was his view that none of the work that was done during his association with PGA prior to April 30, 2008, contributed to the settlement in the Bargar case, Mr. Gately responded: “I don’t think I would make an extreme statement like that.” Nevertheless, Mr. Gately took ⁶⁵³ the position that the “wealth of knowledge” that he and Mr. Brault had accumulated about the Bargar case while working for PGA “didn’t amount to a row of pins in terms of the way [they] manoeuvred [sic] this thing to a settlement in light of the subsequent events.” At trial, however, PGA admitted into evidence an email to counsel for Midatlantic, dated April 1, 2009, wherein Mr. Brault indicated that the Bargars’ settlement demand was “based on the verdict that we obtained in December, 2005,” plus post-judgment interest. Mr. Gately agreed that the verdict was obtained while he was associated with PGA and that the docket entries in the Bargar case, numbered 1 through 326, reflected work that had been done on the case while he was working for PGA. He opined that the effect of PGA “telling the Bargar[s] that [they] couldn’t have the lawyers that they had” throughout nearly five years of litigation, and through the verdict and remand, “was essentially an abandonment of their interest.

They discharged [PGA] .... [and] that discharge entitled [PGA] to no fee whatsoever.” Mr. Gately testified that he had a 25% “split fee” agreement with PGA, whereby he would receive 25% of any fee obtained by PGA in the Bargar case. He explained that, in August 2003, when Mr. Angelos suggested that Mr. Gately become a direct employee of PGA, Mr. Smouse told Mr. Gately that, in the capacity of a direct employee, he would receive certain benefits, including a 25% fee for any matter he brought to the firm. After the Bargars retained PGA, Mr. Gately made a request for the 25% fee on an intake form, but he did not fill out the amount of the fee. Mr. Gately never discussed the matter with Mr. Angelos or Mr. Smouse prior to leaving PGA in 2008, and he did not find out that intake form listing a 25% split fee had been signed until after his discharge, when he found the intake form filled out in the Bargars’ case file.

Paul Raschke, an attorney employed by PGA, testified that, in November 2009, Mr. Gately told him that PGA had rejected his request for a 25% fee in the Bargar case, but he wanted PGA to reconsider in light of the Bargar settlement. Mr. ⁶⁵⁴ Raschke conveyed that information to Mr. Smouse and to Mr. Angelos, but they did not reconsider Mr. Gately’s request. Mr. Raschke testified that the fee-split request had been rejected by Mr. Smouse and “had never been seriously considered.” Mr. Gately disagreed with Mr. Raschke’s recollection of these events. He asserted that he never said that his request for a 25% fee split was denied in 2003, but rather, he said that the request was denied when he asserted it during his discharge.

Ward Coe testified on behalf of PGA regarding the ethical implications of a lawyer leaving a law firm and how to value legal services on a quantum meruit basis. He testified, to a reasonable degree of professional certainty, that the transition of the Bargar case from PGA to Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault at the end of April 2008 was handled in an ethically proper manner. He explained that lawyers leaving law firms happens “with some frequency now and something has to be done with their clients’ cases.” When such a transition occurs, there are “two primary ethical considerations”: (1) advising the client of the status that the lawyer handling their case is leaving the firm; and (2) giving the client a choice of lawyer. Mr. Coe observed that both letters to the Bargars appropriately advised them of these considerations.

Once the Bargars chose to discharge PGA and retain Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault, PGA’s “only ... remaining obligation was to cooperate in the transition of the file to” Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault. Mrs. Bargar’s testimony, indicating that there was no interruption in service as a result of the transition, confirmed that the transition was ethically proper. Mr. Coe did not agree with Mr. Gately that PGA had forfeited its right to a quantum meruit share of the attorney’s fees in the Bargar case based on abandonment, explaining that, in order for a discharged attorney to forfeit a fee, the attorney must have committed misconduct materially prejudicing the client’s case. He testified that there was no basis to conclude that PGA abandoned the Bargars, noting that it ⁶⁵⁵ represented the Bargars from November 2003 until the letter of discharge came from the Bargars, and PGA “represented them with a very high level of competence, and the representation continued without interruption by Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault after [PGA] was discharged.” Mr. Coe believed that PGA’s offer to the Bargars to continue its representation of them was genuine, and PGA had lawyers equipped to take over the case.

With respect to the value of the legal services and the appropriate allocation of fees under a quantum meruit theory, Mr. Coe compared the benefit of the services PGA provided to the Bargars with the services provided by Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault after the Bargars discharged PGA, and he concluded that 95% of the value to the Bargars occurred while the case was at PGA. He based this conclusion on three different methods of analysis. First, he looked at the docket entries before and after PGA’s discharge through the date of settlement. He calculated that 326 of the 342 docket entries, or approximately 95%, were attributable to work done while PGA was handling the Bargar case.

Second, he looked at the “total time involved,” noting that PGA devoted a “total of 41 months of engagement on behalf of the Bargar[s] in a very intense way,” compared to three months of active work undertaken by Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault after the Bargars discharged PGA. Thus, PGA was responsible for 93% of the total time incurred in the Bargar case. Third, Mr. Coe examined the parties’ respective representation of the Bargars under the Maryland Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct (“MLRPC”), in particular, Rule 1.5, concerning the reasonableness of attorney’s fees. He concluded that, based on the time, labor, and skill involved, and the complexity of the issues in the Bargar case, as well as the result obtained while the case was at PGA, the value of the services the Bargars received while PGA handled their case entitled PGA to a substantial portion of the attorney’s fees. ⁶⁵⁶ Mr. Coe stated that, had PGA not determined to file a lawsuit, or had it lost early motions to dismiss, or for summary judgment, or the jury trial, or the appeal in its entirety, the ease never would have reached settlement.

Robert Michael testified on behalf of Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault as an expert in ethical obligations in protecting a client’s interests. In Mr. Michael’s opinion, to a reasonable degree of professional certainty, PGA forfeited its right to recover a fee in quantum meruit because it abandoned the Bargar case. Mr. Michael opined that, in medical malpractice cases, “examining docket entries to see what kind of motions and things have been pled ... is just not an acceptable or an appropriate way to look and evaluate the level of the work that has been done.” He noted that, prior to the time that Mr. Gately successfully persuaded PGA to allow him to retain Mr. Brault to handle the medical malpractice portion of the case, PGA gave Mr. Gately “essentially ... [no] help at all with this case.” Mr. Michael equated that “pattern of conduct” to ignoring the interests of the client. Mr. Michael also was critical of PGA’s actions when the issue of terminating Mr. Gately’s employment arose at the beginning of April 2008, opining that PGA should have “made an arrangement with Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault to continue with” the case following PGA’s discharge of Mr. Gately.

Mr. Michael did not believe that the Bargar case was the type of case that easily could be transferred to a new attorney, and the course of action PGA took concerning Mr. Gately and his representation of the Bargars effectively removed the case from the firm and constituted abandonment. Mr. Michael also opined that, after the case was remanded by this Court, it “wasn’t the same case anymore.” He agreed that the transition of representation did not prejudice the Bargars’ case, due to the “intervention of Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault,” but he stated that the “potential for prejudice was there.” Mr. Michael did not testify to the value of the legal services provided to the Bargars on a quantum meruit basis. ⁶⁵⁷ At the conclusion of trial, the court rendered its decision from the bench. Initially, it found no merit to the argument that PGA abandoned the Bargars and forfeited its fee. After finding that a quantum meruit fee was appropriate, the court stated that the second issue was “where does that fee come from.” The court noted Mr. Brault’s position that “there can be no cause of action against a successor lawyer and that in effect it has to come as a second fee from the client.” The court disagreed, stating: There is no additional fee owed by the Bargars.

That any quantum meruit that this court finds comes out of the already fulfilled contingency. The cases are very clear on that, that it doesn’t accrue until the contingency is actually fulfilled, which has been done in this case.... Any quantum meruit fee that is owed ... shall be paid from the already accrued and earned 40 percent contingency fee ... that has already been paid by the Bargars out of this settlement. The court then stated that the final issue for the court to determine was the proportion of the already earned 40% contingency fee to which PGA was entitled.

Because the settlement was confidential, the court stated that it would determine that amount by percentage. The court noted that there was no dispute that PGA was entitled to its expenses of $21,165.25, and it deducted those expenses first. The court next addressed, “from the balance owed, what, if any, quantum meruit is the firm entitled to.” In that regard, it looked at two things. First, it considered the testimony of Mr. Coe, who “analyzed the work done both on docket entries, time and labor and analyzed it as a 95/5 percent.” The court then “looked specifically at [MLRPC] 1.5 that list[s] the factors that are to be considered in evaluating how much is owed to an attorney.” With respect to these factors, the court stated: I considered the first factor, time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved and the skill requisite to perform the legal service properly.

Clearly there has been no dispute that while the case was in [PGA], ⁶⁵⁸ that it was worked on primarily by Mr. Gately and it was a complex medical malpractice case, significant time was spent by Mr. Gately while he was under the auspices of [PGA] and that the skill requisite was a high skill and that he performed that skill well, ultimately with the assistance of Mr. Brault, who was brought in about a month or two before the case was to be tried, at least the first trial date. So, the [c]ourt considered the complex nature of it, the time required while the case was in [PGA], which was ... from October of 2003 until April of 2008. So, around four and a half to not quite five years. So, I have considered that.

I considered the amount involved and the rul[ings] obtained. I considered the fact that it went to trial, the amount of work that went into pretrial motions, in terms of discovery that was testified to, in terms of the work that was done for the trial. The [c]ourt recognizes the complexity of the case, the fact that this was not just a medical malpractice case, but also a fraud case, which is certainly not an easy case to prove, but it was done successfully by Mr. Gately while he was working ... for [PGA] where he was able to receive a multi-million dollar verdict of 5 million dollars in December of 2005. I considered the fact that the case was ultimately appealed, the work that was done, again, still ... under the auspices of [PGA] in terms of ... the case being appealed, addressing the appeal, writing the briefs, argu[ing] the appeal and then I understand that the case was sent back....

I considered the nature and length of the professional relationship with the client. That [PGA] represented the Bargars from October of 2003 until they were discharged in April of 2008. Then there was what seemed to be a seamless transfer of the file to Gately and Brault for continuation of representation from April of 2008 until the case was settled in 2009. I considered the experience, representation and ability of the lawyers performing the services and the fact that the fee was contingent.

I also considered the testimony of Mr. Gately in terms of the work that he performed following his discharge from the firm when he picked up the file and undertook with Mr. Brault ⁶⁵⁹ the representation to conclusion. I considered the work that was done, and although there are not as many docket entries and perhaps not as much substantive pleadings or another trial certainly, I considered the work that he did to ultimately bring the case to conclusion and to, frankly, a remarkable settlement. So, I considered that. The basis for that settlement as well as the work that he did from ...

May 1st of 2008 to its conclusion of September of 2009 as well as the work that was done on the firm’s dime when he was there from October of 2003 until April of 2008. After considering all these factors, the court found that PGA was entitled to a fee based on quantum meruit in the amount of 65% of the contingency fee paid to Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault. Mr. Brault then asked the court to clarify its ruling with respect to appellants’ argument that PGA had fee-split agreements with Mr. Gately and Mr. Brault. The court stated that it determined that Mr. Gately was not entitled to the 25%.

With respect to Mr. Brault, it stated: “I considered all of the evidence presented including what the evidence was in terms of the fee to be paid to Mr. Brault. I have considered all of that in the percentage that I arrived at. It was absolutely in my calculations.” The court stated that it made its findings “based on the credibility and looking at the case law and the evidence,” and it “considered all of those factors.” Accordingly, the court entered judgment in favor of PGA, requiring appellants to pay PGA 65% of the 40% contingent fee earned in the Bargar case, as well as an additional $21,165.26 as reimbursement for expenses incurred by PGA in the Bargar case. STANDARD OF REVIEW This Court recently set forth the standard of review of a court’s ruling during a bench trial: An appellate court reviews a trial court’s factual findings for clear error, and reviews the trial court’s legal conclusions de novo.

See Md. R. 8-131 (c) (An appellate court “will ⁶⁶⁰ not set aside the judgment of [a] trial court on the evidence unless clearly erroneous, and will give due regard to the opportunity of the trial court to judge the credibility of the witnesses.”); Ramlall v. MobilePro Corp., 202 Md.App. 20 [ 30 A.3d 1003 ] (2011) (“The clearly erroneous standard does not apply to [a trial] court’s