Waggoner v. Williamson

8 So. 3d 147, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 88, 2009 WL 468561
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 26, 2009
Docket2007-IA-00565-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 8 So. 3d 147 (Waggoner v. Williamson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Waggoner v. Williamson, 8 So. 3d 147, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 88, 2009 WL 468561 (Mich. 2009).

Opinions

CARLSON, Presiding Justice,

for the Court.

111. Barthel D. Waggoner and Jacqueline M. Waggoner (the Waggoners) sued attorneys Edward A. Williamson, Edward Williamson, P.A. (Williamson), and Michael J. Miller (Miller), in the Adams County Circuit Court alleging breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and negligent misrepresentation arising from the aggregate settlement in Annette Williams, et al. v. American Home Products Corp., et al. In their complaint against Williamson and Miller, the Waggoners requested a disgorgement of attorneys’ fees; compensatory damages; punitive damages, based on allegations of actual malice and gross negligence evincing a willful, wanton and reckless disregard for their rights and commission of actual fraud; attorneys’ fees and costs; an accounting of the settlement proceeds; rescission of the representation agreement; and an award of attorneys’ fees to Williamson and Miller based upon quantum meruit. Williamson and Miller filed motions for summary judgment which the trial court granted in part and denied in part. The Waggoners thereafter filed with us a petition for an interlocutory appeal, which we granted. See M.R.A.P. 5. Finding error in the trial court’s order granting in part defendants’ motions for summary judgment, we reverse the trial court’s order and remand this case to the Circuit Court of Adams County for a jury trial consistent with this opinion.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS IN THE TRIAL COURT

¶ 2. In 1999, Barthel D. Waggoner alleged that he sustained severe injuries resulting from the ingestion of diet drugs manufactured by American Home Products Corporation (AHP). Waggoner decided not to join a class-action suit against AHP and sought individualized representation from attorney Edward A. Williamson, who undertook the representation of Wag-goner and his wife, Jacqueline, and included these claims in Annette Williams, et al. v. American Home Products Corp., et al.1 (hereinafter “the Annette Williams litigation”) filed on May 23, 2000. Although the Waggoners contend that Williamson indicated they would be represented individually, Williamson represented more than thirty (30) named and unnamed plaintiffs [150]*150from Mississippi in the Annette Williams litigation.

¶ 3. Williamson also associated with and entered into fee-sharing agreements with attorney Michael J. Miller of Virginia and Edward Blackmon, Jr.2 of Madison County. The Waggoners assert that Williamson never disclosed this attorney association to them, and they never approved it. At the time of this association, Miller represented fourteen clients located in Washington, D.C., and Virginia in substantially similar litigation against AHP. Subsequent to his association by Williamson, Miller represented these fourteen clients against AHP through the Annette Williams litigation.

¶ 4. On April 24, 2001, Miller negotiated an aggregate settlement3 in the amount of $78,500,000 with AHP. This settlement included thirty-one Mississippi claimants, including the Waggoners, and Miller’s fourteen Virginia and Washington, D.C., claimants. Based on an aggregate settlement agreement drafted by a representative for AHP and approved by Williamson and Miller, AHP would not allocate the $55 million offered to the Mississippi claimants and the $18.5 million to the Washington, D.C., and Virginia claimants, but rather required the settling attorneys to comply with the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct or the counterpart state rules of professional conduct. Paragraph 5a of the settlement agreement stated:

AHP shall not be responsible for, or participate in, any allocation, whether (i) as between the Settling Attorneys and the Settling Claimants or (ii) as among any of the Settling Attorneys or (iii) as among any of the Settling Claimants. The Settling Attorneys represent that they have complied and will Comply with Rule 1.8 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct or its applicable state counterpart(s).

(Emphasis added). The settling attorneys determined the distribution of the $55 million among the Mississippi claimants. The Waggoners allege that, notwithstanding the agreement of Williamson and Miller to comply with Mississippi Rule of Professional Conduct 1.8, Williamson and Miller did not disclose the following to the Wag-goners and the other Mississippi claimants participating in the aggregate settlement: (1) the existence and amount of the aggregate settlement received from AHP and the resulting allocation of funds between the Mississippi, Washington, D.C., and Virginia claimants; (2) the existence and nature of all claims included within the aggregate settlement; and (3) the financial allocation to or participation of each claimant in the aggregate settlement reached with AHP, including the basis for related calculations, distributions of funds, and the required accounting for the aggregate settlement proceeds.

¶ 5. The Waggoners also allege that, although the settlement was reached in April 2001, they first learned of the aggregate settlement approximately two months later, on or about June 25, 2001, when they received a telephone call directing them to meet Williamson and his assistant at the Adams County Airport. According to the Waggoners, at the airport, Williamson presented the Waggoners with a disbursement statement setting forth the following monetary allocations:

[151]*151Client Name: Barthel Waggoner
Attorney(s): Edward Williamson
Settlement Amount: $3,008,961.75
Attorney’s Fee (45%): $1,354,032.79
MDL fees 3%: 4 $90,268.85
MTLA Contribution: 5 $30,042.87
Expenses:
Miller & Associates (case
specific): $-0-
The Williamson Law Firm
(case specific) $15,041.64
Generic Expenses: $47,475.10
Total Expenses: $62,516.74
Net to Client: $1,472,100.50

The Waggoners alleged that the meeting at the airport lasted less than twenty minutes, and the Waggoners contend that they did not have an adequate opportunity to review and question the disbursement statement or the means by which the amounts were determined. The Waggon-ers assert that Williamson required their signatures on the disbursement statement, otherwise they would face possible forfeiture of any right to the settlement.

¶ 6. As asserted by the Waggoners, the April 24, 2001 aggregate settlement agreement required the settling attorneys to comply with Rule 1.8 of the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct or its applicable state counterparts. Mississippi Rule of Professional Conduct 1.8(g) states in pertinent part “[a] lawyer who represents two or more clients shall not participate in making an aggregate settlement of the claims of or against the clients ... unless each client consents after consultation, including disclosure of the existence and nature of all the claims ... involved and of the participation of each person in the settlement.”6

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
8 So. 3d 147, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 88, 2009 WL 468561, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/waggoner-v-williamson-miss-2009.