McCall's Estate

Citations

• 266 Pa. 379
• 109 A. 637
• 1920 Pa. LEXIS 578

Syllabus

<p>Contracts — Attorney and client — Contingent fees — Liability of partner under agreement of attorney with firm — Compromise agreements — Ratification—Theory of case — Creation of fund — Good faith — Agreement to arbitrate — Findings of fact — Appeal.</p> <p>1. A contract, whereby the liquidator of a firm retains counsel to prosecute a claim for the liquidator and the firm, imposes no liability for the payment of attorneys’ fees upon the individual partners, where it is shown that the recovery was had on behalf of the individual partners, and that the efforts to recover on behalf of the liquidator and the firm had been fruitless.</p> <p>2. A tentative agreement of compromise, not consummated, leaves the parties where they were before its execution, and cannot be used against either party in the litigation which it was intended to prevent.</p> <p>3. E. M., an American citizen, was a member of the international banking firm of A. & Co., a juridical entity under the laws of Chile. After his death the firm went into liquidation. The liquidator contracted with B., an attorney, afterwards associated with P., to represent “him” and “said firm” in the prosecution of a claim against Chile and Bolivia, and agreed to pay, as counsel fees, a stipulated percentage upon the amount “recovered for me or said firm.” The liquidator subsequently died. Thereafter B. and P', presented the claim to a commission created by the United States and Chile for the consideration of claims of the citizens of each country against the other. The commission rejected the claim because A. & Co., the claimant, being a Chilean citizen, its rights were not comprehended by the terms of the submission, which embraced only corporations, companies, or individuals, citizens of the United States. Subsequently the heirs of E. M., who were ignorant of the contract between the liquidator and B. and P. retained their own counsel. The claim was afterwards submitted to the King of England for arbitration, being pr