Morrison Mahoney Partner Steve Bolotin’s latest appeals court victory was reported on the front page of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (“Lawyer to be paid despite withdrawing prior to trial,” August 1, 2016). The appeal, which turned on the question of whether a Massachusetts attorney should receive fees after representing a client for 17 years in a suit even though he bowed out before a third trial and a $27 million verdict, was also reported in Law360.
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly quoted Steve, who said the decision creates consistency with respect to how an attorney’s determination on whether to leave a case is to be treated: “As the Appeals Court recognized, it’s usually not possible to establish an attorney’s subjective motive reliably, and it’s always subject to challenge,” Steve commented. “And a subjective standard would create different standards for different attorneys. You can imagine a circumstance where two attorneys facing the same set of facts might behave or feel differently.”
