Thursday, September 17, 2009

Dietz v. Meisenheimer & Herron (Cal. Ct. App. - Sept. 17, 2009)

Be careful to whom you refer -- or accept a referral from -- a case. Otherwise a big, ugly mess may develop. By "mess", of course, I mean litigation. Because who better to file and defend a lawsuit than two lawyers fighting over the spoils of a personal injury case that hits big?

This one's a San Diego case, but it could happen anywhere. Ultimately, San Diego attorney William Dietz -- the referring attorney, and a University of San Diego Law graduate -- comes out on top on this one, and gets his 25 percent. And Meisenheimer & Herron (a now-defunct firm, though James Meisenheimer is still a big lawyer in San Diego) has to pay.

So, as always, be careful who you team up with.