Goesel v. Boley Intern. (H.K.) Ltd.
Seventh Circuit
806 F.3d 414 (2015)
The Goesels hired Williams, Bax & Saltzman under a one-third contingency-fee agreement to represent their minor son Cole in a products-liability suit against Boley International (defendants), which settled for $687,500 before trial, entitling the firm to $229,166.67 and leaving the Goesels $285,384.14 after litigation-expense deductions; because Cole was a minor, Illinois law required district court approval of the settlement, and though the parties didn't dispute the firm's competent representation or that the fee matched market rates, the district court declined to approve the settlement, ruling that "fairness and right reason" required deducting litigation expenses before calculating the one-third fee rather than from the gross settlement, since the Goesels ended up with only 42 percent of the gross amount.
Whether a district court may reject a minor's proposed settlement and attorney contingency fee based on its own standard of "fairness and right reason," rather than applying the established reasonableness factors governing attorney fees for minors.