https://www.law.com/2023/04/28/state-high-court-adopts-restatement-of-restitution-unjust-enrichment-regarding-common-fund/
Credit: ROMAN/Adobe Stock“What our court did was actually make clear that we do adopt common fund doctrine. The circuit court judge did not think we did. Almost every state and federal court that I could find recognizes it,” said David J. Romano, an attorney who sought fees and costs after negotiating a separate $2.23 million settlement fund on behalf of unknown heirs.
April 28, 2023 at 05:14 PM
5 minute read
What You Need to Know
- The issue before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals asked if counsel was entitled to payment of attorney fees and costs from a separate settlement fund he negotiated on behalf of unknown heirs, despite having no contractual relationship with them.
- A circuit court judge denied the attorney’s request, finding that the common fund doctrine did not apply to the case.
- The state high court reversed the lower court’s decision, adopting the Restatement of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment Section 29 (Am. Law Inst. 2022), in its entirety, as the law of the state.
Is counsel entitled to attorney fees and costs from an underlying $2.23 million settlement fund related to unpaid oil and gas royalties that he helped negotiate on behalf of unknown heirs who never entered into a contractual relationship with the lawyer?
Or was West Virginia one of the lone states that did not recognize the common fund doctrine in a modern era, the state high court sought to answer in L&D Investments, Inc., v. Antero Resources Corp.
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