Hess v. Kanosky Bresney

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendant-law firm’s motion for summary judgment in action by plaintiff-former member of said law firm seeking recovery under terms of employment contract for legal fees from settlements of cases worked on by plaintiff that defendant had received after plaintiff had been terminated. Terms of contract allowed plaintiff to obtain percentage of legal fees received by defendant during time of his employment and used terms “receipt” of fees and “generation” of fees interchangeably. Moreover, at time plaintiff was terminated, there was no guarantee that any of his efforts would result in contingent fees accruing in cases at issue. As such, plaintiff had no right under agreement to fees received from cases that had settled after effective date of his termination.