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BANOV v. KENNEDY5/1/1997
Alan Banov, the petitioner, seeks a writ of mandamus to the trial court directing it to permit Banov to withdraw from a case in which he claimed a conflict of interest as well as various irreconcilable differences with his client. Because we conclude that the trial court has exceeded its authority in denying Banov's renewed motion to withdraw from representation of his client, the mandamus relief Banov seeks is appropriate.
I.
Mary Ann White-Pickering, who is deaf and does not speak, suffers from a mental impairment affecting her short-term memory that arose from an automobile accident some years ago. Banov agreed in 1992 to represent White-Pickering in a suit she brought against her former employer, Deafpride, Inc., alleging discrimination on the basis of her handicap. Deafpride is a non-profit organization devoted to the procurement and provision of services to members of the deaf community. The appellant claims, and no party disputes, that Deafpride is no longer financially viable and has virtually no assets from which to pay a monetary judgment.
The litigation against Deafpride began when White-Pickering first retained Banov to pursue administrative and legal remedies after she was discharged. Banov operates a small law office, with one associate, principally practicing employment law. The agreement that Banov reached with White-Pickering was that in exchange for Banov's bringing a lawsuit against Deafpride, White-Pickering would pay Banov a $5,000 retainer and $170 an hour for his services, with an annual increase of $10 in his hourly fee. Banov agreed to a payment schedule of $200
per month. White-Pickering adhered to that schedule for almost three years, until January 1995, when conflicts began between Banov and White-Pickering.
The breakdown in the attorney-client relationship first arose around the question whether to accept a settlement offer that Deafpride made on January 12, 1995. At the time that Deafpride made its offer, a trial was scheduled for January 30 on the merits of White-Pickering's discrimination claims. The offer involved a cash settlement of $5,000, which, according to Deafpride, represented almost the sum total of its liquid assets. Because Deafpride had produced evidence that persuaded Banov that it was virtually insolvent, Banov strongly recommended that White-Pickering accept Deafpride's offer, and further offered to accept $2,500 of the Deafpride settlement as a full discharge of White-Pickering's obligations to Banov, which Banov claimed amounted to $38,000. The point that Banov sought to emphasize to White-Pickering, a point which he maintains in this court, is that because Deafpride was offering White-Pickering what was almost the total remainder of its assets, any recovery that could be obtained at trial could not exceed the amount then offered by Deafpride. Moreover, Banov calculated that trying the case would require an additional investment of at least $20,000 in legal fees. Therefore, because not even the outstanding balance of White-Pickering's account with Banov could be met from a judgment even if White-Pickering prevailed, neither Banov nor White-Pickering would obtain any financial satisfaction as a result of trial.
On January 20, 1995, White-Pickering rejected Banov's advice and refused Deafpride's offer of settlement. Believing that White-Pickering's decision to decline the offer of settlement was irrational and would preclude any hope of even minimal financial recovery for White-Pickering or himself, Banov filed the first of what would eventually be three motions to withdraw as White-Pickering's attorney. On January 25, Judge Kennedy, the trial judge assigned to the White-Pickering case, denied
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 District of Columbia Employee Leasing Services
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