- 3 -
FINDINGS OF FACT
Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found.
At the time the petitions were filed, petitioners John M.
and Carolyn Merritt resided in, and the principal place of
business of the law firm was located in, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
During the years in issue, petitioner was a licensed,
practicing lawyer who was the founder, president, and sole owner
of the law firm, a personal service law corporation which
specialized in representing victims in personal injury and
product liability cases on a contingent fee basis.
Under the terms of the firm’s contingent fee contracts with
its clients, the clients agreed to repay the firm litigation
costs advanced by the firm in the event a recovery was eventually
obtained on behalf of the clients. If no recovery was obtained,
the clients were under no obligation to reimburse the law firm
litigation costs it had advanced.2
2 More specifically, the firm generally entered into the
following two types of contingent fee contracts with its clients
under which the clients agreed to repay the firm litigation costs
advanced by the firm, in the event a recovery was obtained:
(1) From a gross recovery the clients would reimburse the firm
for litigation costs advanced by the firm, and then the clients
would pay the firm an attorney’s fee equal to 50 percent of the
net funds remaining; or (2) the clients would pay the firm an
attorney’s fee equal to 33-1/3 percent of the gross recovery, and
the firm would then be reimbursed litigation costs it had
advanced out of the clients’ remaining 66-2/3 percent share of
the gross recovery.
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011