Feeling burned, lawyer seeking $146K in fees
A Malibu property owner being sued for $146,000 in attorney fees took the stand in Santa Monica Superior Court Thursday, telling jurors he was duped into pursuing a lengthy lawsuit by his former lawyer and then abandoned.
Orlando Aliberti, 84, said his attorney at the time, Richard Grimwade, called his case against Allstate Insurance Co. a “slam dunk,” likely to rake in $3 million or more. But when the going got tough, Grimwade couldn’t take the heat and walked out of the courtroom, Aliberti said.
“He blew the case,” said the white-haired Aliberti, a WWII veteran who fought under Lt. Jimmy Doolittle in the Army Air Force. “He completely blew the case. The opposite side got him so ticked off that he threw up his arms and walked off.”
“He completely blew the case. The opposite side got him so ticked off that he threw up his arms and walked off.” — — ORLANDO ALIBERTI Plaintiff
Grimwade was hired to procure compensation from Allstate to rebuild Aliberti’s six-unit apartment building on Rambla Pacifica, which was charred in the November 1993 Malibu fires, along with Aliberti’s Rambla Pacifica home.
In his opening statements, Grimwade told jurors he gave Aliberti his best legal advice, often working 16- and 18-hour days on the case. He said he dropped the case in 2000 when his fees neared $150,000 and had only been paid about $9,000.
Grimwade said he negotiated a favorable settlement with Allstate and suggested Aliberti accept it. But he contends Aliberti pushed for a trial anyway — and then lost.
The tension in the courtroom was palpable while Aliberti was on the stand, with Grimwade repeatedly objecting to questions from Aliberti’s current lawyer, Paul Cohen, and Judge Valerie Baker scolding both attorneys in turn — Cohen for asking questions not allowed and Grimwade for objecting too much.
At issue in the case is what fee structure initially existed between Aliberti and Grimwade. While Grimwade was first hired at $250-per-hour, the deal was later reworked. Aliberti agreed to pay Grimwade $125 an hour, plus 20 percent of any money he won in court. Cohen told jurors the two later reworked their contract again, agreeing to a 40-percent contingency rate with no hourly fee.
Grimwade argued that he made that offer, but later revoked it.
With Grimwade’s help, Aliberti recovered more than $2 million in a separate claim against Allstate to rebuild his charred home, which sits just uphill from the apartment building.
But because he had a “limited liability” clause in the insurance policy covering the apartment building, Aliberti was given only $450,000 by Allstate to rebuild and cover lost rents.
Aliberti then sued Allstate. The case was first tossed out of court on the grounds that Aliberti waited too long to file the lawsuit. Grimwade appealed that ruling and won, but when it finally went to court after prolonged negotiations and other behind-the-scenes legal wrangling, a jury ruled that Allstate didn’t owe any additional money. That’s when Aliberti asked Grimwade to represent him in an appeal and Grimwade refused, saying he was still owed too much money.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 24, 2003. Read the original PDF.