A Mississippi appeals court rules that the estate of a lawyer who entered into a contract with a client that required the lawyer be paid once the client died could not recover on the contract because the lawyer died before the client. Estate of Buford v. Freeman (Miss. Ct. App., No. 2017-CA-01775-COA, April 16, 2019).
Lee Burford hired attorney Barry Blackburn to provide estate planning and to administer his estate. The contract stated that Mr. Blackburn would receive a fee of $265,000 to be paid by Mr. Burford's estate after he died. Six years after signing the contract, Mr. Blackburn died. Two managers took over Mr. Blackburn's law firm in order to collect debts. Two years later, Mr. Burford died.
The Mr. Blackburn's estate filed a claim against Mr. Burford's estate, asking for the amount promised in the contract. The Mr. Burford's executor refused the claim, arguing that the contract could not be enforced and the fee agreement was unreasonable. The trial court found that the contract was cancelled due to the impossibility of performance, and Mr. Blackburn's executors appealed.
The Mississippi appeals court affirms, holding that Mr. Blackburn's executors could recover in quantum meruit, but that the contract was unenforceable. According to the court, the contract called for Mr. Blackburn to perform the estate administration personally and it was unable to be completed because Mr. Blackburn "died prior to completing his express obligations under the contract." One judge concurred with the decision, but also argued that the "judgment could be affirmed on the ground that the fee agreement at issue is invalid because it purports to charge an unreasonable attorney’s fee."
For the full text of this decision, go to: https://courts.ms.gov/Images/Opinions/CO136718.pdf
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