Shearer v. Moore

WIEAND, Judge:

In this appeal we are asked to decide whether the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which has made medical assistance payments to a minor welfare recipient and which claims reimbursement from the proceeds of a settlement achieved by its recipient with a third party tortfeasor, can be ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction to pay a proportionate part of the fees of counsel whose efforts achieved the settlement.

On April 13, 1974, Tracy L. Shearer, appellee, was struck and seriously injured by an automobile driven by John Henry Moore. From April 13, 1974, to April 26, 1974, the…