Richard D. Jackson Gloria J. Jackson v. United States

WIGGINS, Circuit Judge:

Appellants appeal an August 25, 1987, order limiting their attorney from receiving more than a $171,667 share of a $1,300,000 settlement that Appellants received from the federal government in an action brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”). Appellants contend on appeal that the district court erred when it applied a California statute to limit attorney fees to roughly 13 percent of the recovery. We reverse.

I

Appellants retained attorney Wesley H. Harris to represent them in a suit arising from alleged medical malpractice in the care and treatment of…