Cal Pak Delivery, Inc. v. United Parcel Service, Inc

Cal Pak Delivery, Inc. v. United Parcel Service, Inc. (1997) 52 Cal.App.4th 1, 14, 60 Cal.Rptr.2d 207, at p. 16, was a class action against a provider of shipping services for overcharges and exemplary damages, in which the trial court disqualified plaintiff's counsel for attempting to "sell out his client and the class the client was seeking to represent." (Cal Pak Delivery, 52 Cal. App. 4th at pp. 5-6.) The trial court's order "that he be prohibited from receiving any fees" in connection with the case was found to be overbroad. (Cal Pak Delivery, 52 Cal. App. 4th at pp. 14-16.) The court concluded that while an attorney generally is not entitled to fees where he has violated ethical duties to the client, plaintiff's counsel may be entitled to an award of attorney fees for services during the three years before committing the actions resulting in his disqualification under a quantum meruit theory, depending on the ultimate outcome of the litigation. (Ibid.) In Cal Pak Delivery, Inc. v. United Parcel Service, Inc., the trial court sustained a demurrer to the operative complaint without leave to amend and granted a motion to disqualify at the same hearing, and then filed orders disqualifying counsel and dismissing the action three days later. (Cal Pak Delivery, Inc. v. United Parcel Service, Inc., supra, 52 Cal.App.4th at pp. 7-9.) Observing that the events underlying the motion to disqualify had occurred while the action was properly pending before the trial court, the court in Cal Pak Delivery concluded that the trial court's jurisdiction to grant the motion to disqualify did not depend on whether it had ruled first on this motion or the demurrer. (Id. at p. 9.) In Cal Pak Delivery, the trial court indicated its rulings on the demurrer and motion to disqualify before it filed an order dismissing the action, which marked the end of its subject matter jurisdiction.