Houston plaintiff lawyer John O’Quinn has been ordered to refund at least $35.7 million to more than 3,000 former breast implant litigation clients, according to an arbitration panel decision released today.
With interest and attorneys’ fees, O’Quinn could owe almost $60 million.
O’Quinn required his former clients to agree to mandatory arbitration (a money-saving option the plaintiffs’ bar wishes to preclude other businesses from using). “[I]mproper general expense deductions included professional association dues, flowers, fundraising, other lawyer’s fees, and overhead, the arbitrators said.” A dissenting arbitrator suggested that O’Quinn should also be liable for using money to fund a public relations campaign on his work. (Mary Flood, Houston Chronicle, Jul. 19).
Overlawyered broke this story Apr. 15, and had a followup post June 9.
One Comment
Thank you so much for bringing out the arbitration issue. Physicians have tried to have arbitration as part of their patient care contracts when entering into a new patient relationship and have consistently lost in court. I have always said, the only true way to solve the present tort legal crisis is for attorneys to get the full taste of their own medicine.