Majority
p. 474In the Matter of Richard J. Cardali, P. C., Appellant. Charlene Cabrera, an Infant, by Her Mother, Arlette Ibarra, Plaintiff, v Zhi Ren Yuan, Defendant. [639 NYS2d 379]
The retainer agreement between appellant and mother of the infant plaintiff provided for a fee of one-third of the total amount recovered by suit or settlement after deduction of legal expenses. The lawsuit was tentatively settled for $275,000, including an attorney’s fee of $89,000, which the IAS Court reduced to $52,559.51, arrived at by deducting, from the settle
p. 475
ment amount of $275,000, a Department of Social Services Medicaid lien of $57,998.82 and disbursements of $6,763.14, for a net of $210,238.04, and applying a contingency rate of 25%. While we do not disagree with the reduction of the rate from one-third to one-foúrth, in combination with the deduction of the lien the end result was unfair to appellant (cf., 22 NYCRR 603.7 [e] [3], [6]). Recomputation of the award, without deduction of the lien, results in more appropriate compensation of $67,059.22 ($275,000 - $6,763.14 X 25%). Concur — Milonas, J. P., Wallach, Ross and Mazzarelli, JJ.