Revere Transducers, Inc. v. Deere & Co.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Iowa reviewed an order allocating punitive damages among the plaintiffs, their attorneys, and the Iowa Civil Reparations Trust Fund. The court held that the agreed 38 1/3% contingency fee should be applied to the punitive-damage award, rather than allowing a 50% fee based on counsel's proportion of effort. The allocation order was reversed and remanded for recalculation under Iowa Code section 668A.1(2)(b).

Holdings

1. Under the circumstances, the agreed 38 1/3% contingency fee should be applied to both the compensatory- and punitive-damage awards; the district court therefore erred by awarding Eckert fifty percent of the punitive-damage award based on its claimed proportion of effort.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Iowa Code section 668A.1(2)(b) permits an attorney fee from a punitive-damage award exceeding the agreed contingent-fee percentage based on counsel's proportion of effort devoted to obtaining punitive damages.
2. How the punitive-damage award should be allocated among applicable attorney fees, the claimant, and the Civil Reparations Trust Fund.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded