FACTS: On June 18,
1983, herein petitioner Quirante filed a motion in the trial court for the
confirmation of his attorney's fees. According to him, there was an oral
agreement between him and the late Dr. Casasola with regard to his attorney's
fees, which agreement was allegedly confirmed in writing by the widow, Asuncion
Vda. de Casasola, and the two daughters of the deceased, namely Mely C. Garcia
and Virginia C. Nazareno. Petitioner avers that pursuant to said agreement, the
attorney's fees would be computed as follows:
a. In case of
recovery of the P120,000.00 surety bond, the attorney's fees of the undersigned
counsel (Atty. Quirante) shall be P30,000.00.
b. In case the
Honorable Court awards damages in excess of the P120,000.00 bond, it shall be
divided equally between the Heirs of I. Casasola, Atty. John C. Quirante and
Atty. Dante Cruz.
ISSUE:
Whether or not Quirante could claim attorney’s fees.
HELD:
NO. An attorney's fee cannot be determined until after the main litigation
has been decided and the subject of recovery is at the disposition of the
court. The issue over attorney's fee only arises when something has been
recovered from which the fee is to be paid. Since the main case from which the
petitioner's claims for their fees may arise has not yet become final, the
determination of the propriety of said fees and the amount thereof should be
held in abeyance. This procedure gains added validity in the light of the rule
that the remedy for recovering attorney's fees as an incident of the main
action may be availed of only when something is due to the client.
WHEREFORE, with the foregoing observation, the
decision of the respondent court subject of the present recourse is hereby
AFFIRMED.
