Every in-house lawyer has done the math: what would this matter cost if I billed like a partner? Craig Missakian actually tried it. The former in-house counsel says his old employer orally promised him a cut of a $26 million settlement in litigation he ran. That deal died in 2021 because oral contingency fee agreements are unenforceable in California.
So he sued in quantum meruit, with an expert pricing his work at over $800 an hour, New York partner rates, across roughly 6,786 hours. The trial court tossed the expert. Salary, no overhead, come on. A California appeals court reversed, so in-house lawyer fees at market rates can go to a jury. Unpublished, but still. Read it before your next salary review, or your next handshake promise.
“The trial court noted that based on the lodestar method used by Parker, Missakian was seeking “at least $4.2 million” in fees, and the court had found no case in which the lodestar method was used to compensate an attorney who worked as in-house counsel, was already receiving a salary, was paying no overhead expenses, and sought fees from the entity who paid those expenses.”
Read: Missakian v. Amusement Industry CA2/5 filed 10/19/26 at California Court of Appeal