04-2-9038 Verni v. Lanzaro, App. Div. (per curiam) (20 pp.) In 1999, the Verni family was involved in a serious automobile accident. In 2000, the Verni family retained Rosemarie Arnold to represent them. In 2004, Mrs. Verni and the guardian ad litem for her daughter discharged Arnold, and the law firm of Nagel, Rice and Mazie entered the case, with David Mazie representing the Verni family. The fee dispute that is the subject of this appeal commenced shortly after the jury returned its verdict. The judge determined that a fees-payable-upon-discharge provision in Arnold’s retainer agreements with the Verni family governed the amount of counsel fees due the firm. The judge further found that Arnold was “entitled to be compensated for the 827 hours of actual work that was performed on this case at the agreed upon rate of $275 per hour for a total fee of $227,425.00.” The appellate panel reverses and remands for a new hearing. The remand must be conducted by another judge. The remand is not limited to a review of the existing record. Due to the trial judge’s undue intrusion in the testimony offered by Arnold’s expert, the expert must be re-called.
