Cowen v. Calabrese

CONLEY, P. J.

Manuel E. Cowen secured a judgment against Samuel Ray Calabrese in the amount of $5,583, besides costs, in an action for the reasonable value of legal

[871]

consultations and advice and necessary expenditures made at the special instance and request of Mr. Calabrese. Mr. Cowen is an attorney who has had 35 years of experience at the bar and is admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of Illinois, the United States District Court at Chicago, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. At the time he rendered the services in question, he was engaged in the general practice of law in Chicago; from 1932 to 1938 he had been an assistant state's attorney of Cook County assigned to the civil branch, handling tax matters and appeals in the Supreme Court of Illinois; in 1938 he was appointed a Master and Chancellor of the Circuit Court of Cook County; in 1944 he became a Standing Master and Chancellor of the United States District Court at Chicago in which capacity he served for about 17 years hearing patent cases, corporate litigation, and oil eases as well as others; he claims special experience and knowledge of the bankruptcy laws.

In the late fall of 1961, the defendant, Samuel Ray Calabrese, was brought to his office by a mutual friend at which time Mr. Calabrese consulted with Mr. Cowen as an expert on bankruptcy matters; Mr. Calabrese stated that he was having difficulty in a case pending in the District Court of the United States in and for the Southern District of California which included proceedings before a bankruptcy referee at Santa Ana; it involved the financial difficulties of International Marketland, Inc., a corporation, and its proposed supermarket located in Santa Ana; the corporation was then in the bankruptcy court pursuant to Chapter XI of the Bankruptcy Act. Mr. Calabrese sought and obtained advice during a period beginning December, 1961, and ending March 14, 1962, relative to the proceedings in the federal court in California. The initial services were performed by plaintiff in Illinois; there is no applicable defense as to payment for these services; the parties even agreed that the sum of $2,500 was a fair fee for them.

On May 4, 1962, Mr. Calabrese urged Mr. Cowen by telephone to come to California for the purpose of further aiding in the pending proceedings; Mr. Cowen finally did so under the promise, as he testified, of the payment of his expenses and a fair fee.