Yandell T/As Yandell Solicitors v Goldenberg

In *Yandell T/As Yandell Solicitors v Goldenberg* [1998] NSWCA 270, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered a dispute between a firm of solicitors, Yandell T/As Yandell Solicitors, and their former client, Mr Goldenberg. The core of the disagreement concerned the solicitors' entitlement to charge fees for work performed in relation to a property transaction.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the solicitors had validly terminated their retainer with Mr Goldenberg, and consequently, whether they were entitled to recover their fees on a quantum meruit basis for the services rendered up to the point of termination. This involved an examination of the circumstances surrounding the termination and the nature of the agreement between the solicitors and their client.

The Court of Appeal held that the solicitors had not validly terminated the retainer. It reasoned that the solicitors' conduct, particularly their failure to provide adequate advice and their insistence on a course of action that was not in the client's best interests, amounted to a repudiation of the retainer by the solicitors themselves. Consequently, the solicitors were not entitled to recover their fees on a quantum meruit basis, as they were the party who had breached the retainer agreement. The Court affirmed that a solicitor cannot claim remuneration for work done if they have wrongfully terminated the retainer.