In March 1980, plaintiff Barbara Waters filed this action against defendant Ray Bourhis, an attorney who had represented her in an earlier suit against a psychiatrist, contending that the contingency fee which defendant had obtained after settlement of the earlier action exceeded the maximum fee permitted by Business and Professions Code section 6146, a provision of the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975 (MICRA). Defendant moved for summary judgment, asserting that the earlier