Clients Can Prefer Attorneys Over Others, Following Reasoning In Wyzard. In Stoltenberg v. Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, Case No. B271524 (2d Dist., Div. 5 June 20, 2017) (unpublished), plaintiffs/judgment creditors challenged law firm’s attorney’s lien on specific client property (such as artwork) to secure payment of accrued, unpaid legal fees, based primarily […]
Procedural and Merit Grounds Led To The Same Result. Moore v. Orloff & Associates APC, Case No. G052463 (4th Dist., Div. 3 April 18, 2017) (unpublished) shows that attorney’s liens are subject to equitable principles. The trial judge after a prior appellate remand found that the attorney was not entitled to
End Result Is Declaratory Relief Action Based On Attorney’s Lien Did Survive Based On Longer Four-Year SOL Relating To Written Contracts. In Younessi v. Munoz, Case No. B265750 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Jan. 25, 2017) (unpublished), prior discharged counsel, both the individual lead attorney and the law firm, in a contingency-based personal injury
Narrowing Charging Liens To Only Beneficial Services Would Improperly Rewrite Attorney Lien Contractual Arrangement In Hourly Cases. Although we generally post on California cases, we stray to discuss a recent attorney’s lien decision from Delaware, which may have some persuasive impact in California cases considering attorney’s liens. In Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP v.
Court Of Appeal Found Instructive The Reasoning In Mojtahedi Decision. In this next case we post on, predecessor, discharged counsel was found to have sued the wrong party—successor counsel, rather than properly suing client to establish the validity and amount of an attorney’s lien in a retainer agreement under a “reasonable value of
Scope of Interpleader Proceeding Resolved In This Case. Southern California Gas Co. v. Flannery, Case No. B268298 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Nov. 14, 2016) (published) involved an interpleader action filed in the wake of a settlement agreement for injuries sustained in the 2008 Sesnon wildfire, with personal injury claimants, palimony litigants, and attorneys
Case Dealt With Propriety of Judgment Offsets Against Fee Award Subject To Contractual Attorney’s Lien. On June 5, 2016, we posted on Crasnick v. Marquez and Diaz, Case No. BV 031459 (L.A. Superior Court Appellate Div. May 24, 2016 (published) (3-0 decision authored by Judge Ricciardulli), which held that a tenant’s fee award
Equities Were Weighted, Favoring No Offset Of Fee Award. Crasnick v. Marquez and Diaz, Case No. BV 031459 (L.A. Superior Court Appellate Div. May 24, 2016 (published) (3-0 decision authored by Judge Ricciardulli), transmitted to 2d Dist. for consideration of transfer, No. B272469 involved an interesting judgment offset situation. There, a tenant in
Assignment Void Under The Anti-Assignment Act; However, Not All Is Lost—Contractual Attorney’s Lien Is Allowable As Against Government In CAFRA Actions. Under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA), successful claimants challenging the U.S. government’s seizure of property can obtain an attorney’s fee award against the government, which happened in the next case
Matter Reversed and Remanded to Determine Value of Attorney’s Lien in Trust. Novak v. Kay, Case No. B256889 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Apr. 28, 2015) (published) involved an attorney with broad contractual attorney’s fees language in a retainer letter with a client who died but who was determined to be a pretermitted spouse
