The appellant solicitors’ firm took flight delay compensation claims on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis. When it accepted a case, the appellant would send a letter before action to the relevant airline and ask for payment to be made to the appellant’s client account. If this occurred, the appellant would check the payment, deduct its fees, and then pay the balance of the sum to the customer.
The respondent, Ryanair, stopped dealing with the appellant on outstanding claims, dealing direct with the appellant’s clients and paying compensation directly to them. The appellant issued proceedings against Ryanair; one of the issues in the case was whether the appellant had an equitable lien over its fees in RyanAir’s hands.
Held: The appeal succeeded
Judges:
Lord Briggs
Lady Arden
Lord Leggatt
Lord Burrows
Lady Rose
Citations:
[2022] UKSC 8, [2022] 2 WLR 634
Links:
ailii Summary, Bailii Issues and Facts, Bailii
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Bott and Co Solicitors Ltd v Ryanair Dac CA 12-Feb-2019
Existence and exercise of an equitable lien by solicitors over part of damages reserved from that paid direct to clients to cover their fees. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Costs
Updated: 08 April 2022; Ref: scu.674560