The solicitor claimants had represented the defendants in litigation. The defendant’s owners had given the firm a second charge on their property to secure their costs. The sums recovered were exceeded by the costs. The solicitors sought to exert a lien over the proceeds, and the defendants argued that they had impliedly waived that lien by the charge.
Held: A solicitor might be found to have waived his lien without an express release. A solicitor waives his lien over the products of litigation only if any security taken is inconsistent with the lien. The rate of interest charged by the firm was markedly higher than would be allowed by a court and thereby lost its right to interest. The principle that a solicitor took a security with a claim for interest he would not otherwise possess was deemed to have abandoned his lien applied also to the solicitors’ rights under s73
Judges:
Christopher Nugee QC
Citations:
Times 10-Mar-2005
Statutes:
Citing:
Applied – In Re Taylor, Stileman and Underwood 1891
A solicitor taking security for his costs waves his lien over the proceeds of the litigation only if the lien is incompatible with the charge. . .
See Also – Clifford Harris and Co v Solland International Ltd and others ChD 3-Nov-2004
The claimant solicitors sought their costs from the defendant former clients. They now applied for orders under section 73 of the 1974 Act to have them settled from the proceeds of their litigation now held by another firm of solicitors now acting . .
Applied – In re Morris CA 1908
A solicitor taking a security for his costs which was inconsistent with or incompatible with the retention of his lien over the proceeds of litigation should be taken to have abandoned that lien unless it was expressly reserved. . .
Cited by:
See Also – Clifford Harris and Co v Solland International Ltd and others ChD 3-Nov-2004
The claimant solicitors sought their costs from the defendant former clients. They now applied for orders under section 73 of the 1974 Act to have them settled from the proceeds of their litigation now held by another firm of solicitors now acting . .
Cited – Ultraframe (UK) Ltd v Fielding and others ChD 27-Jul-2005
The parties had engaged in a bitter 95 day trial in which allegations of forgery, theft, false accounting, blackmail and arson. A company owning patents and other rights had become insolvent, and the real concern was the destination and ownership of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Legal Professions
Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.223800