Opinion ID: 2137478
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: the circuit court erred in granting partial summary judgment on the priority issue.

Text: As stated earlier, the trial court's order granting summary judgment stated that the perfected security interest of PCA is prior and superior to that of one of the attorneys liens [6] claimed by Wynne and Holm. Concerning this matter, the federal judge stated (in pertinent part) as follows: Certain factual issues concerning the three collection cases are unresolved. It is unclear whether defendant could have recovered on these checks without suing the sale barns and whether defendant would be enjoying an inequitable windfall from the efforts of plaintiff's attorneys if defendant were to obtain the entire escrow fund. it (sic) is also unclear whether the parties in creating the escrow account or in agreeing to deposit the monies gained by the lawsuits explicitly or implicitly reached an agreement concerning payment of the attorneys fees incurred in the collection cases. At trial, neither party entered any evidence pertaining to these questions. Wynne and Holm allege that PCA refused to endorse sale barn checks resulting in Dupris' hiring of Wynne and Holm to sue the sale barns to collect new checks. Wynne and Holm were successful in obtaining recovery of the proceeds from the sale of Dupris' cattle from the sale barns, and Wynne and Holm have not been paid for their services. We agree with the United States District Court and reverse and remand this case to the trial court because we believe a factual dispute exists as to whether the parties (including PCA) implicitly or explicitly reached an agreement as to the payment of attorneys' fees in the collection action against the sale barns. Wang v. Wang, 447 N.W.2d 519 (S.D.1989); Limpert v. Bail, 447 N.W.2d 48 (S.D.1989); First Western Bank v. Livestock Yards, 444 N.W.2d 387 (S.D.1989); Dahl v. Sittner, 429 N.W.2d 458 (S.D.1988); Larson v. Kreiser's, Inc., 427 N.W.2d 833 (S.D.1988); Zeeb v. Handel, 401 N.W.2d 536 (S.D.1987).