Opinion ID: 1897736
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Matters Before Us

Text: On the facts of this case, the issue raised by Winkler embodies two sub-issues that need to be identified and addressed. One, certainly, is which party had the burden of pleading and proving whether, at the time Winkler sent notice of its intent to seek a lien, the owners had paid the prime contractor in full and, if not, the amount remaining unpaid. A second issue, which is governed by the answer to the first, is the effect of the owners' failure to respond to the show cause order and to offer any information or evidence with respect to those matters. A third issue, quite apart from the first two, arises from the gratuitous comment by the Court of Special Appeals suggesting that counsel for Winkler had a duty under Rule 3.3 of the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct and Winkler itself had some pleading duty to disclose to the court documents in their possessionpresumably the documents attached by Musser to its counterclaimindicating a dispute over Winkler's entitlement to a lien.