Opinion ID: 1388055
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Improper method of collecting fees.

Text: In April of 1969, petitioner received more than $3,000 of the proceeds from the sale of the property which he had previously levied upon and purchased at the execution sale. As we have noted, petitioner never notified Mrs. Robles that the property had been sold and that he had received the money. When she eventually contacted petitioner, he informed her that she was entitled to only $900; he failed to account to Mrs. Robles for the money withheld for almost a year after he received it. At that time Mrs. Robles learned that petitioner had deducted $1,000 for his services, as well as an additional $1,000, ostensibly to pay Phill Silver for services performed. Petitioner failed to give Mrs. Robles any of the proceeds, including the $900 to which he felt she was entitled. After petitioner purchased the property at the execution sale, and thereby acquired an interest adverse to his client, he had a legal duty to hold or sell it for her benefit; the money he received from the sale of the property was therefore money to be held in trust for his client. ( Marlowe v. State Bar, supra, 63 Cal.2d 304, 309; Tomblin v. Hill (1929) 206 Cal. 689, 694 [275 P. 941]; McArthur v. Goodwin, supra, 173 Cal. 499, 503.) Since petitioner did not possess a contractual lien for attorney's fees, he had no right or authority unilaterally to determine that he was entitled to $1,000 for his services and to withhold the money, even if his services in truth were worth that figure. ( Kruger v. Wells Fargo Bank (1974) 11 Cal.3d 352, 368, fn. 24 [113 Cal. Rptr. 449, 521 P.2d 441]; Brody v. State Bar (1974) 11 Cal.3d 347, 350, fn. 5 [113 Cal. Rptr. 371, 521 P.2d 107]; Crooks v. State Bar (1970) 3 Cal.3d 346, 358 [90 Cal. Rptr. 600, 475 P.2d 872]; Trafton v. Youngblood (1968) 69 Cal.2d 17, 28 [69 Cal. Rptr. 568, 442 P.2d 648]; Most v. State Bar (1967) 67 Cal.2d 589, 597 [63 Cal. Rptr. 265, 432 P.2d 953]; 1 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed. 1970) Attorneys, § 203, p. 211.) Petitioner, likewise, had neither right nor authority to withhold $1,000, and to deposit it in his father's business account, for services Phill Silver assertedly rendered to Mrs. Robles between the time the motion for new trial was denied (July of 1968) until he successfully obtained an order for Mr. Robles to pay costs on appeal (January of 1969.) Phill Silver, in fact, never told petitioner that he was entitled to the money. Petitioner testified that his father was willing to waive the entire amount, but had not done so at the time of the hearing. Of the $3,122.33 petitioner received he was entitled to withhold $34 for money advanced to purchase a clerk's transcript and $165.10 for money he spent to cure a default on the property. Petitioner was not entitled to withhold any other money and thus should have paid Mrs. Robles the balance of the funds, $2,923.23. If Mrs Robles had been unwilling to pay petitioner his requested fee, his sole remedy consisted of an action for the reasonable value of his services. ( Salopek v. Schoemann (1942) 20 Cal.2d 150, 153 [124 P.2d 21]; 1 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed. 1970) Attorneys, §§ 100, 102.) [4]