Opinion ID: 2598937
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: The district court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the fee dispute in the underlying action in which Jolley Urga's services were rendered

Text: Jolley Urga argues that regardless of whether an enforceable charging lien existed or Argentena refused to consent to the court's adjudication of the fee dispute, this court's statements in Sarman v. Goldwater, Taber and Hill, 80 Nev. 536, 540-41, 396 P.2d 847, 849 (1964), demonstrate that this court has previously approved of a district court's adjudication of a fee dispute and subsequent entry of judgment against the client in the underlying action based on the district court's incidental powers to resolve fee disputes. We reject Jolley Urga's claim and clarify the breadth of the statements upon which Jolley Urga relies. In Sarman, the court considered whether the district court had jurisdiction to fix the fee of the discharged counsel and enter a binding judgment in a summary proceeding in the underlying guardianship action. 80 Nev. at 539, 396 P.2d at 849. The client in Sarman fired her attorney who represented her in the guardianship action and requested that the attorney deliver her files to her new counsel and submit a statement for services rendered. Id. at 538, 396 P.2d at 848. The former attorney notified the client that it would retain her files until the client paid for the attorney's past services. Id. The client disputed the amount of fees and sought to compel her former counsel to relinquish her file. Id. at 538-39, 396 P.2d at 848. As a result, the district court held a hearing at which evidence was submitted regarding the value of the former attorney's services. Id. at 539, 396 P.2d at 848. The client did not object to the district court's jurisdiction to resolve the dispute but consented to the procedures taken by the district court. Id. As a result of the attorney's retaining lien and the client's consent to the procedures in the underlying action, the district court enforced the lien against the client by fixing the attorney's fees and ordering the attorney to deliver the files to the client upon receipt of payment or substitute security for the amount of fees due. Id. at 538, 396 P.2d at 848. On appeal, the client challenged the district court's jurisdiction to enter the order adjudicating the fee dispute. Id. The Sarman court first noted that the district court had jurisdiction to resolve the retaining lien because the client had consented to the court's procedure for resolving the fee dispute. Id. at 539, 396 P.2d at 848. The Sarman court further affirmed the district court's adjudication of the dispute, relying on the district court's original jurisdiction of guardianship matters, in light of this court's previous statementthat district courts have incidental jurisdiction to adjudicate an attorney-client fee dispute in the underlying action regardless of whether a valid lien exists. Id. at 540-41, 396 P.2d at 849. The Sarman court also stated that the district court's authority is unrelated to the nature of the lien sought to be enforced. Id. at 540, 396 P.2d at 849. As a result of these statements made in Sarman, Jolley Urga contends that the district court had jurisdiction to resolve the fee dispute in the underlying action. We conclude that Jolley Urga's reliance on the statements made in Sarman regarding the district court's powers is misplaced because those statements constitute dicta and are overbroad. Moreover, we note that Sarman and the cases that it relied on are factually inapposite from the matter presented to this court in this appeal.