Court Opinion

ID: 9547666
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:50:11.899234+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:17:56.089841
License: Public Domain

Rosellini, J.
(dissenting) — The majority reads the attor*611ney lien provision out of RCW 60.40.010(4). The rationale for so doing is based on an improbable assumption. The majority states on page 606:
The result of our approving the practice [RCW 60.40-.010(4)] would allow members of the bar to cloud title to real property with "claims of attorney lien" without resort to any adjudication of such claims. The potential for economic coercion by attorneys is obvious. In today's economic setting a client may well be forced to settle the attorney's claim for fees, no matter how unfounded, simply to gain the ability to convey, lease or otherwise utilize the Tiened" property.
I cannot conceive of an attorney violating his oath of office and subjecting himself to a disciplinary proceeding by doing what is suggested by the majority's rationale. In my opinion, attorneys have high professional and ethical standards and would not jeopardize the standards nor their right to practice law under these circumstances.
An attorney has a lien for his compensation, whether specially agreed upon or implied, as hereinafter provided: ... (4) upon a judgment to the extent of the value of any services performed by him in the action, or if the services were rendered under a special agreement, for the sum due under such agreement, from the time of filing notice of such lien or claim with the clerk of the court in which such judgment is entered, which notice must be filed with the papers in the action in which such judgment was rendered, and an entry made in the execution docket, showing name of claimant, amount claimed and date of filing notice.
RCW 60.40.010(4) in pertinent part.
If the words "upon a judgment to the extent of the value of any services performed by [an attorney]" mean anything, they mean that the lien reaches the fruits of the judgment. There is nothing in them which confines their scope to money judgments.
It is true that subsections 1 and 2 of the attorney lien statute are possessory liens. However, under subsections 3 and 4 nonpossessory liens are created.
Subsection 3 provides that an attorney has a lien for his *612compensation
upon money in the hands of the adverse party in an action or proceeding, in which the attorney was employed, from the time of giving notice of the lien to that party[.]
Many liens are nonpossessory, e.g., RCW 60.04, mechanics' and materialmen's liens; RCW 60.14, lien for agricultural dusting or spraying; RCW 60.22, lien for furnishing fertilizers, pesticides, weed killers; RCW 60.24, lien for labor and services on timber and lumber. These are nonpossessory liens and do not appear to have caused any of the dire consequences envisioned by the majority.
The attorney's lien on a judgment can be filed only where an attorney was successful in obtaining the judgment. The trial record discloses that after judgment was entered in the Pierce County trial action, Ross and Scannell became involved in an argument over litigation costs and the fee agreement. Ross had successfully completed the defense of the McKinney suit by getting the complaint dismissed. The question whether there was incomplete performance by Ross was resolved by the trial court here in favor of the attorney. While we would have preferred a more detailed finding on the issue, the trial court stated in finding of fact 7: "Plaintiff [Ross] represented defendant throughout the Knight, et al, suit until differences arose between the parties after judgment had been entered." The majority substitutes its own findings for those of the trial court.
Consistent with the second paragraph of its memorandum opinion the trial court,- in its formal conclusions of law, found that Ross is entitled to the contingent fee. It approved Ross' filing of the notice of attorney's lien, fixed the amount of the fee, and foreclosed the lien. Granted, the amount allowed was less than that which was claimed, but the question involved complex factors.
As provided in the statute, Ross filed a claim of lien under the Pierce County cause number on which a judgment was entered. Venue in the cause had by agreement been transferred to Pierce County from Klickitat County *613where the real property involved in the suit was situated and where the initial action had been instituted. After the judgment was entered in Pierce County, a new cause number was obtained in Klickitat County. An abstract of the Pierce County judgment was filed under that number, as was Ross' claim of lien.
The trial court found this procedure to be proper and I agree that this procedure is allowable under RCW 60.40-.010(4). It is a lien upon the judgment, obtained for a claimant as a result of the attorney's professional services, to secure his compensation for such services in that particular case. Such a lien has the capacity to be adjudicated and ultimately enforced. State ex rel. Angeles Brewing & Malting Co. v. Superior Court, 89 Wash. 342, 154 P. 603 (1916).
The charging lien attaches to the fruits of the judgment when that judgment involves real property, just as it attaches to cash proceeds where there is a money judgment. I am persuaded that if the attorney whose skill and effort produces the judgment is entitled to protect his compensation through a lien on the judgment, he is entitled to have the lien attach to the fruits of the judgment.
The lien filed under RCW 60.40.010(4) attaches to the underlying real property that is the subject matter of the judgment concerned. I agree . with the statement of the Supreme Court of Colorado in the early case of Fillmore v. Wells, 10 Colo. 228, 233, 15 P. 343 (1887):
The attorney's lien, in so far as it relates to judgments, may be accurately defined as a right conferred by statute, or recognized by the common law, to have his compensation or costs, or both, directly secured by the fruits of the judgment. To declare him entitled to a lien upon the judgment, without permitting him, through such lien, to reach and control the subject-matter of the recovery, would be bestowing upon him the shadow, and withholding the substance. He would be no better off than are other general creditors of his client. What equitable consideration supports the conclusion that he should be secured in this way by the fruits of a money judgment, *614and yet, as to the fruits of a decree or judgment relating to realty, that he should occupy the attitude of a mere general creditor? The fruits of the latter judgment are often far more valuable to his client than are the fruits of the former. Cases involving the title to or the possession of real estate present questions quite as complicated and difficult, and demand of the attorney quite as much learning and labor, as do those relating to damages for torts, or for the violation of simple contracts.
As the majority acknowledges, the Colorado Legislature approved that interpretation by enacting a law making it explicit. Evidently the Colorado Legislature did not assume, as the majority does here, that the lien right would be abused. The Legislature of Washington has recognized that an attorney is "worthy of his hire" as are others who perform services and has granted him lien rights accordingly. The court should not be niggardly in its construction of those rights.
As for the contention that the attorney violated the code of professional ethics, it was not argued before the trial court. Consequently that court did not err in failing to make findings with respect to the matter. If the defendant wishes to pursue complaints, it should be addressed to the disciplinary committee of the bar association.
I would affirm the trial court.
Reconsideration denied September 29, 1982.