Court Opinion

ID: 9614176
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:23:17.593031+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:03:23.744450
License: Public Domain

MACY, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. I agree with the majority that the attorney’s lien statute is clear and unambiguous. The statute clearly states that the lien attaches upon money which is due to the client. The money in this case was due and ordered to be paid to the attorney’s client through the clerk of the district court. The Legislature did not provide an exception to the statute by stating that the client must have a “possessory, ownership interest in that money” before the lien can attach, and this Court should not create such an exception by judicial fiat. See Voss v. Ralston, 550 P.2d 481, 485 (Wyo.1976); Eiselein v. K-Mart, Inc., 868 P.2d 893, 900 (Wyo.1994) (Macy, C.J., specially concurring).
The majority has decided as a matter of public policy that an attorney’s statutory lien cannot attach to child support money; however, we should consider the public policy of the state only when we are construing an ambiguous statute. Amoco Production Company v. State, 751 P.2d 379, 384 (Wyo.1988). “ ‘[Questions regarding public policy should be determined by the legislature, not the courts.’ ” West v. Wyoming State Treasurer, 822 P.2d 1269, 1274 (Wyo.1991) (quoting Martinez v. Ashland Oil, Inc., 132 Wis.2d 11, 390 N.W.2d 72, 74 (Ct.App.1986)).
In any event, I question whether it is in the children’s best interest for this Court to structure a policy which dictates that it is the responsibility of the custodial parent or the legal profession to bear the expense for collecting child support payments. It is incongruous to expect custodial parents who cannot afford to support their children to pay attorneys to collect court ordered child support payments. It is also unreasonable to expect attorneys to act pro bono in such instances, especially when they are constantly being criticized by the general public for continually promoting litigation.