Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure

What is a charging lien in a Florida family law case? This is a lien asserted by a lawyer against a client or former client concerning money owed by the client to the lawyer. There are specific requirements that must be met before a court can impose a charging lien in favor of a lawyer. The case Lubitz v. Schenden, 4D19-2420 (Fla. App. 2020) goes over those requirements.

In this case, a law firm sought a charging lien against a former client for unpaid fees. The trial court denied the lien, and the law firm appealed. The former client sought attorney’s fees against the law firm for having to defend against the request for the lien and this request was denied. The law firm appealed the denial of its request for a lien and the former client appealed the denial of the client’s request for fees.

The appellate court upheld the denial of the firm’s charging lien, holding that one of the requirements for obtaining the lien had not been met - the law firm had not obtained a positive settlement or judgment for the former client. The court held “The circuit court correctly denied the law firm's motion to impose a charging lien. To impose a charging lien, four requirements must be satisfied: ‘(1) an express or implied contract between attorney and client; (2) an express or implied understanding for payment of attorney's fees out of the recovery; (3) either an avoidance of payment or a dispute as to the amount of fees; and (4) timely notice.’ [internal citations omitted]. But the law firm must not only provide services; it must provide services resulting in ‘a positive judgment or settlement for the client. [internal citation omitted]. Here, the law firm represented the client for only five months on limited jurisdictional issues. During the course of representation, the law firm did not obtain any settlements or financial relief for the client. The circuit court correctly concluded the law firm's services did not produce a positive result for the client.”

The former client, however, was successful on appeal where the appellate court ruled it was error to deny the client’s request for fees. The court held “The parties' representation agreement allowed the law firm to recover attorney's fees incurred in litigating to collect unpaid sums under the agreement. Under the reciprocity provision in section 57.105(7), Florida Statutes (2019), the client had a right to recover her attorney's fees for prevailing in defending against the charging lien. See, e.g., Rochlin v. Cunningham, 739 So. 2d 1215, 1218 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999).”

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