St. Ana v. Wheeler Mattison Drugs, Inc.

Florida District Courts of Appeal
St. Ana v. Wheeler Mattison Drugs, Inc., 129 So. 2d 184 (1961)
1961 Fla. App. LEXIS 3078
Carroll, Chas, Horton, Pearson

St. Ana v. Wheeler Mattison Drugs, Inc.

Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

The plaintiff, an attorney, appeals a judgment dismissing his complaint for the enforcement of a lien claimed under § 85.09,. Fla.Stat., F.S.A. The only question is-whether § 85.09, supra, provides a lien for-the services of attorneys. In Florida, as in. most states, a lawyer has a retaining lien upon papers in his hands and according to-the circumstances, a charging or equitable lien on recoveries obtained for a client in> the suit for the services in which the charge is made. Chancey v. Bauer, 5 Cir., 1938, 97 F.2d 293, 294; Billingham v. Thiele, Fla., App.1958, 107 So.2d 238, 243.

It was expressly held in Nichols v. Kroelinger, Fla.1950, 46 So.2d 722, 724, “under-the common law his [attorney’s] lien attached to the judgment and since we have-no statute in this State modifying or repealing the common law or protecting the lien, the common law is still in effect, * * * Section 85.09, supra, became a law in Florida many years prior to the-decision in the last-cited case. It has therefore been determined that this statute does-not apply to or create an additional attorney’s lien.

Affirmed.

HORTON, C. J., and PEARSON and; CARROLL, CHAS., JJ., concur.

Reference

Full Case Name
Joseph A. ST. ANA v. WHEELER MATTISON DRUGS, INC., a Florida corporation, Amos Mattison and Ann Mattison, his wife
Cited By
7 cases
Status
Published