Baldwin v. Foss
Baldwin v. Foss
Opinion of the Court
The defendant in error commenced an action in the district court of Douglas county against one Thomas Murray for damages resulting from false imprisonment. His at
An order of reference was then made, referring the case to W. L. Peabody, Esq., to take the proofs and report his finding of facts, and particularly the amount received by plaintiff in error and under what circumstaaces the same was received. The referee took the testimony, and reported his conclusions to the court, by which he found that the plaintiff in error and Shields were jointly of counsel for defendant in error, and each entitled to share in the fee received in the case, and that one hundred dollars would be a reasonable retainer in the case. That in the settlement of the case Murray paid plaintiff in error one hundred and sixty-one dollars,' which was paid upon the express condition .and agreement that plaintiff in error should not make any claim on Murray for any services rendered him
Upon the filing of the report of the referee an order was made requiring the plaintiff in.ei’ror to pay into court thirty dollars and fifty cents for the use of defendant in error, and that if the same were not paid by a day fixed by the court execution issue therefor. '
' It might properly be said that the testimony shows that defendant in error is not claiming anything further, from plaintiff in error, nor in fact from any one else. That Crawford, who was Shields’ partner at the time of the commencement of this action in its original form, claims that by the terms of the settlement between himself and Shields, the money in the hands of plaintiff in error, if any, is coming to him. That Shields claims it is coming to him. All the interest defendant in error claims in .the matter is that the plaintiff in error should pay Shields or Crawford the attorneys’ fees which he might have to pay did not plaintiff in error pay it.
It is urged by the plaintiff in error that the court had no jurisdiction or authority to try the matter in the summary way in which it was tried, and if it had it erred in disposing of the matter between persons who were not parties to the record.
The jurisdiction of the district court to compel an attorney to pay money into court which has been collected by the attorney for the client cannot be questioned. But that question does not arise in this case.
The judgment of the district court is reversed and the proceedings dismissed.
Reversed and dismissed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.