Allen v. City of Portland
Allen v. City of Portland
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM
Intervenor-Appellant Jeff Price, the former attorney for Plaintiff Joyce Lynn Allen, appeals the district court’s denial of an award of attorney’s fees. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we reverse and remand to the district court for further proceedings.
Price was Allen’s attorney during the original trial of her § 1983 claims, but Price withdrew after a jury verdict for the defendants. Allen appealed pro se. This court concluded that she had been arrested without probable cause as a matter of law.
Allen and the defendants eventually settled, and the district court entered a judgment disbursing the settlement money to Allen and her new counsel, but denying Price any portion of the judgment. Price moved to have the judgment amended, arguing that the district court disposed of his statutory and contractual lien claims
The district court erred in denying Price’s motion. First, Price’s motion was timely. Rule 6(a) of the Federal rules of Civil Procedure provides that weekends do not count when computing time periods of less than eleven days,
Second, Price’s lack of standing under § 1988 does not control his statutory and contractual lien claims. Price’s hen claims arose from a private contingent fee agreement between Allen and Price, and § 1988 “does not interfere with the enforceability of a contingent-fee contract.”
The district court’s order denying Price’s motion to amend the judgment is REVERSED, and the case is REMANDED to the district court to rule on the merits of Price’s statutory and contractual hen claims.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and may not be cited to or by the courts of this circuit except as may be provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
. Allen v. City of Portland, 73 F.3d 232, 238 (9th Cir. 1995).
. Allen v. City of Portland, 210 F.3d 381 (9th Cir. 2000) (mem.).
. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 6(a).
. Venegas v. Mitchell, 495 U.S. 82, 90, 110 S.Ct. 1679, 109 L.Ed.2d 74 (1990).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Joyce Lynne ALLEN, and Michael James Allen, Plaintiff-Appellee Jeff Price, Intervenor-Appellant v. CITY OF PORTLAND George E. Fort, Officer, and D. George Walker
- Status
- Published