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Attorney Discharged without Cause Entitled to Fee as an Account Stated

The Third Department determined an attorney had been discharged without cause and was entitled to a charging lien and a retaining lien.  The client had signed a retainer agreement and had not expressed any objection to the detailed itemized bill submitted by the attorney.  The amount of the bill was therefore deemed an account stated.  In explaining the options available to an attorney who has been discharged without cause, the court wrote:

…[A]n attorney who has been discharged without cause may pursue the following cumulative remedies: (1) a charging lien, (2) a retaining lien, and/or (3) a plenary action in quantum meruit … . A charging lien is a statutory remedy — codified in Judiciary Law § 475 — that grants the attorney “a security interest in the favorable result of [the] litigation” … . A retaining lien, on the other hand, permits the discharged attorney to retain the contents of the client’s file until such time as the attorney has been paid or “the client has otherwise posted adequate security ensuring [the] payment [there]of” … . With respect to either lien, a hearing may be required to determine the amount of compensation due and owing to the discharged attorney. Here, however, we have no quarrel with Supreme Court’s finding that the firm was entitled to an award of $10,884.14 based upon an account stated. Roe v Roe, 2014 NY Slip 03317, 3rd Dept 5-8-14

 

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