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Howe & Assocs. PC v. Daniels

O.C.G.A. § 14-19-14 b prevents the dismissal of a suit before settlement sufficient to defeat a valid attorneys' fee lien.

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Howe & Associates, former attorneys of Nikki C. Taylor and William D. Taylor,1 appeal the trial court’s order enforcing an attorney fees lien in favor of Jerry A. Daniels, the attorney who originally filed the Taylors’ tort action against Harmon B. Anderson, III, and other defendants. Sometime after the action was filed, Daniels negotiated a settlement with the tort defendants, but the Taylors were not satisfied with the settlement proposed. Consequently, they discharged Daniels and retained Howe & Associates to represent them. Daniels had a contingency fee contract with the Taylors that called for him to be paid on an hourly basis if he were discharged from the case. After he was discharged as counsel, Daniels filed an attorney fees lien on November 22, 2002, and served a notice on the Taylors, the defense attorneys in the tort action, and the insurance company involved. Thereafter, Howe & Associates negotiated a new settlement, which the Taylors accepted, and on January 24, 2003, Howe and Associates filed a dismissal of the action, without prejudice, on behalf of the Taylors. The settlement proceeds were disbursed without honoring Daniels’s lien. As the Taylors had dismissed their claims against the defendants and the defendants’ cross-claims were contingent upon recovery by the Taylors, the trial court on January 31, 2003, directed the clerk of court to close the file.

On February 10, 2003, however, Daniels moved to reopen the case and foreclose his attorney fees lien. Daniels relied upon Brown v. Georgia, C. & N. Ry. Co. , 101 Ga. 80 28 SE 634 1897, and Nodvin v. Fabian , 153 Ga. App. 716 266 SE2d 253 1980, as authority to reopen the case.

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