For matrimonial attorneys, getting paid—rarely an easy feat—has become more difficult. An unintended consequence of the 2016 amendments to the Domestic Relations Law has rendered the common law and statutory right to a charging lien unenforceable in many matrimonial cases.

The common law right is codified in Judiciary Law §475, which provides in relevant part:

From the commencement of an action…the attorney who appears for a party has a lien upon his or her client's cause of action, claim or counterclaim, which attaches to a verdict, report, determination, decision, award, settlement, judgment or final order in his or her client's favor, and the proceeds thereof in whatever hands they may come; and the lien cannot be affected by any settlement between the parties before or after judgment, final order or determination…