Judge: Gregory Keosian, Case: 20STCV42444, Date: 2023-02-09 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 20STCV42444    Hearing Date: February 9, 2023    Dept: 61

Plaintiff Gergis R. Ghobrial’s Motion to Invalidate Attorney Lien is DENIED.

I.                   MOTION TO INVALILDATE ATTORNEY LIEN

Plaintiff Gergis Ghobrial (Plaintiff) objects to the attorney lien filed by former Plaintiff’s counsel Rose, Klein & Marias LLP (Attorney) on December 23, 2022. Plaintiff argues that Attorney withdrew voluntarily and therefore cannot claim fees for services performed. (Motion at pp. 4–5; see Estate of Falco (1987) 188 Cal.App.3d 1004, 1014 [an attorney who voluntarily abandons a case without good cause will be denied compensation].)

This court lacks jurisdiction to entertain Plaintiff’s motion:

Appellate courts have consistently held that the trial court in the underlying action has no jurisdiction to determine the existence or validity of an attorney's lien on the judgment. The trial court does have fundamental jurisdiction over the subject matter and over the parties. Nevertheless, because the attorney is not a party to the underlying action and has no right to intervene, the trial court acts in excess of its jurisdiction when it purports to determine whether the attorney is entitled to foreclose a lien on the judgment. Nor can the court entertain a motion to terminate the lien. After the client obtains a judgment, the attorney must bring a separate, independent action against the client to establish the existence of the lien, to determine the amount of the lien, and to enforce it. An order within the underlying action purporting to affect an attorney's lien is void.

(Carroll v. Interstate Brands Corp. (2002) 99 Cal.App.4th 1168, 1173, internal citations omitted, italics added.)

The attorney lien that Plaintiff seeks to have invalidated is for fees incurred in the present action. The attorneys are not parties to the case, and under the above authority, this court lacks jurisdiction to either enforce or invalidate the lien.

The motion is therefore DENIED.