Richard A. Clem v. Paul J. Watts, 27 N.E.3d 789

Attorney Watts filed a notice of attorney fee lien in the dissolution case; lien filed before judgment was entered.
Dissolution judgment was entered about a year after Watts’ lien notice.
Clem, representing Husband, distributed funds to Wife without Watts’ lien value being paid.
Watts sued Clem and Wife for $5,649.48 on the lien.
Trial court denied Clem’s summary judgment and granted Watts’ summary judgment.
Court holds lien invalid if filed before judgment under Indiana law.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether an attorney fee lien filed before judgment is valid under IC 33-43-4-2.	Watts contends pre-judgment lien creates an effective lien.	Clem argues the statute requires filing within 60 days after judgment; pre-judgment filing invalid.	Lien filed before judgment is not valid; judgment must be entered first.

Alderman v. Nelson, 111 Ind. 255, 12 N.E. 394 (1887) (early rule allowing liens linked to judgment; pre-judgment lien invalid)
Wood v. Hughes, 138 Ind. 179, 37 N.E. 588 (1894) (timeline for lien relative to judgment established)
Greenfield v. Greenfield, 591 N.E.2d 1057 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992) (pre-judgment lien invalid when no judgment yet)
Hollingsworth v. Stoops, 671 N.E.2d 165 (Ind. Ct. App. 1996) (sixty-day post-judgment lien filing rule)
Riddle v. Newton Crane Service, 661 N.E.2d 6 (Ind. Ct. App. 1996) (mechanic’s lien timing analogy)
Stroup v. Klump-O’Hannes, 749 N.E.2d 622 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001) (statutory interpretation of lien timing)
Sees v. Bank One, Indiana, N.A., 839 N.E.2d 154 (Ind. 2005) (statutory plain language interpretation)
Sanders v. Bd. Of Comm’rs of Brown Cnty., 892 N.E.2d 1249 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008) (statutory interpretation guidance)
Dugan v. Mittal Steel USA, Inc., 929 N.E.2d 184 (Ind. 2010) (summary judgment standard for pure questions of law)
Greenfield v. Greenfield, 591 N.E.2d 1057 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992) (statutory lien timing context)