71 Iowa 197 | Iowa | 1887
“I agree to pay to John F. Lacey, as a contingent fee in the above case, a sum equal to one-third of the amount that may be ultimately collected therein. Said Lacey is not to pay any costs or expenses except his own personal expenses.
“Wm. Bucklew.”
When the cause was removed to Jasper county, Lacey, with the knowledge and consent of Bucklew, procured tlie plaintiff Winslow to assist him in the trial. After the judgment was entered on the judgment docket of the district court of Jasper county, the plaintiffs entered upon said docket a notice of a lien in the following words:
“We hereby give notice that we claim an attorneys’ lien on this judgment for the sum of $2,000, for services rendered the plaintiff' in this cause, and as compensation for service so rendered him in their professional capacity, and in the course of their professional employment.
“John F. Lacey.
“íl. S. Winslow.”
The case was appealed by the railroad company to this court, and the judgment was reversed. See 61 Iowa, 603. After the cause had been remanded for a new trial, and on the eighth day of July, 1885, Bucklew and the railroad company settled the suit by a written stipulation, in which it was agreed that the company should pay Bucklew $1,650 in full and complete satisfaction and discharge of all claims for damages for the injuries complained of. It was also agreed that Bucklew should pay his attorneys in said suit, and he received from the company $150 for that purpose, which sum was included in the $1,650 for which the suit was settled. The plaintiff’s claim by this action that they are entitled to recover of the defendants the one-third of the amount received by Bucklew in this settlement. • The claim is based upon the notice entered upon the judgment docket.
The defendants set up several defenses to the action. One
There are other minor questions in tne case, including objections to an order of the court authorizing the approval of an attachment bond, and striking out a counter-claim filed by the defendant Bucklew. These orders are so manifestly correct that we do not deem it necessary to more than mention the fact that objections were made to them.
Counsel for appellant contend that the lien entered of record was on- the judgment, and not upon money in the possession of the adverse party due the plaintiff in the action. It is true that the entry made upon the judgment docket states that a lien is claimed on the judgment. We think, however, that the plaintiffs had no right to make any claim other than that provided by statute, and the section of the Code above cited does not provide for a lien on thjudgment, as such. It expressly provides for alien on money in the hands of the adverse party or his attorney.
It is further claimed that, as the statute provides, where notice of the lien is placed upon the judgment docket, and thus made effective against the judgment debtor, the notice ceased or expired when the judgment was reversed, because there was then no “judgment debtor.” We think, however, that the words “judgment debtor,” as used in the fourth sub-division of the section above quoted, are merely descriptive of the person against whom the lien may be enforced. It will be observed that notice of the lien upon money in the hands of the adverse party is not required to be personally served after judgment. The adverse party is charged with notice by the entry on the judgment docket. From the time of such entry he cannot prejudice the rights of the attorney claiming the lien by a settlement with his client; and as the law does not place the lien upon the judgment, but upon the claim against the adverse party, or the money in his hands, we think the notice remained binding upon the defendant as long as the money remained in its hands. If the plaintiffs had merely stated in tne entry upon the judgment docket their lien upon the money claimed of the railroad company, and in its hands, due to Bpcklew for the injury of which he complained, the notice would have been in strict conformity with the statute, and would have been binding on the railroad company 'through all the further
In our opinion, the judgment of the circuit court should be
Affirmed.