Smith v. Moran, Windes & Wong, PLLC

¶1 At issue are the rights of competing creditors to the settlement proceeds arising from this legal malpractice action. Ryan Smith and John Guarino are judgment creditors of Brent Nelson, the original plaintiff in this lawsuit.1 They purchased Nelson’s interest in this action at a sheriff’s execution sale that they requested. The other creditor is the law firm of Moran, Windes & Wong, *462which represented Nelson in this action. Moran withdrew after Smith and Guarino intervened. Moran asserts an attorney’s lien against the settlement proceeds paid by defendant Cairncross & Hempelmann to Smith…