Brown v. Superior Court

Opinion

ROBIE, J.

This case raises the question of how and where a conflict between a creditor claiming a judgment lien under Code of Civil Procedure 1 section 708.410 et seq. (sometimes the judgment lien statutes) and an attorney claiming a contractual lien on the proceeds of the same judgment is to be resolved. Specifically, can an attorney lien claimant, over the objection of the judgment creditor, appear in the client’s underlying action for the limited purpose of asserting his or her contractual lien and contesting the creditor’s judgment lien? We conclude the answer to that question is…