Pangborn Plumbing Corp. v. Carruthers & Skiffington

Opinion

CROSKEY, J.

In this case, we address the issue of the relative priorities and enforcement of a judgment lien and a competing contractual lien for attorney’s fees claimed by the debtor’s law firm for its work in creating the very fund from which the creditor seeks to satisfy its judgment lien. For the reasons discussed below, in this factually complex case, we conclude that the law firm’s contractual lien has priority.

Factual and Procedural Background

American Benefit Plan Administrators (Benefit Administrators) sued Pangborn Plumbing Corporation and R. Pangborn (collectively Pangborn)…