Rodriguez

I. BACKGROUND

Cruz retained Rodriguez to represent her in her marital dissolution in late 2020, but was forced to find new counsel some five months later after the state bar suspended his license for misconduct. In May 2021 Cruz engaged family law specialist Gutierrez to replace him. In June Rodriguez notified her he had placed an attorney fees lien on the proceeds of any recovery from the divorce action. Cruz forwarded the notice to Gutierrez. Upon review, Gutierrez concluded the purported lien was invalid for multiple reasons. First, Rodriguez had not brought a required separate action to establish the lien’s existence, determine its amount, and enforce it against Cruz. Second, Rodriguez’s retainer agreement neither explicitly nor implicitly authorized him to seek payment for his services through an attorney’s lien.) Finally, the fees he claimed were largely dated after the bar suspended him. Rodriguez filed notice of his lien in the trial court and sued Cruz and her husband, J.C., for unpaid attorney fees and other relief. Gutierrez subsequently negotiated a settlement of the divorce action. The settlement agreement required that Cortez pay Cruz monthly child and spousal…