Nathan S. Smith v. Arthur R. Grimm and Jeannine Grimm

Plaintiff Smith sued the Commanding Officer, Air Force Accounting and Finance Center (the “Air Force”) and defendant Grimm for declaratory and injunctive relief with respect to certain salary and retirement payments that the Air Force was to pay to Grimm. Smith alleged that he had an equitable lien, arising out of legal services performed by him for Grimm, on fifty percent of military pay due to Grimm. The trial judge, sitting without a jury, ruled in Smith’s favor. Grimm appeals, alleging the uneonscionability of the contract with Smith, and Smith’s lack of performance thereof. We are unable to reach these issues inasmuch as we find that there is no federal jurisdiction to entertain this lawsuit.

I. Statement of Facts.

A comprehension of the factual background is necessary to adequately analyze the jurisdictional posture of this case. In 1963, after approximately eighteen years of service, Captain Grimm was discharged from the Air Force by the Secretary of the Air Force pursuant to the recommendation of a Board of Inquiry. Grimm retained Smith, an attorney, to contest the legality of that discharge. Arising out of this representation, and principally at issue below,…