BY
CHIKE B. OKOSA
Abstract
Recent developments in legal practice have raised the question of when and how counsel may assert a lien against his client for due but unpaid fees. Further questions of how any such lien may be protected, enforced and discharged are also raised. In answer, we analysed the right of a solicitor to be remunerated for professional services rendered to a client. Using that right as a predicate, we established that where a client fails to remunerate a legal practitioner for services duly rendered to him, the legal practitioner has a right to assert a lien for recovery of his fees. We then analysed the different types of liens permitted by the law and the circumstances under which each may be created. We also established the time when each of these liens attaches, their duration and termination and the procedure for their perfection. From this background, we disclosed the protection that the law affords the legal practitioner during the pendency of the lien. This protection ensures that the asset upon which the lien is asserted is not assigned or dissipated by the client to the prejudice of the solicitor. We finally established that where a passive maintenance of the lien does not propel the client to pay the due sums, the solicitor has a right in certain circumstances to initiate proceedings for realisation of the lien. We conclude that the right of a solicitor to maintain a lien for payment of his fees is protected by the Rules of Professional Conduct in the Legal Profession and by common law.