Wilkerson v. Portner
Appellant Portner is an attorney. Respondent Wilkerson is a chiropractor. From February 1999 through August 2000, Wilkerson provided chiropractic services to Portners client, Junas Taclay, who had been injured in an automobile accident in February 1999. Wilkerson charged Taclay $2,095.66 for his services. On January 17, 2001, Taclay and Portner executed a document entitled Lien Authorization to Pay Chiropractic Fees - and Constructive Trust for the Chiropractor (Lien Authorization). The Lien Authorization had two parts. Under the first part, the Patient Agreement, Taclay authorized Wilkerson to furnish his attorney (Portner) with medical information and authorized Portner to pay Wilkerson for his chiropractic services from any funds held for Wilkerson in his client trust account. It further stated that Taclay was directly and fully, personally responsible to the above Chiropractor for all chiropractic billing and that this obligation [was] not contingent upon [his] receiving any settlement for [his] claim. (Italics omitted.) The Patient Agreement also contained the following provision: I agree to be responsible for any legal fees, court, or collection agency costs incurred, which are necessary to enforce this agreement. Those additional expenses for legal or collection agency fees or court costs, will be added on top of the billings and/or fees of said Chiropractor along with the highest interest rate permitted by law, calculated from the date chiropractic services were first rendered. I understand that, in view of the protracted time for cases to be tried, I waive any right to statute of limitations for collections.
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