Pierson v. Burlison
Appellants Robert C. Burlison, Jr. and his firm, Burlison & Luostari (B&L), appeal a judgment rendered in favor of former clients respondents Charles Pierson and Donald and Ani Hovanesian. The trial court found that appellants committed legal malpractice resulting in damage to Pierson in the amount of $168,000, representing a judgment for attorney fees awarded to the defendants in a prior breach of contract lawsuit to which Pierson had been improperly added as a plaintiff. The court further found that the Hovanesians were owed $40,000 in settlement funds recovered in the prior litigation. Although appellants presented evidence that the Hovanesians had not fully paid for all legal services rendered during the prior litigation under a retainer agreement with B&L, the court concluded that appellants were entitled to no offset because the retainer agreement included a provision permitting B&L to assert an improper lien over funds recovered in the prior litigation. We conclude that despite the invalidity of the lien provision, B&L was not barred from recovering for breach of contract for services rendered under the retainer agreement. We therefore remand for determination of the amount owed B&L, if any, under the evidence presented at trial. We otherwise affirm.
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