interpleader must be dismissed when there is evidence to support attorney client fee dispute

by Jarrell Kertzmann DDS 4 min read

Who can be a defendant in an interpleader action?

In an interpleader action, a party who knows two or more other parties are making a claim on some asset controlled by the party can ask the court to decide who has what rights to the asset, deposit the asset into the custody of the court or a third party and remove itself from the litigation. To achieve that, the party holding the asset files ...

What are the rules of civil procedure for interpleader actions?

May 07, 2018 · If the court grants the interpleader, the stakeholder is dismissed from the action. The claimants are given the right to litigate their claims and will be bound by the decision of the court. Under federal law, there are two forms of interpleader: rule interpleader, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 22; and statutory interpleader, under 28 U.S.C. § 1335.

How does a stakeholder decide whether an interpleader is proper?

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure › TITLE IV. PARTIES › Rule 22. Interpleader. Rule 22. Interpleader. (a) Grounds. (1) By a Plaintiff. Persons with claims that may expose a plaintiff to double or multiple liability may be joined as defendants and required to interplead. Joinder for interpleader is proper even though:

What is the difference between rule 22 and rule 1335 interpleader?

Frank Allen Rees, the Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division One held that where an interpleader action is filed, an award of attorney fees and costs to the interpleading party is permitted where the life insurance benefits are in dispute due to the beneficiary’s status as a suspect in the death of the insured. This is true regardless of whether a single or multiple …

What is a interpleader action?

A way for a holder of property to initiate a suit between two or more claimants to the property. If, for example, A holds property that he knows he does not own, but that both B and C are claiming, A can sue both B and C in an interpleader action, where B and C could litigate who actually owns the property.

What is an interpleader Philippines?

Interpleader is a remedy whereby a person who has property in his possession or has an obligation to render wholly or partially, without claiming any right in both, comes to court and asks that the defendants who have made upon him conflicting claims upon the same property or who consider themselves entitled to demand ...Jun 17, 2017

What is the difference between Impleader and interpleader?

is that interpleader is (legal) process by which a third party asks a court to determine which of two rival claims is to be honored by the third party while impleader is (legal) a procedural device before trial in which a party joins a third-party into a lawsuit because that third-party is liable to an original ...

What does it mean to Interplead funds?

Interpleader is defined as an equitable remedy now governed by statute, whereby a holder of money such as an escrow deposits funds or property with the Court.

What is meant by interpleader?

interpleader in American English (ˌɪntərˈplɛdər ) noun. a legal procedure by which two or more parties claiming the same money or property may be compelled to resolve the dispute among themselves in a single action rather than proceeding individually against the party holding the disputed money or property.

What is insurance interpleader?

Interpleader is a legal proceeding involving a stakeholder, usually a life insurance company or a trustee, who is holding funds but is uncertain as to who is the rightful payee.Jan 22, 2020

What is an interpleader summons?

Interpleader is a kind of procedure whereby a person in possession of property not being his own, and being claimed from such person (possession) by two or more other persons (so called claimants), by which the matter can be brought to court for adjudication over ostensibly valid and enforceable competing claims over ...

What is contained in an interpleader notice?

According to Rule 58(3), the interpleader notice shall: state the nature of the liability, property or claim which is the subject matter of the dispute; call upon the claimants within the time stated in the notice, not being less than 15 days from the date of service thereof, to deliver particulars of their claims; and.Aug 12, 2021

What is interpleader proceedings Malaysia?

Interpleader is a procedure by which a person, faced with competing claims in respect of personal property (which he does not claim as his own), can protect himself from the uncertainty and expense of separate legal proceedings with each claimant by applying to the court to compel the claimants to settle, between ...Nov 15, 2021

Who can file interpleader suit?

According to Order 35, Rule 5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which prohibits the tenant to file a suit against his landlord for the purpose of compelling him to interplead with any person other than making claim through such landlord.Aug 28, 2019

Who may file an interpleader?

The action of interpleader, under section 120, is a remedy whereby a person who has personal property in his possession, or an obligation to render wholly or partially, without claiming any right in both, comes to court and asks that the persons who claim the said personal property or who consider themselves entitled ...

Who may file interpleader suit?

The main object to filing an interpleader suit is to get claims of rival defendants adjudicated. It is a process wherein the plaintiff calls upon the rival claimants to appear before the court and get their respective claims decided. 1.Jul 14, 2019

An interpleader action is traditionally viewed as two suits

One between the stakeholder and the claimants to determine the stakeholder’s right to interplead and the other among the claimants to determine who shall receive the funds interpleaded .

Interpleader by Complaint

The stakeholder may take the initiative and file a lawsuit against the various conflicting claimants, requiring them to litigate their respective claims to the money or property she holds.

What is interpleader in court?

Specifically, pursuant to Section 1335, a plaintiff may commence an interpleader action in federal district court if: The money or property in dispute exceeds $500 in value, and.

What are the requirements for interpleader?

Interpleader is also permitted by 28 U.S.C. Section 1335. Specifically, pursuant to Section 1335, a plaintiff may commence an interpleader action in federal district court if: 1 The money or property in dispute exceeds $500 in value, and 2 There are two more claimants of diverse citizenship.

What are the two types of interpleaders?

Under federal law, there are two types of interpleader. One is based on statute, and the other arises under Rule 22 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Let us look at each of those.

What is the rule for a lawyer to accept a referral fee?

Although many While the “joint responsibility” provision may allow a lawyer to accept a “referral fee” even if the lawyer performs no work, such fees come at a cost. As a comment to the rule notes, “joint responsibility ” means financial and ethical responsibility for the representation as if the lawyers were associated in a partnership.” Rule 1.5, Cmt. 7. That means that, if the lawyer accepts the fee, the lawyer may also be jointly responsible

What are the ABA model rules of professional conduct?

At their outset, the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct (referenced herein throughout as the “Model Rules” or, individual, the “Rule”) require lawyers to serve their clients with competence (Rule 1.1), diligence (Rule 1.3) and loyalty – requiring them to avoid, or at least disclose, ways in which the attorney’s interests may conflict with those of the client. See, generally, Model Rules 1.6-1.8. The attorney-client relationship is also commercial, with the attorney typically entitled to demand payment from the client for services rendered. That commercial relationship inherently creates the potential for conflict. No matter how much the client may appreciate the attorney’s work, it would always be in the client’s best interests to avoid paying for it. Similarly, as much as the attorney may be motivated by genuine respect and admiration for the client, the attorney could always be paid more.

Why do attorneys use retainers?

Attorneys commonly use retainers to secure payment of their legal fees and costs. The word “retainer,” however, has a variety of different meanings – and those different meanings result in different application of the relevant ethical rules.

What is Rule 1.5?

Under Rule 1.5(a) a lawyer may not “make an agreement for, charge, or collect an unreasonable fee.” By its terms, the rule requires reasonableness to be assessed not only at the time the fee agreement is entered, but also when attorneys bill for services or attempt to collect the fees they are owed by the client. It is therefore possible to violate Rule 1.5 if an attorney seeks to enforce a fee agreement that, while reasonable at the time, was rendered unreasonable by subsequent events. For example, in In re Gerard, 132 Ill.2d 507, 548 N.E.2d 1051 (1989), a lawyer was found to have violated Rule 1.5 after charging a contingency fee based on the value of account assets located for an elderly client. While, at the time the lawyer had been hired, the client had believed accounts were being wrongfully withheld from him, in fact the accounts were not the subject of any adverse claim, but were turned over willingly by the banks holding them once they learned of the client’s whereabouts – requiring little in the way of attorney professional services. More generally, fees are frequently found to be unreasonable when the lawyer does not perform competent work, or neglects a matter, but nevertheless seeks to be paid the full fee for which he or she has contracted. See, e.g., Attorney Grievance Comm'n of Maryland v. Garrett, 427 Md. 209, 224, 46 A.3d 1169, 1178 (2012); Rose v. Kentucky Bar Ass'n, 425 S.W.3d 889, 891 (Ky. 2014).

What makes an attorney valuable?

The very factors that make attorneys’ services valuable – their knowledge of the law and the specialized training that leads their clients to place trust in them – lead to special scrutiny of attorneys’ payment relationships. The attorney-client relationship is a fiduciary relationship and, just as in other fiduciary relationship, the attorney’s dealings with the beneficiary – the client – are subject to special legal scrutiny. As one Illinois court has put it: The law places special obligations upon an attorney by virtue of the relationship between attorney and client. Those obligations are summed up and referred to generally as the fiduciary duty of the attorney. They permeate all phases of the relationship, including the contract for payment.