Morgan v. Roberts

Citations

• 38 Ill. 65

Syllabus

<p>1. Jurisdiction in Chancery—in matters of trust—and herein, when a trust arises. Where an attorney engages to institute and prosecute a suit for a stipulated per centage out of the money or property realized thereby, if his client assigns the claim which was the foundation of the suit to a creditor who takes the claim with express reference to the rights of the attorney and with the understanding that he shall pay the fees of the attorney before applying any of the proceeds to his own debt, a trust is thereby created and a duty imposed upon the assignee to satisfy the prior claim of the attorney; and in such a case, indeed in all cases of trust, the jurisdiction of a court of equity is complete to compel its execution.</p> <p>2. Same—having acquired jurisdiction, the whole case will be heard. And when such court has obtained jurisdiction the whole case is before it, and if the claim of a party to the priority in the trust fund is dependent on a condition, the court can and must determine whether the condition has been performed, or the party discharged therefrom.</p> <p>3. Hence it was proper in this case for the court to determine whether or not the attorney had performed his engagement, and in doing so the court would necessarily be obliged to put a construction upon the contract of retainer.</p> <p>4. Construction of contracts—a contract of retainer of an attorney at law is construed in this case.</p> <p>5. Attorneys—abandonment of a cause—measure of recovery for services. Where attorneys who are employed under a special contract to prosecute a suit, abandon the cause before its termination, they are thereby deprived of any claim under the contract, and must be left to recover such fees and compensation as they are reasonably entitled to on the basis of a quantum meruit.</p> <p>6. Attorney’s lien—how lost. And by abandoning their contract the attorneys would lose whatever lien upon the proceeds of the suit they might have had under its provisions.</p> <p>1. At