State ex rel. Brown v. Poplarville Sawmill Co.

Citations

• 119 Miss. 432
• 81 So. 124

Syllabus

<p>1. State. Employment of attorney. Compensation.</p> <p>Neither the land commissioner nor the Governor has been given power by statute to allow any attorney any per centum of the state’s property or recoveries on sale thereof a fee in bringing suit.</p> <p>2. State. Contracts.. Employment of attorneys. Compensation.</p> <p>The statute, Code of 1906, section 2903, giving the land commissioner power to employ counsel with the consent of the Governor, does not carry with it the right to fix his compensation. This statute is to be construed in connection with the policy • of the state in giving the Governor power to' employ assistant attorneys, subject to the action of the legislature to allow compensation as in the judgment of the legislature may be fair and just.</p> <p>3. State. Contracts, hand commissioner. Employment of attorney. When the land commissioner employed attorneys under Code</p> <p>1906, section 2903, (Hemingway’s Code, section 5238), under a contract providing that such attorneys should receive twenty-five per centum of 'the recovery, such a provision was unlawful and unauthorized and being a vital part of the contract, rendered the whole contract void.</p> <p>4. State. Employment of attorney.</p> <p>The land commissioner must retain control over his litigation, and his right to control it cannot be contracted away.</p> <p>5. Officers. Discretion. Delegation of discretion.</p> <p>Whatever may be the rule governing the relation between the attorney and client, when the parties are acting in their, personal capacity, it is clear that officers must be controlled by the law in making their contracts, and that officers cannot delegate their discretion unless expressly authorized to do so by statute.</p> <p>6. Land Commissioner. Contracts with attorneys.</p> <p>The land commissioner cannot be bound by a blanket contract with an attorney, the facts and particulars constituting the cause of action should be brought to his attention before the suit is institut