John Byrnes & Associates (Legal) Pty Limited v Quinn [2020] NSWSC 1840

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: John Byrnes & Associates (Legal) Pty Limited v Quinn [2020] NSWSC 1840 Hearing dates: 14 December 2020 Date of orders: 14 December 2020 Decision date: 14 December 2020 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Rees J Decision: Summary judgment in favour of plaintiff, declaring solicitors' lien over costs of District Court proceedings payable to client; solicitor to re-serve bills to comply with Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW). Catchwords: SOLICITORS – costs – solicitors' lien – sufficient causal link between solicitor's efforts and recovery of costs – solicitor's lien exists prior to assessment determining quantum. Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW), s 333(1)(a) Legal Profession Uniform Law 2014 (NSW), Sch 4, cl 18 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 13.1(1) Cases Cited: Firth v Centrelink (2002) 55 NSWLR 451; [2002] NSWSC 564 Goldberg v Beckett [2015] NSWSC 1966 New South Wales Land and Housing Corporation v Quinn (No 2) [2018] NSWDC 161 New South Wales Land and Housing Corporation v Quinn (No 3) [2018] NSWDC 193 Salvatore Blanda v Kemp Strang Lawyers Pty Ltd [2006] NSWSC 48 Category: Principal judgment Parties: John Byrnes & Associates (Legal) Pty Limited (Plaintiff) Robert Quinn (First Defendant) New South Wales Land and Housing Corporation (Second Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr E White (Plaintiff) Mr R Quinn (First Defendant in person) No appearance (Second Defendant)