[Download] "Fannie Fein v. Edward K. Schwartz and" by St. Louis District Court of Appeals of Missouri # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Fannie Fein v. Edward K. Schwartz and
- Author : St. Louis District Court of Appeals of Missouri
- Release Date : January 15, 1966
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 76 KB
Description
Appellant herein, Fannie Fein, had been the owner of a parcel of improved real estate known as the Midtown Hotel located at 2935 Lawton Avenue in the City of St. Louis, Missouri. This property was in the Mill Creek Redevelopment Project Area being redeveloped by the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of the City of St. Louis, a municipal corporation, which we shall hereinafter refer to as the Authority. The Authority agreed to purchase appellant's property for the sum of $292,000 and at the time of the closing of the purchase contract and of the transfer of title the Authority withheld $15,000 of the purchase price as a result of service on it of a notice of an attorney's lien claimed by the respondents herein, wherein they claimed an interest in the proceeds of the sale. Appellant brought suit against the Authority to recover the sum of $15,000, which the Authority had refused to pay her, and thereupon the Authority interpleaded the sum of $15,000 and paid it into the registry of the court and was thereafter discharged from the suit. Respondents herein, Edward K. Schwartz and Burnett Schwartz, attorneys at law, through their answer and interplea claimed an attorney's lien upon the aforesaid sum by reason of a verbal contract, wherein appellant and her husband agreed to pay the said respondents as professional fees for their legal services an amount equal to five percent of the price received resulting from the sale to or condemnation by the Authority of the aforesaid premises. Respondents' answer and interplea was in two counts. Count I sought recovery under the aforesaid contract for an amount equal to five percent of the price resulting from the sale of the named premises and for an order and judgment that respondents were entitled to an attorney's lien upon the fund paid into the registry of the court. Respondents also sought an order from the court, under Count I, directing the payment of said fund to them. As an alternative to the relief sought in Count I, respondents sought relief in Count II upon the theory of quantum meruit and asked judgment for the sum of $15,000. Appellant filed a reply and counterclaim. The case was tried in an equity division of the St. Louis Circuit Court without the aid of a jury. The trial court found in favor of the respondents under Count I in the sum of $14,600 and decreed that respondents ""have a special attorney's lien in said amount on and against the funds heretofore paid into the registry of this court,"" and directed the Clerk of the Court to pay the sum of $14,600 to the respondents out of the sum deposited in the court and directed that the balance of said deposit be paid over unto the appellant. Thereafter, appellant appealed to this court.