The plaintiff brought a motion to compel his former solicitor to transfer his file to his new solicitor.
The former solicitor asserted a solicitor's lien and demanded immediate payment of outstanding disbursements before releasing the file.
The court reviewed the contingency fee retainer agreement and found it did not require immediate payment of disbursements upon termination.
Given the plaintiff's impecuniosity and the former solicitor's ability to protect its interests via a charging order against future settlement proceeds, the court ordered the file transferred subject to a $300 copying fee.
