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Terms Used In Maryland Code, BUSINESS OCCUPATIONS AND PROFESSIONS 10-501

  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • state: means :

    (1) a state, possession, territory, or commonwealth of the United States; or

    (2) the District of Columbia. See
(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, an attorney at law has a lien on:

(1) a cause of action or proceeding of a client of the attorney at law from the time the cause of action arises or the proceeding begins; and

(2) a settlement, judgment, or award that a client receives as a result of legal services that the attorney at law performs.

(b) A lien under this section attaches only if, and to the extent that, under a specific agreement between an attorney at law and a client, the client owes the attorney at law a fee or other compensation for legal services that produced the settlement, judgment, or award.

(c) A lien under this section is subordinate only to:

(1) a prior lien for wages due to an employee of the client for work related to the settlement, judgment, or award; or

(2) a lien for taxes that the client owes the State.

(d) An attorney at law may retain property subject to a lien under this section and bring an action for execution under the lien only in accordance with rules that the Court of Appeals adopts.