The compensation of an attorney or counselor for his services is governed by agreement, express or implied, which is not restrained by law. From the commencement of an action or the service of an answer containing a counterclaim, the attorney who appears for a party has a lien upon his client's cause of action or counterclaim, which attaches to a verdict, report, decision or judgment in his client's favor, and the proceeds thereof in whosesoever hands they may come; and cannot be affected by any settlement between the parties before or after judgment.
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 484.130
Compensation of attorney governed by agreement — lien upon client's cause..
Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case Hillside Enterprises, Inc. v. Continental Carlisle, Inc. (1998)
Most recently applied in In Re Payless Cashways, Inc. (November 1998)
Effective: 28 Aug 1939; (RSMo 1939 § 13337); Prior revisions: 1929 § 11716; 1919 § 690; 1909 § 964
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Missouri statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.