Strahan & Strahan

In the Family Court of Australia, Mead J considered claims by two firms of solicitors, PP Lawyers Pty Ltd and NF Pty Ltd, who sought to enforce liens over a $2 million fund held in the Family Court of Australia Litigants Fund. This fund was established as part of the final property settlement orders between Ms Strahan (the wife) and Mr Strahan (the husband), concluding nearly 13 years of litigation. The wife's solicitors had ceased acting for her at various points between December 2010 and September 2016.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the solicitors' claims for liens over the $2 million fund were valid, and if so, to what extent. Specifically, the court had to determine if there was a sufficient causal link between the exertions of the solicitors and the creation of the $2 million fund, which constituted the "fruits of the litigation" in this context. The court also considered the husband's application for payment of outstanding costs orders prior to the wife receiving any portion of the fund.

Mead J dismissed the solicitors' claims, finding that they had not established the necessary "causal link" between their efforts and the existence of the $2 million fund. The court noted that while the litigation had been extensive and involved significant sums, the final order directing the $2 million payment to the wife was made in her absence and on an undefended basis. The court applied the principle that a solicitor's equitable lien over the fruits of litigation arises only where the moneys have been recovered, at least in part, by the solicitor's exertions, and that a sufficient causal connection must be demonstrated.

The court ordered that the wife pay the husband the sum of $167,347 in satisfaction of various costs orders made in the Family Court and the High Court. This payment was to be made directly from the $2 million fund held in the Litigants Fund. The remaining balance of the $2 million fund was ordered to be paid to the wife. Consequently, the applications by the solicitors for entitlement to payment from the fund were dismissed.