Barker v. Southern Building & Loan Ass'n

• Decision Date: 19 September 1910
• Citation: 181 F. 638
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama
• Parties: BARKER v. SOUTHERN BUILDING & LOAN ASS'N. In re SPRAGINS.

181 F. 638

BARKER v. SOUTHERN BUILDING & LOAN ASS'N.

In re SPRAGINS.

United States Circuit Court, N.D. Alabama, Northeastern Division.

September 19, 1910

R. E Spragins, for petitioner.

Milton Humes and Lawrence Cooper, for defendant.

SHELBY Circuit Judge.

This is an intervening petition seeking to charge funds in court with attorney's fees.

The petition is as follows:

'That the original bill was filed in this cause on the . . . day of October, 1902, and that on the same day a temporary receiver was ordered, and Hon. Lawrence Cooper was appointed receiver. Petitioner shortly thereafter was employed by the complainant as her attorney to represent her in the litigation in this cause, and petitioner has appeared and represented her in said litigation. That at the time of said employment, the receiver had possession of all the property, money, and assets of the corporation, and petitioner is advised that said receiver has received more than $75,000 in funds brought into court in this cause, and the services performed by the petitioner are as follows: He prepared answers and demurrers to the ancillary bill filed in this cause by J. F. Wilkinson, and represented her in the hearing held before your honor at New Orleans, and paid his expenses there, amounting to $50. Petitioner says he prepared a number of papers relative to the original bill in which the respondent sought to have said original bill dismissed. Petitioner avers that in the cause a number of references were ordered whereby certain questions were referred to Hon. R. W. Walker as special master. Among them, the master was ordered to take and state an account of the apparent assets and liabilities of said corporation the number of its shares, the probable value of the estate, and other information relating thereto; and also a reference was ordered and held to pass upon the reports of the receiver in this cause, and on said reference there were submitted to the master numerous questions of law involving the various claimants to the funds in the cause, and the method of liquidation of the affairs of the estate. Petitioner avers that the said questions were many and involved intricate and difficult questions of law, and that references consumed a great deal of time covering a period of several months from December, 1902, to May, 1903, and petitioner appeared for the complainant at the hearing before the master and discussed the questions of

...