Property law; property as security; solicitor's lien
Facts: Lewis acted as solicitor for Hammerstone Pty Ltd. Lewis presented Hammerstone with a bill for $2700 but Hammerstone refused to pay, saying the amount was excessive. By law, Hammerstone's failure to pay gave Lewis a possessory security (known as a 'solicitor's lien') over Hammerstone's documents. This lien entitled Lewis to keep the documents until the debt was paid. Later, when Hammerstone sued Lewis for negligence, Lewis refused to produce these documents for Hammerstone to inspect, relying on the lien.
Issue: Did Lewis' lien over the documents mean that he did not have to allow Hammerstone to inspect them for the purposes of the negligence dispute?
Decision: Despite the lien, Lewis had to allow Hammerstone to inspect the documents, provided Hammerstone deposited a sum of money to be held by the court.
Reason: An unpaid solicitor has a lien over the client's documents but there are limits on this lien, depending on the interests of justice in the particular circumstances. The lien cannot be relied on to impede a legal action where the documents are important evidence, as in the negligence action against Lewis. However, to order Lewis to produce the documents would be to make the lien worthless. Shepherdson J decided on a compromise: rather than order Hammerstone to pay the full outstanding bill of $2700 (the amount being in dispute), Hammerstone was required to pay $2000 to the court as security, and in return Lewis was ordered to allow Hammerstone to inspect the documents.