Lawyer loses his fees case due to legal error

A lawyer lost his fees in a lawsuit due to a legal error, as the Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Claims Court ruled to reject a lawsuit filed by the lawyer against a former client, in which he demanded payment of an agreed-upon amount of AED 40,000 in fees. The court noted in its rejection that the plaintiff did not follow the path prescribed by law.

In detail, a lawyer filed a lawsuit against a former client, demanding that the defendant be obligated to pay him AED 40,000 with legal interest at 9% from the date of refusal until full payment, and obligating him to pay fees and expenses, noting that under a lawyer’s fee agreement, the plaintiff represents the defendant in his capacity as his wife’s agent in a commercial real estate lawsuit, and the value of the fees was determined by the amount of the legal claim. The plaintiff’s law firm began the work assigned to it, but the defendant did not pay the fees despite writing an acknowledgment to pay the amount within a month.

For its part, the court explained in the grounds of its ruling that it is evident from the papers that the two parties to the dispute had concluded an agreement between them entitled “Lawyer’s Fee Agreement” whereby the plaintiff would represent the defendant and his wife and undertake the task of defending them. This contract also included representation in the case before the court of subject matter at all levels of litigation, and the plaintiff’s fees for the tasks assigned to him were set at an amount of 40 thousand dirhams, half of which would be paid within a month from the date of the agreement and the other half would be paid immediately after the end of the case that was the subject of the agreement.

The court indicated that the plaintiff is demanding that the defendant be obligated to pay the amount agreed upon in the agreement, which means that the plaintiff did not follow the legal path prescribed for him to claim his fees under the contract concluded between him and the defendant, especially since claiming or disputing those fees is in accordance with Article 52 of Federal Decree No. 34 of 2022 regarding the regulation of the professions of advocacy and legal consultations, which stipulates that “the lawyer receives his fees in accordance with the contract drawn up between him and his client, and to the court that heard the case – alone and no other” and in accordance with Articles 140 and 141 of the Civil Procedures Law by submitting a request to the judge or head of the circuit that heard the case, and the court ruled that the case was inadmissible for not following the path prescribed by law, and obligating the plaintiff to pay the fees and expenses of the case.