Dahl v. Christensen, 2020 UT App 151 (Nov. 5, 2020)

The district court concluded that an attorney’s lien arising out of a divorce action was wrongful under the Wrongful Lien Act. Reversing, the court of appeals held that the lien was not wrongful, because it was based in part on a retainer for a malpractice action and fell outside the definition of a wrongful lien, because it was “signed by or authorized pursuant to a document signed by the owner of real property.” Utah Code § 38-9-102. Although the lien may have exceeded the work performed in the malpractice case, the difference in amount went to the issue of validity, not its wrongfulness under the Act.