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liens but tax liens, and no person shall be at liberty
to satisfy said suit, judgment or decree, until the
lien or claim of the attorney for his fees is fully
satisfied; and attorneys at law shall have the same
right and power over said suits, judgments and decrees,
to enforce their liens, as their clients had or may
have for the amount due thereon to them. [Id. at 125
n.5 (quoting 46 Ala. Code sec. 64 (1940); quotation
marks omitted).]
We disagree with petitioners that Cotnam v. Commissioner,
supra, controls the Court's decision herein. In our case, the
relevant section 34-35-430 of the Alaska Code, i.e., the statute
that is applicable here, provides as follows:
Sec. 34-35-430. Attorney's lien. (a) An attorney has
a lien for compensation, whether specially agreed upon or
implied, as provided in this section
(1) first, upon the papers of the client that have
come into the possession of the attorney in the course
of the professional employment;
(2) second, upon money in the possession of the
attorney belonging to the client;
(3) third, upon money in the possession of the
adverse party in an action or proceeding in which the
attorney is employed, from the giving of notice of the
lien to that party;
(4) fourth, upon a judgment to the extent of the
costs included in the judgment or, if there is a
special agreement, to the extent of the compensation
specially agreed on, from the giving of notice of the
lien to the party against whom the judgment is given
and filing the original with the clerk where the
judgment is entered and docketed.
(b) This lien is, however, subordinate to the
rights existing between the parties to the action or
proceeding. [Alaska Stat. sec. 34-35-430 (Michie
1996).]
This provision stands in marked contrast to the provision of the
Alabama Code relied upon by the Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit in the Cotnam case. Although both provisions give an
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