In the Matter of the Petition of Burton C. Meighan et al., Appellants, to Have Determined and Enforced an Attorney's Lien. Darius O. Mills et al., Respondents

In the Matter of the Petition of Burton C. Meighan et al., Appellants, to Have Determined and Enforced an Attorney’s Lien. Darius O. Mills et al., Respondents. (Argued October 3, 1905; decided October 17, 1905.) Matter of Meighan, 106 App. Div. 599, affirmed. Appeal from an order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the first judicial department, entered September 7, 1905, which affirmed an order of Special Term denying the application of the petitioners for the determination and enforcement of a lien for their services as attorneys for the plaintiff in the action of J oseph Watkins, on behalf of himself and other stockholders of the American Grass Twine Company, plaintiff, against Darius O. Mills et al., defendants. John A. Garver for appellants. George Welwood Murray and Charles P. Howland for respondents. [MAJORITY] Order affirmed, with costs ; no opinion. Concur: Cullen, Ch. J., Ge ay, Haight, Vann and Werner, JJ. Absent: O’Brien, J. [DISSENT — Bartlett, J.] Bartlett, J. (dissenting). This record discloses a state of facts entitling the petitioners to a lien on the fund restored by the directors to the treasury of the company. In my opinion the vital error of the decision below is the failure to recognize the fact that the plaintiff Watkins sued on behalf of himself and all other stockholders similarly situated, making the company a party defendant af-ter requesting it to bring the action and its failure to do so within a reasonable time. The company is the real party plaintiff. I concur in the dissenting opinion of the Appellate Division.