Ms. Burke Spencer’s Publications
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Who is entitled to fee-based sanctions awards in contingent fee cases – lawyer or client?
It is not uncommon in the course of civil litigation, particularly in discovery disputes, for one party to be ordered to pay another party monetary sanctions that are calculated based on the attorney’s fees and costs incurred in connection with a motion or proceeding…. [Download PDF]
Ethical Enforcement of Attorney’s Liens – Avoiding Traps for the Unwary
Noting the mischief and leverage over a client’s funds that even a false notice of attorney’s lien gives an attorney, the Court of Appeal in Carroll v. Interstate Brands Corp., 99 Cal. App. 4th 1168, 1178 (2002) called on the legislature to adopt statutory procedures for the expeditious resolution of attorney’s liens. Ten years later, no such statutory procedures have been provided. Much of the “mischief” feared by the Carroll court, however, can be avoided if an attorney abides…. [Download PDF]
Suzanne Burke Spencer
Suzanne Burke Spencer is the managing shareholder of Sall Spencer Callas & Krueger. She practices in the areas of professional malpractice and attorney ethics as well as complex business and real estate litigation, including legal malpractice, partnership and business disputes, real estate and foreclosure, derivative actions, unfair business practices, contract disputes, and attorney fee and lien disputes.
Ms. Burke Spencer graduated from Georgetown University in 1988, with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and from Fordham University School of Law in 1993, where she served as a staff member and an Associate Editor of the Fordham Law Review. Ms. Burke Spencer was formerly an associate with the New York City and Orange County offices of Dorsey & Whitney, later joining smaller litigation firms and then Buchalter Nemer’s Orange County office, where she practiced for several years.
Ms. Burke Spencer has served as lead or co-counsel in numerous state and federal complex business cases, arbitrations, appeals, and mediations, and has authored or contributed to numerous articles relating to professional responsibility and attorney ethics. Ms. Burke Spencer has frequently lectured on attorney fees disputes, legal ethics and risk management in public and private seminars. Among the articles Ms. Burke Spencer has authored or contributed to are Ethical Enforcement of Attorney’s Liens – Avoiding Traps for the Unwary, California Bar Journal, July 2013; Who is entitled to fee-based sanctions awards in contingent fee cases – lawyer or client?, California Bar Journal, March 2014.
Ms. Burke Spencer is a member of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in California, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. She is a member of the California State Bar’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (COPRAC), and former member of the Client Relations Committee of the Orange County Bar Association. A native of New Jersey, Ms. Burke Spencer relocated to California in 1995 and has lived and practiced here ever since.