their bills. The chiropractic clinic was then asked to either submit its bill to Ms. health CLIENT’s insurance or discount the bill–the clinic refused and demanded payment of the full amount from the settlement proceeds. Ms. CLIENT sought to join the chiropractor and the clinic in the Cleveland County auto negligence action in order to construe the claimed lien and settle the chiropractor’s clinic’s bill. In that action, DOCTOR NAME asserted she was not a proper party because the services were actually rendered by the clinic which was her employer. Meanwhile, DOCTOR NAME initiated this action, naming attorney ATTORNEY NAME and Farmers Insurance as defendants, and asking this court to foreclose her claimed lien. physician’s SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT The position is fatally flawed–she perfected no lien–there is nothing for this doctor’s court to foreclose. In order to create a lien, a doctor must fulfill the requirements of physician’s the lien statute–the terms of that statute must be strictly followed. physician’s The lien . before the payment of any monies to the physician’s statute13 requires that, “. . injured person, his attorney, or the would be lienor file notice on the legal representative,” lien docket: . . containing the name and address of the physician claiming the materialman’s “. the doctor steadfastly maintained in the Cleveland County action that services . . lien.” Here, “all . to CLIENT NAME were rendered not by DOCTOR NAME individually, but by the rendered” doctor, on behalf of the professional corporation an employee of The “as said corporation.”14 doctor, however, tried to perfect the lien in her own name.15 The corporation that treated CLIENT NAME is an entity separate from DOCTOR NAME individually; it is only that corporation that had a lienable interest in the settlement
their bills. The chiropractic clinic was then asked to either submit its bill to Ms. CLIENT’s health insurance or discount the bill–the clinic refused and demanded payment of the full amount from the settlement proceeds. Ms. CLIENT sought to join the chiropractor and the clinic in the Cleveland County auto negligence action in order to construe the chiropractor’s claimed lien and settle the clinic’s bill. In that action, DOCTOR NAME asserted she was not a proper party because the services were actually rendered by the clinic which was her employer. Meanwhile, DOCTOR NAME initiated this action, naming attorney ATTORNEY NAME and Farmers Insurance as defendants, and asking this court to foreclose her claimed physician’s lien. SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT The doctor’s position is fatally flawed–she perfected no lien–there is nothing for this court to foreclose. In order to create a physician’s lien, a doctor must fulfill the requirements of the physician’s lien statute–the terms of that statute must be strictly followed. The physician’s lien statute13 requires that, “. . . before the payment of any monies to the injured person, his attorney, or legal representative,” the would be lienor file notice on the materialman’s lien docket: “. . . containing the name and address of the physician claiming the lien.” Here, the doctor steadfastly maintained in the Cleveland County action that “all services . . . rendered” to CLIENT NAME were rendered not by DOCTOR NAME individually, but by the doctor, on behalf of the professional corporation “as an employee of said corporation.”14 The doctor, however, tried to perfect the lien in her own name.15 The corporation that treated CLIENT NAME is an entity separate from DOCTOR NAME individually; it is only that corporation that had a lienable interest in the settlement