In Quiroga v. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation,35 Fla. L. Weekly D767a (Fla. 3DCA 2010), the Florida ThirdDistrict Court of Appeal invalidated a law firm's charging lien forunpaid legal fees that was asserted against the collected proceedsof an insurance claim for a former client, Jesse Quiroga.

Attorneys with the Miami-based law firm of Katzman Garfinkel andRosenbaum collected monies from an insurance company for unpaiddamages to Quiroga's home. After collecting those proceeds, Quirogafired the attorneys and refused to pay any legal fees and alsoclaimed that the law firm could not deduct such fees from theinsurance proceeds because they were homestead protected.

The Third District agreed with Quiroga, holding that thehomestead exemption that applies to the property also applies tothe insurance proceeds for the protected property, and a clientcould not waive such an exemption even by entering into a feeagreement with a lawyer.