(Download) "Johnson v. Hunter" by United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free

July 11, 2021

eBook details

Title: Johnson v. Hunter
Author : United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Release Date : January 26, 1944
Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
Pages : * pages
Size : 49 KB

Description

By this appeal the United States challenges the power and authority of the trial court to award attorneys fees and expenses to attorneys for certain Indian wards of the United States, who were the successful claimants in this proceedings to determine heirship and settle the Estate of Jackson Barnett, a full-blood restricted Creek Indian. The fees and expenses awarded were ordered paid proportionately out of the distributive share of each of the successful Indian heirs in accordance with the courts judgment. The funds recovered by the litigation, as the distributive shares of the respective Indian clients, were restricted as and when inherited, hence not subject to disbursement without the consent and approval of the Secretary of the Interior. On this premise, it is contended by the United States that the judgment of the court ordering the payment of attorneys fees out of the inherited funds is in effect a disposal of restricted funds without the consent and approval of the Secretary of the Interior, who has not and cannot be sued, and is not a party to the suit; that the court did not acquire jurisdiction of the funds, consequently that part of its judgment allowing a fee and ordering it paid out of the restricted funds was unauthorized.